A Friend In Need

Another monthly reward and early release for s22132 and higher pledging patrons! This time, they asked for CRDL harassing Velvet as they did in volume 1, but the rest of CFVY coming to her aid. Since little was known about Velvet and her team at the time of that episode back in vol1, I wrote in an excuse as to why Velvet didn't stand up for herself at the time in the show.


Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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														A Friend In Need

Velvet had always dreaded the new semester when fresh waves of first-year students would pour through Beacon's doors.

Despite the fact that she was now a second-year student, it didn't change the fact that she was a Faunus.

Some humans were still highly discriminatory against her kind, and not even the highly-skilled freshmen that earned their places in Beacon were always excluded. She'd always been shy by nature, and she simply didn't tend to mingle well with people other than her own teammates.

It was only the first week of the new semester, right after the initiation for the new freshman had been completed, and all of the successful students had been given their new teams and dorm rooms.

Velvet had been working hard on her weapon over the brief break, and had successfully managed to complete Yatsuhashi's weapon as one of her mimics. She'd previously completed Coco's and Fox's weapons, which had both been fairly complicated in their own respects.

She'd made sure to wait on copying her own partner's weapon though, so she would be able to fight alongside him for a longer period of time first and be able to take note of how he used it. After all, his sword was very nearly as long as Velvet's body, and she found it difficult to use, even as the lighter, mimicked version.

She'd been up a good several hours into the night, and had gotten an early start that morning due to all the excitement about the incoming freshmen. Configuring such a large weapon and meticulously toiling hours away into the night in order to get it completed had proven to exhaust her significantly today.

Velvet was all but despondent as she meandered throughout the lunchroom, picking up a tray and filling it with whatever food her fingers happened to brush over. She didn't know where or when she'd lost her teammates, probably somewhere within the hallway crowds. But they'd find her again soon enough. They always did.

However, fatigued and hungry as she was, she didn't make it much farther than the nearest table before she slumped down onto a bench and dropped her head into her hands, heaving a long sigh. Maybe she could rest, just for a moment...

But it was impossible. Her sensitive ears kept twitching and swiveling, especially when they were under attack of the boisterous lunchroom din.

Even when she didn't mean to, she found herself eavesdropping on conversations five tables away. She heard the laughter and excited voices of the new freshmen, the nervous pitches to some of their voices. Velvet couldn't help but smile to herself.

/Good for you guys. You made it this far.../

But whatever good mood she'd been experiencing soon shattered.

Heavy approaching footsteps and deep male voices soon had her ears jolting painfully at how sudden and loud they were.

"I still can't believe it!" one voice was laughing. "They're really lettin' these Faunus freaks come to school with us?"

"They're sitting in our lecture halls taking classes. Isn't that considered animal cruelty or something?"

"I still don't think they're real. The ears and tail shit? Definitely fake. They just want attention."

"Nah, man, they're totally real. Here, watch."

And before she knew it, Velvet was awakened by a cruel and violent yank on her ear. The sudden blatant assault caused her to shriek in pain.

"Ah- That hurts!"

Another tug, and her ear felt as though it might be ripped clean off.

"See?" the boy guffawed. "I told you it was real."

Velvet's senses were too dull from her fatigue, and she could think of no other way to react than pleading.

"Please... stop..."

More cruel, hateful laughter. But her ear was soon released, the unforgiving grip freeing the delicate, aching membrane.

More discombobulated than when she'd sat down, Velvet only barely managed to grab her tray of food before staggering to her feet and turning away in an attempt to seek shelter elsewhere.

Now, on top of being so enervated, she'd been publicly humiliated in the school that was supposed to be a safe place for her. She whimpered, feeling as though every gaze in the lunchroom was now upon her.

But even if she had been entirely capable of retaliation, she never would have done it. Not to a freshman student, and not for such a reason.

By nature, Velvet tended to retreat in the face of more trivial threats and anything that wasn't absolutely essential to address, be it with words or with weapons.

Meanwhile, Cardin and his team continued to bellow with laughter.

"Dude, was the fur real?" Dove asked.

"Yeah! Absolutely! Could make a coat out of it!" Cardin nearly rolled off the table he'd been sitting on due to how hard he was laughing.

But to his terror, his moment of enjoyment didn't last.

Suddenly, a heavy hand fell on Cardin's shoulder, very nearly knocking him off the table.

"What," rumbled a voice like an avalanche, "are you doing to my partner?"

Cardin jumped off the table and spun around, opening his mouth...

And found himself looking up...

and up...

and up at the biggest second-year student he'd ever seen.

Yatsuhashi towered over him like a mountain hovering over an insect. In fact, his shadow managed to encompass all of team CRDL at once.

There were cries of "Holy shit!" and "What the f-" from Sky and Russel as they backed away, only to find themselves colliding with another angry second-year boy.

Fox's stark white gaze glowered directly into their eyes, as though he knew exactly where he was looking. His empty gaze was still somehow viciously enraged, and it sent shivers up their crumbling spines.

"U-Uh..."

"Shit..."

As Cardin and his team found themselves sandwiched between a rock and a hard place, Velvet found herself somewhere much softer.

A small stumble sent her tipping sideways, but a pair of arms gently yet firmly steadied her. It was a miracle she hadn't spilled any of the food on her tray, and as Velvet shook her head slowly, a familiar scent wreathed around her.

She looked up, her tired eyes only half-lidded and barely in focus. From her angle, she could just see underneath the edges of those dark shades to lock her eyes with a chocolate-brown gaze.

"C-Coco... You found me..."

"Velvet, c'mere." Her leader coaxed her to one side, a good distance away from the boys, and helped her sit down, putting the tray aside. Coco rested a hand on the Faunus girl's shoulder. "I told you to head to bed earlier last night, but you didn't listen."

"Sorry."

"Oh no, don't you apologize." Coco's eyes now became ignited with fury as she directed them towards the first-year boys. "That's their job."

She momentarily left Velvet, only to advance on the boys.

Cardin whipped around to face her. But the second he saw how seriously pissed off she was, he stumbled back, only to find himself trapped in Yatsuhashi's vice grip.

"H-Hey! What the hell's this? Y-You guys c-can't do this-"

"Oh yeah?" Coco sneered dangerously into his face. "Watch us."

With a flick of her chin, she gave the silent order. Yatsuhashi lifted Cardin right off his feet with ease, causing the boy to yelp. Dove, Sky, and Russel all turned tail in an effort to flee and ditch their leader, but Fox's hollow stare froze them in their tracks.

"Stay put," he growled. "Listen to what she has to say." With a shove to each of them, he had them all turn back around and give their terrified attention to his leader.

Coco stalked up to the leader of the freshmen team, who was now suspended at least a foot off the ground. Yatsuhashi lowered him a bit, so that Coco paused only a few inches shy of his sniveling face. Her furious eyes locked with his, and even though she wasn't even touching him, she could already see the color draining from his face.

"This the one?" she asked.

The response was from Yatsuhashi, who snorted like a Goliath and made Cardin flinch.

"Yeah," he replied. "This is the one that grabbed her."

Coco nodded.

"Good. Put the little bastard down, will ya?"

Yatsuhashi obliged his leader and let Cardin's shoes find solid ground once again, though he kept both hands on the freshman's shoulders to ensure he couldn't move an inch. He even made sure to dig his fingers in and press down a bit, but not intentionally of course. He simply didn't know his own strength.

Or at least, that was the explanation he could easily get away with giving if the teachers ever confronted him.

Coco said nothing for a moment longer. She simply let the terror sink in for these boys. The rest of the lunchroom had fallen silent and directed their attention to the commotion as well.

Velvet's heart was thumping as she watched her teammates harmlessly intimidate the group of boys.

The second-years were fine with simply letting the silent terror sink in for the moment, but Cardin made the mistake of speaking first.

"What the hell's your problem...?"

He didn't just ignite the fuse, this time. He chose to stand right next to the bomb as he begged it to explode.

Coco immediately got up in his face. Literally.

"Excuse me?" she snarled. "You wanna know what my problem is? My problem is shitheads like you who think they can come trouncing into Beacon – or anywhere else on Remnant, for that matter – and start assaulting people like it's your goddamn right."

"Freshmen these days," Fox grunted. "Don't even have any manners."

"It's not the freshman," Yatsuhashi uttered. "Just the assholes."

"You're damn right," Coco agreed. "And if you think-" she barked back at Cardin. "That you're so goddamn high and mighty that you can just go around grabbing whoever you want, whenever you want, then you've got another thing comin', buster. And it's big, and it's painful."

By this point, she'd advanced on him to the point where Cardin was actually willingly recoiling into Yatsuhashi. Coco lowered her shades and allowed her eyes to burn into his.

"Am I making myself clear, you little prick? You might've been able to get lucky enough to kill a Grimm and find a relic during initiation, but if you think you've earned any kind of respect or glory in doing so, you need a reality check, pal. You pull something like that again, and next time you'll wish it was a Grimm tearing into you."

Cardin all but fainted now, and Yatsuhashi had half a mind to let him drop. Coco stepped back and whipped around to turn on the other three.

"And you!"

They all yelped and jolted. One tried to run, but Fox yanked him back in line to face the music.

Coco prowled forward and gave them each their fair share.

"You're all just as bad as that scum you call a leader. You just let it happen? Just laughed along with it, huh?"

"W-We're sorry!" Russel cried.

"Like hell you are," she spat. "Listen, you freshmen turds. If all you're going to end up doing is apologize for something, then don't let it happen in the first place, damn it. Are we clear?"

The withering trio gulped and nodded in unison.

"Good. You'd do well to make sure your leader here understands that as well. But I'm sick of looking at your faces, so get the hell out of my sight."

With her order given, Fox and Yatsuhashi released the first-year boys.

Cardin tore off without even looking back or waiting for his teammates, who all scrambled after him, yelping and whining.

The rest of the students in the cafeteria remained silent for a moment longer, and to Coco, it was clear that they'd received her message, too. Gradually, the sound of chatter returned, almost as though nothing had ever happened.

At that point, Velvet was wiping happy tears from her eyes as her team went to her side.

"Thank you... you guys..." She stood and threw her arms around Coco first. "I'm sorry I let this happen. I was just so out of it..."

"Because you didn't sleep," Coco sighed, wrapping her arms around the girl's back. "This is why you listen to your leader when she tells you to go to bed. So you can be alert and able to kick some sorry freshman's ass the next day if necessary."

"Sorry."

"I told you, don't be." Coco pulled back, kissed Velvet's forehead, and offered a small grin. "After all, it's been a while since we got a good reason to intimidate people like that."

"It was our pleasure," Fox added. He opened up his arms, and Velvet went to him next, giggling softly.

"I'm so lucky to have you guys."

"We're luckier to have you," he replied.

At last, Velvet stepped back and turned to her partner.

Yatsuhashi might have seemed stoic to those who didn't know him, but Velvet could see the worry teeming in his eyes.

"Velvet..." He murmured, always keeping his voice a little bit lower when he addressed her, knowing how sensitive her ears were. "Are you okay?"

She wiped her eyes again, but couldn't wipe away the smile.

"I'm fine, Yatsu. Thank you."

Reassured now, he smiled and opened his arms. Velvet gave a small hop and threw her arms around his shoulders. He easily caught her with just one arm and lifted her up.

Coco clapped once and nodded in approval.

"Perfect. Why don't we take her back now so she can get some rest? Leader's orders."

"On it, Coco."

Yatsuhashi gently maneuvered himself to carry his partner bridal style now. Velvet squealed softly, but it was only seconds before she let out a small yawn and curled up in his arms.

"Thank you guys..."

When she was with her team, Velvet wasn't quite so intimidated by much of anything anymore.

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A/N: I've written something similar before with just Coco and Velvet, but this is the first time I've basically written CFVY Shop! I think it's adorable to just have all four of them be really close and affectionate in their own ways.