Chapter IV: Excursion

October 31, 2006 12:37 PM Vale Standard Time (VST)

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Ruby?" Jaune asked, unsure of the situation that they found themselves in. "I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to go into town without either Noel or Alchemy in tow."

"To be fair," Ruby defended. "My official orders are to be your personal body guard and to never let you out of my sight under any circumstances. I'm not really disobeying anyone right now."

"This is an abuse of your power and you know it!" Jaune stated in a mock anger, though he wasn't truly that upset, just worried.

"Says the future lord to his lowly servant who has zero authority over him." She turned to give him a coy smile. "I'm also younger than you are."

Four years had passed since Ruby became an official squire to the Garde d'Arc, and the young girl decided to celebrate her twelfth birthday with a trip to the city center. She hadn't been back since Lord Vincent had taken her into his home, which for the longest time was fine. Recently, however, she'd grown curious about her old stomping grounds. She wore her uniformed business suit, black with a white dress shirt and a blue tie marked with the crest of House Arc, a simple one handed long sword belted at her right hip.

Jaune sighed as the pair of them walked down the street on the sidewalk, the cars rushing by on the road and the citizens barely paying the two children any mind. Jaune himself was fourteen now, and while the pair of them had grown in the last four years he remained significantly taller than Ruby. He wore a simple white dress shirt with the top button undone and no tie, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of canvas shoes. "Well, there's no helping it I guess. We're already here. Where to?"

Ruby shrugged. "Dunno."

"Don't dunno me. This was your idea, Ruby!"

"Ah-pap! Sir Ruby, if you please."

"Ruby, You're still a squire."

"A girl can dream, Jaune!" she said defensively. "I'll be knighted before you know it!"

He sighed again. "What happened to that shy little girl who used to share my room with me?"

"Hey, you said you'd never bring that up again!"

"I'm scared of the dark, big brother!" he quoted, mimicking her voice as best he could with a smile, holding back a laugh.

"You weren't any better, mister night light!" Ruby accused.

"You said you'd never bring that up again."

Ruby smiled coyly as she turned to meet the boy's eyes. "What would the people of Vale think, hm? Young Jaune Arc, future lord of the Spring Court, couldn't sleep without a night light at the age of nine."

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, okay. Can we just figure out what we're doing here? Please?"

"We~ll," Ruby spun in a circle, taking in the splendor of the city. "Four years does a lot to a place, doesn't it. I barely recognize a thing. Oh! How about we hit up the market district? I know you got the big bucks on you."

Jaune shrugged. "That's fine. I don't really buy much anyway, I guess."

"Wanna buy your loyal body guard a present?"

"You have money too, Ruby."

"But it's not the same if I buy it for myself. How about this, you buy me a present and I'll buy you one too. Deal?"

"Like what? We can get pretty much anything we want, remember?"

"Spoiled brat."

"What was that?"

"Nothing~!" she said with a cheery smile as she turned on her heel and led the way to the market district.

Jaune rushed to catch up to her and walk on her left. "We'll be lucky if we don't get into trouble when we get home, you know that right?"

"You're dad's pretty chill. We'll be fine."

"I'm pretty sure you're the spoiled brat. Aren't you supposed to be a servant?"

"I thought I was your friend. Do you think that I'm beneath you?" she said with a mock pout in her voice.

"Don't. Don't use that voice."

"Why not, big brother," she said, persisting the innocence in her tone. "Don't you like me?"

"Agh! How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Fine! Deal! We'll buy each other presents."

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Because why, big brother?"

"Because you're my friend and I love you, okay? You win! Just, stop with the voice. And the big brother thing. You're killing me."

She smiled victoriously. "I always win."

Noel looked up from his newspaper just as the two children walked by him, seemingly not noticing him. Excellent, my disguise is perfect! he thought triumphantly with a smile. He wore a pair of sneakers, brown cargo shorts, a floral button up short sleeved shirt, and large sunglasses. His usually combed brown hair was messy and shaggy. He watched the pair intently just as they rounded a corner. "Market district, huh? Shouldn't be too hard to keep an eye on them."

"Noel, what are you doing?" came a woman's voice, and Noel felt as though he leapt out of his own skin. He turned and saw a tan skinned woman with dark yellow hair staring at him accusingly, dressed in a pair of open toed flat sandals, short brown hot pants, and a white tank top. Her hands rested on her hips as she stared at him with her green eyes. He recognized her as one of the maids of the Arc family.

"Uh, hi there Miss Crystal. What brings you to town?" he asked nervously.

"It's my day off. I came to do some shopping. Don't make this about me. You're tailing them, aren't you?"

"Tailing who? I'm just sitting here reading a newspaper and enjoying this lovely Autumn weather that we're having. It's awful warm for this time of year, don't you think?"

"Noel, that newspaper is two days old."

"Oh. So it is. Silly me."

She sighed. "Leave them alone, Noel. Pull that stick out of your ass and go home."

"B-but...what if they get hurt? Lord Vincent would never-"

"Oh my God, if Lord Vincent was going to fire you, he'd have done it years ago. Why can't you just let the pair of them enjoy a bit of freedom?"

"You know they aren't supposed to leave the castle unattended. I'm just doing my job, Miss Crystal."

"Do you honestly think that Lord Vincent didn't go through a rebellious phase? They're kids, Noel. It's what they do. Let them have their fun."

"Absolutely not. I intend to tail them until I deem it appropriate to interfere and drag them home."

She sighed again. "Fine. I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"So I can deck you're stupid face before you jump in and shout stop right there at them. They're going to be fine, Noel, and I intend to show you."

"But...you're shopping?"

"They're going to the market district, right? It's literally where I was going anyway."

He stared at her for a moment before his eyes drifted to the corner where he had lost sight of the children some minutes ago. He sighed. "Fine."

"And while we're at it, let's get you some new clothes."

"Again I ask; why?"

"Because you look stupid. Where did you even get a floral shirt? What is this, the Nineties?"

"I thought it looked good."

"You don't know shit about casual dress, do you?"

"Wow~!" Ruby exclaimed as the pair entered the market district. It was adorned top to bottom with orange and black banners, carved pumpkins, and smelled of cinnamon and pumpkin. "It's so colorful! Look at all the decorations! What's going on?"

Juane stared at her, confused. "It's October 31, Ruby. You do know what that is, right?"

"Of course I do, it's my birthday!"

"Well...yes, but it's also Halloween."

"Wait," she said. "That's a real holiday? I thought that was just something from The Nightmare Before Christmas."

"No, it's real. When night falls all the kids in the city will be going door to door and asking for candy. The theaters will be playing scary movies, and there'll be a lot of seasonal products for sale at most of the stores."

"Such as?"

"I don't know. Candy apples. Pumpkin flavored coffee. Stuff like that I guess."

Ruby's silver eyes became as wide as saucers. "Did you say candy apples? Candy! Apples!"

"Y-yeah?"

"Let's go get some!"

Jaune couldn't help but smile at her. "Okay. That sounds reasonable. Let's go, Ruby."

"Sir Ruby!"

"Not yet you're not." Jaune stopped a nearby passerby and asked about the apples, and promptly led Ruby to the nearest stall that sold them, after which the pair began to browse many of the other shops and stalls while they snacked away at the sweet treats. After a time, the two stopped to buy a pair of pumpkin spiced coffees and sat down at a nearby outdoor cafe to rest for a moment. "Okay, okay," Jaune said as he sipped gingerly at his drink. "I take it back. This was a great idea."

"Hmm? I don't think I heard you right." Ruby said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get full of yourself. This actually isn't that bad." He sighed. "I just hope father isn't angry with us. I'm sure he's noticed our absence by now."

"We'll be fine. What's the worst he could do?"

"Stop you from becoming a knight."

"N-now, let's not get too crazy. He wouldn't do that," she said, sipping at her drink before setting it down. "Would he?"

Jaune hesitated at the sight of genuine concern on Ruby's face. Crap. "N-no, I don't think he'd go that far. It'll probably just be a lecture and a week of intense studies. Maybe some extra exercising for you during training."

"Yeah," she said, unsure. "Yeah, I'm sure he'll do that." She took another sip before cheering up. "Hey, I know! Since we're going to get in trouble anyway..."

"And whose fault is that?" Jaune whispered under his breath, taking another sip.

"Let's go buy costumes and go trick-or-treating!"

Jaune coughed, coffee coming out of his nose in the process. "Excuse me? You can't be serious."

"I am! We could do that as our gifts to each other! I'll pick your costume and you can pick mine! It'll be fun! Better still, if we wear masks it'll be harder for the public to recognize you."

"I don't really go out much anyway, so most people don't know what I look like. That was dad's decision so that I wouldn't be pestered by journalists when I got older."

"Aw, boo. The poor princess was forced to stay in her castle. Don't worry, Milady, you knight in shining armor is here to rescue you," Ruby teased with a smile.

Jaune felt his eyebrow twitch. "There are so many things wrong with what you just said, that I don't even know where to begin."

Ruby stood up and grabbed Jaune's hand. "Come on! I saw a party store nearby that has costumes. Let's go, let's go!"

Crystal stifled her laughter for as long as she could before the two kids had disappeared yet again into a store, and then she let it out. "Isn't that adorable! They're going to go trick-or-treating!"

Noel's grip tightened on his foam cup, nearly breaking it and spilling coffee everywhere. "This is unacceptable! A lord shouldn't be asking for free handouts like that! I must stop them!" He tried to stand up, but Crystal's hand grabbed his and stopped him. "Miss Crystal, please, this has gone on for far too long."

"One: stop with the Miss Crystal. Just Crystal is fine. Hell, if you calm down and let them be I might even be friendly enough to let you call me Crys. Two: it's fine! They're kids, Noel. This is what kids do on Halloween." She sighed. "Seriously. What did you do as a kid?"

"I studied."

"And?"

Noel blinked in confusion. "And what?"

"Oh my God."

"And what!?"

"You are going to sit right here with me, and you aren't going to move! We'll wait until they're done and then I'll let you take them home. No sooner!"

"But-"

"Shut up and let them have fun! Hell, pretend its a day off and relax." She stared at him for a moment before her eyes narrowed. "What do you do on your days off?"

"What does that have to do with-"

"Answer the question."

"I...I play Sudoku and watch nature documentaries," he answered honestly.

"Yeah, no. Forget what I said. We're going to a movie."

"Why?"

"Because you are boring and need help, that's why."

It was close to midnight before the children finally started to make their way back out of the city to get on a bus back to the castle. The two of them were still wearing their respective costumes as well, having nowhere to leave them after buying them and each carrying a bag full of various candies. Jaune was dressed as a masked lord of sorts, styled after the Phantom of the Opera, and Ruby was dressed as a ghost. Ruby felt her costume choice for Jaune was appropriate, but Jaune seemed to think Ruby's costume was hilarious with its lack of detail and bland look. Still, Ruby didn't complain in the least. Jaune being the age that he was she had to pretend that he was her older brother tasked with watching her on their night out, which thrilled her to no end to say the least.

"So, who was right?" she asked.

"You're really going to force me on this?"

"I can't hear you~."

"Fine. You were right. That was a lot of fun. Today was a great idea. Happy now?"

"You know it!" She exclaimed. "Though, I wish you'd have picked a better costume. Not much of a keepsake, is it?"

"I got it covered," he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small keychain with a Beowolf attached to it and handed it to her. "My real present for you. Happy birthday, Ruby."

"O-oh. Thank you, Jaune," she said with a slight blush. With her ghost mask off Jaune could see the red in her cheeks and smiled. "I actually also got you a different gift." Her hands shuffled under her costume as she fought to find her pocket before producing a small box. "This is yours."

"Hm?" Jaune accepted it and opened the box. Inside was a simple elastic band with red and yellow beads, and three blocky white beads that had letters engraved; BFF. His smile grew wider as he stared at it for a moment. As quickly as he could he slipped it onto his wrist and used his now free hand to give the smaller girl a side hug around her shoulders. "You're so sweet, Ruby. I love you."

"I love you too, Jaune. And, once I'm knighted, I'll always protect you. We'll be best friends forever."

The bus pulled up just as they arrived at the stop, and they prepared to board. "Well, we're in for it when we get home, aren't we?" he asked.

"We'll be fine. We'll be punished together."

"You're right about that, young lady!" shouted a voice behind them, startling them. They turned and saw the face of Noel staring at them, clearly upset with the casually dressed Crystal behind him shaking her head. "Do you have any idea what time it is, children!"

Jaune stuttered to try and find the correct response to deescalate the situation, but Ruby spoke before he could. "Noel, why are you wearing a floral print shirt?"

Crystal laughed.