RWBY 1. Chapter 1

_Note from the Author: Hello! A very short first chapter to my very first fan fiction (so nervous, much scared, so wow) and I hope that at least some of you enjoy it. It's obviously Rennora/Noren from RWBY and I already have a pretty good plan laid out for this one, BUT we will just have to see where it takes me! Criticism is very welcome and appreciated. Enjoy!_

_xoxoxo Moth_

_"The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to,"_ - Carl Sandburg

Beacon was a melting pot. A large pool of different races, ages, fighting styles, and personalities. Some clashed and some molded to one another. Some came to Beacon with a purpose and some with hope of finding one in the tall hallways and sloping ceilings. Some come alone and some, they come with friends. It stands to be seen if that bond, that string of faith, between two people will prove strong enough to withstand what Beacon has to throw at it. However, it may be something a lot less abrasive than training in combat that causes this string to snap.

"Ren...?" Nora said softly, sliding her fingers into the crack of the door to the JNPR team room and pushing it forward just enough so that she could peek inside. Why Nora wasn't in the room herself at such an early hour could be attributed to multiple things. She might have been involved in some early morning target practice, she might have been shining up Magnhild, or she could have been sneaking into the kitchen downstairs to steal some of the red sap syrup set out for that morning's pancakes. Regardless she had returned to the room to find that everyone else had risen except for Ren. In true Nora fashion she crept into the room quietly until the door could shut and then in one swift motion and in her usual graceful manner took a large leap from the door onto Ren's bed and directly onto him.

"Wake up!" she screeched in her high pitched tone, "It's pancake day and we have a test on the development of the Faunus Regime in two hours. You're gonna need some serious fuel for that one!" As soon as she got out the last syllable she was hit abruptly with the itchy wool blanket and changed her tune. "Hey!" she said loudly, fighting to get the blanket off her head before the static left her hair looking frazzled. Ren lay on the bed a few moments longer before stretching and smacking Nora in the face playfully with his pillow. He grinned at her and her bright orange hair that had now gone from the neatly brushed and parted way it was normally worn to a beautiful mess.

"Morning Nora." He said turning and standing up so that he faced the door she came through, pushing it completely shut as Nora had left it ever so slightly ajar.

"You know you're the last one up again." She said to him, sliding her legs off the edge of the bed and swinging them in her usual innocent and childlike manner. "Why have you been sleeping so late?" she asked, her head tilting in an inquisitive manner that made her look even more innocent than she usually did.

"I don't know," began Ren as he pulled on his uniform, looking in the mirror at his ash black hair and how it seemed to make his magenta eyes glow. He ran his hand over his chest where the hidden tattoo of a pastel pink lotus lay directly over his heart, and at that moment, directly under his soft hands, the only layer between the two was his thin button down. "I think I've just had a lot on my mind that's been conflicting with my sleep. You know, school and stuff. No big deal," He concluded. He said he didn't know, but he did. Ren knew what was so distracting and he knew what was keeping him up at night, staring out of the single window in the room and up into the stars. What he used to do for years after meeting Nora, when she was exciting and passionate and brought him such a sweet relief from the cold and uncaring world he had known all his life. Nora was the sun that warmed his skin, that peeked through the rain clouds on some of the darkest days, just long enough to light his way out of the storm.

However it seemed that the trip to Beacon had acted like water against the flame that was Nora. Although Ren never saw her pick up on it, he felt the change between them and the shift in souls. He watched her thrive in the ocean of students and even in the small group of four that made up JNPR he felt isolated and withdrawn. There was only one person he knew that felt the same way and that led him to think about her constantly. She became the moon that put the sun to rest and lit his way through the dark that was night time. Ren lied when he said he didn't know why he has been sleeping so late. He knew the reason and he knew the reason he couldn't tell anyone about it, especially Nora, that reason simply being because the person he thought about late at night when he looked into the beauty of the stars and into the moon like a puddle of milk, was not Nora.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nora?" The name echoed in Nora's ear and it took a few seconds before she realized that someone was talking to her.

"Huh?" she said, turning to face the speaker, realizing Pyrrha has sat down beside her on the concrete bench in the courtyard.

"I asked you where Ren was." Pyrrha repeated, her fingers running down through her long auburn hair.

"Oh, I have no idea." Nora responded.

"Jaune is trying to get everyone together to discuss our fighting tactics. In reality I will probably be doing most of the talking, but he is the leader so…" she trailed off noticing that Nora wasn't paying attention. "You alright?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah…" she said once again only paying attention to the last little bit of what Pyrrha said to her. She had been mindlessly fiddling with her necklace, a small silver hammer charm that dangled on a thin sliver chain. It hung just low enough that it tickled the top over cleavage, and probably drew some attention to it, but it was still visible as a separate entity. Ren had given her the necklace when they both got accepted to Beacon and in turn she paid the small $50 for him to get the lotus tattoo that only she knew about. "Have you noticed that he's been getting less sleep lately?" Nora asked, finally turning her attention to what could be considered her best female friend.

"I notice everything." Pyrrha said matter-of-fact-like, but with a soft smile that kept the comment from feeling to sharp. "I notice that he lays in bed with the blinds open staring out the window, but never looking. His mind is elsewhere."

"I wonder where," Nora said softly, pushing a stray strand of her bright orange hair away out of her eyes. Just as she looked back at the ground and away from Pyrrha the sound of Ren's voice rose over the soft bustle of the courtyard. It wasn't just his voice though, it was his laugh. This caused the slightest amount of anxiety inside Nora. Ren never laughed, at least not that loudly. Nora's antics could hardly get a smile out of him most of the time. His solemnness is what she adored about him so much and what made him unique. He watched and listened, he wasn't impulsive. He never laughed that loud, not even at anything Nora said. Her eyes scanned the area, looking for the bright pink eyes or the jet black hair she knew so well. When her eyes finally found him her heart sunk. He wasn't alone. There was a source of the laughter and it wasn't Nora, it wasn't even another boy, it was a girl. It was Blake.

"Blake…" Pyrrha said, having picked up on Nora's sudden anxiety and determining its source.

"Blake." Nora repeated, her voice cracking a little bit with an airy whistle. She stood, "I'll talk to you later Pyrrha." She said, grabbing her bag and trotting hesitantly, but curiously towards Ren with the intention of examining the situation. She was approaching them, but it was with one swift look from Ren that she stopped dead in her tracks. The look wasn't mean or disapproving, in fact it was just blank. That's what hit Nora like a brick. With the sight of her Ren's expression had gone from looking happier than she had ever seen him look to blank and emotionless. Nora felt her heart sink into her stomach and sure that the emotion showed on her face, she quickly looked away and turned back to Pyrrha who was watching her intently, almost like a mother cat watching a kitten.

She took one last glance back at Ren who was walking towards her before she turned and walked towards the nearest building entrance in an attempt to escape the completely embarrassing and heart wrenching conversation that would follow if he caught up to her. She made it to the double doors and pushed them open, glancing back only one time to see Ren watching her, his blank stare now a remorseful one. Other eyes watched her though, all eyes. Every face on the courtyard had turned to face her. It was only then that she realized she had tears streaming down her face and it was only then that she realized she felt more for Ren than she had ever been able to acknowledge.

"You missed dinner." Pyrrha said, tossing Nora a piece of bread with jam spread lavishly on top. This small and comforting sign of friendship was enough to force a smile out of Nora even in her sullen state. "I'm getting really tired of listening to Ren sigh, so I think you two need to settle whatever this problem you're having is." Pyrah continued, taking off her head-dress and plopping down on the other end of Nora's bed. "Did he mess your hair up on purpose?" she said, trying to figure out what was going on between the two of them.

"No," Nora said, stuffing her face with bread. "I'm having an existential crisis." She said, flopping backwards onto the bed and sighing with discontentment. "I think I'm jealous of Ren talking to Blake." She said tilting her head so that she could see Pyrrha.

"Why?" Pyrrha asked, brushing crumbs off of the duvet.

"I don't know exactly and that's the problem. I don't know what I am feeling and to be completely honest it is driving me up the wall and it's making it impossible for me to even look at him." Nora said in an exasperated manner.

"Maybe you like Ren as more than just your best friend." Pyrrah said tilting her head to meet Nora's glance.

"Maybe I do. Maybe after years of being friends and years of having his attention to myself I finally see him giving attention to someone else and I realize that I have feelings for him."

"Well," Pyrrha said grinning, "Maybe you need to let him know."

"I can't do that." Nora said.

"Oh come on," Pyrrha said rolling her eyes at Nora, "You can crush the skull of an Ursa with one hit of your hammer, you can drink syrup straight from the jar, you can function on 3 hours of sleep, but you can't possibly talk to Ren about your feelings for him?"

"I can't Pyrrha." Nora said, turning so that she was facing the wall away from the rest of the room. "I just can't."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you think that was about?" Blake said tightening her bow over her cat ears as she sat down next to Yang who had witnessed the approach of Nora as well as her dramatic departure.

"I think that Nora isn't her usual giddy self lately and apparently it has something to do with Ren," Yang responded, sitting up after stuffing her books back in her bag. "And you." She continued, causing Blake to snap her head back towards Yang instead of the direction of Ren's departure.

"That's preposterous." Blake said in her usual monotone, glaring intently at Yang while she processed the information. Ren had been talking to her a lot and she did think it was strange that Nora hadn't been around. "I don't even think Ren is capable of human emotion." She said, taking a shot at the apathy radiated by Ren at all times.

"Why is that so unbelievable?" Yang asked, standing and crossing her arms, a little smirk on her face as usual, "We are all teenagers here and I know that I'm not immune to the love bug." Yang punched Blake's arm playfully, still grinning, "And apparently neither is Ren."

"He's a mysterious one, that's for sure." Blake said, standing up with Yang and walking towards the same entrance Nora had stood at only minutes before. "I always got the vibe that he and Nora were involved in some kind of playful relationship where she made sloth noises and he pretended not to care."

"I got the same feeling too, but I also know when people like each other and that was definitely a crush at its finest!"

"I don't know how to process this." Blake said, pushing her way into the team room and tossing her books on the bed.

"I do." Yang said, still in the hallway. Blake walked back to the door and watched alarmed as Yang pounded a fist on the door across the hall labled "JNPR."

"Are you crazy?!" Blake whispered viciously before Yang darted down the hallway leaving Blake face to face with Ren and at a loss of words.

"I don't know what you expect me to say, Ren!" Blake said harshly to Ren whose face, usually emotionless, now bore an aggressive and antagonistic expression.

"What do you expect me to say?" he retorted, "That I am sorry I like you, that I purposely rejected Nora in hopes of getting to know you better? Because I didn't. Nora just…." He sighed, "She doesn't get it…"

"And you think I do?" Blake said, her arms crossed defensively as she looked at Ren, now sitting on the bed looking almost defeated.

"Yes, actually, that's exactly what I think." Ren responded. "Fuck me, right? Fuck me for even thinking that you could like me and relate to me like no one ever has. I made the mistake of thinking you understood me and understood how I felt about this school and about life in general."

"Why? Because I am a little apathetic? Because I am quiet? Does that automatically make me the poster child for introverted teenagers?" Blake was at this point getting more and more irritated.

"You need to leave," Ren said, standing up defensively. His magenta eyes glowed with irritation and as he stared Blake down in an attempt to intimidate her, he found his hand wandering up to his chest where the lotus was. "_Nora…_" he thought, and that thought alone caused his face to soften.

"I really hurt her…didn't I…" he said, eyes and face softening into a remorseful manner and this in turn allowed Blake to soften up as well.

"Look Ren," she said, her hand moving up to grasp his as it sat on his leg in an attempt to comfort him. "You are probably the most down to earth guy here and that speaks a lot to your character, but I'm not here to find love. I'm here to become a huntress and that alone." She squeezed his hand gently, causing him to look up at her. "But, that's just me. Maybe you need someone more than I do. Maybe you already have that someone and you just don't know it yet." Blake ran her hand that was not occupied with his down over the quilted bead. They were sitting on Nora's bed, ironically, and Blake's hand fell on one of the hot pink squares among other assorted shades of pink. Ren's face hardened a little, back to its normal emotionless and unreadable state.

"And you believe that's Nora?" he asked Blake, their hands still intertwined.

"Don't you?" Blake said back quickly.

The sun broke through the single window in the JNPR team room the next morning, bringing with it a strange cool breeze that carried the smell of the sweet red sap out of Forever Fall. It was this smell that woke Nora from a restless sleep, she sat up and looked at the clock which read 6:45. She sighed and set it down before looking up and around the team room. Pyrrha layed gracefully in bed, almost like a princess, and slept quietly with the blankets pulled all the way up to her chin. Next to her lay Jaune, one leg bent at an angle and the other straight out with a foot hanging off the bed. His covers had somehow made it up to the top of the bed next to his head and were now being used as a kind of pillow. He snored lightly and murmured things in his sleep. Of the dozen or so things he was saying, Nora could only make out the words "ursi," "cabbage," and "Weiss," which was most likely making for a very interesting dream.

There was one thing missing though, it was Ren. For the first time in months Ren had woken up even before Nora and it wasn't just that he had woken up. His bed was made, his pajamas folded and set on the bed and his bag was gone along with his weapons. Nora stood up and walked quietly over to where he slept, trying not to disturb the other occupants. There was no indication of where he had gone and although that was very much like Ren, Nora couldn't help but feel that there was something out of the ordinary going on. It was then that she looked out the window and her eyes narrowed in on Ren, walking in the distance towards Forever Fall, bag across his body and weapons in hand.

_What is he doing going there by himself? _She thought.

Nora stepped away from the window and got dressed.

_He can handle himself just fine in Forever Fall…._

Fully dressed she opened the top of the dresser the four of them shared, the top two drawers being hers and Pyrrha's. She reached in for her brush, but her hand touched something else first. She pulled the drawer out further and saw the silver necklace she had been wearing the day before. This was the first time she had taken it off since Ren gave it to her. She picked it up and let the cool metal rest in her palm before she closed her fingers around the hammer charm, looking up and turning her head so that she was facing the window. A small breeze brushed her cheek, her hair tickling her jawline.

"Damnit Ren," she said, grabbing her hammer and swiftly leaving the room to follow him into the woods.


End file.
