NightX: Hello everyone you know me as the NightBringerX and with me - definitely not kidnapped from Maxaro - is The Loneliest of All.

Lonely: Hello! Please help me, I am currently bound, and using my tongue to type.

NightX: He adores the situation, trust me. Chains are just another way of saying I care, but, regardless, we are here today to bring you a story I had written almost two years ago. My Shining Knight now Redux.

Lonely: After talking for not even a week, my friend here suddenly whapped me in the back of the head with a baseball bat, and through manipulative hypnotic therapy, convinced me to hop on the project. I sincerely hope you enjoy what I bring to the table.

NightX: Good boy, keep reading that script… Wait, don't type that, ya bastard.

Lonely: I hope you all enjoy, and remember to favorite, follow, and review.

Fate-117: For the record, I will be the beta-reader and will be helping out where I can. I'm also the lovely little mastermind who decided to introduce these two. I expect nothing short of your unconditional surrender.

Chapter 1: The Email

-Dear Princess, I wanted to let you know, your mother and I have received your emails and we are so proud of you. We're happy you're fitting in well at Beacon. Personally, I knew you'd fit in well; we Scarlatina always have excelled in making friends. But, beyond that, you've surprised me with just how many friends you've made. However, I do wish you'd send us their names. It never hurts for a few background checks. Although, I'm getting off topic, I heard that Beacon is having a large masquerade, or Ball, or whatever it is those high society people call it. Given that it's going to be such a large event, and that you've made so many wonderful friends, your mother seems to think that it's quite possible you will have a boy escorting you. Personally, I am fine with that, but your mother keeps demanding that I tell you to send every boy's name that you know to us so she can do those background checks sooner rather than later.

-So proud of you, Princess, love Mom & Dad-

-P.S, We've also made arrangements to come and visit you at the Ball.

Velvet sweat dropped, they weren't supposed to come to Beacon, or see that her emails haven't been completely truthful. She started to panic as realization started to dawn on her. First, her father would be here in two weeks to assess how she's been doing, and she had to beg him to let her come to Beacon in the first place. And then, when he gets there, he'd realize that she didn't actually have very many friends at all. Only three, really.

"Okay..." she took a deep breath calming her nerves while realizing quite quickly that freaking out without a plan wasn't going to help. Placing down the rather unnerving scroll she got up and stepped towards her drawers. Her team was currently out and about, so she was able to change quickly into an orange T-Shirt and a pair of jeans, deciding a walk would do her well. Though, before she left, she decided to quickly take one last look at the Scroll, the message still on display as she closed out of it. It wasn't going to help her currently, being the object of her stress, so she decided to leave the Scroll on the center of her bed as she made her way out of the room.

Stepping out of her room, she quickly decided she'd visit the library, or maybe just walk around campus till she could figure out a scenario to her parent problem. Though her travel plans were beaten down quite quickly as a familiar jeer broke from behind her. "Hello, freak!" She turned to see Cardin with his cronies. She had a few ideas where this current problem could lead, and quite honestly she had a distinct thought it would not end well for her. "I thought there was a leash law?" he taunted moving closer.

'RUN!' instincts kicked in as flight or fight quickly turned to the former and she took that advice wholly, running as fast as she could down the halls taking every corner as quickly as possible. Unfortunately she could hear Cardin close behind, apparently the bigot wasn't done just yet. What a sight she must have been. 'A second year running from a pack of first years..' It was almost an extra insult to injury in her mind, but that was something for later. With her mind still working in overdrive she quickly dashed into an opening door, though in doing so she came face to face with a rather handsome blonde, though his confusion was obvious. "I-I-I-I," she stammered, not really knowing how to make sense of her situation while one of Cardin's insults reached the room.

"Where are you, freak?!" the yell echoed across the halls and into the room, but before she could say anything else the blonde quickly moved past her and shut the door. And not a moment too soon as they heard the sound of multiple people running outside. Though the sound quickly passed by, as it was obvious they weren't expecting her to hide in a dorm. 'Probably still looking for me.' she mused rather grimly. Though the thought turned into a quick sigh of relief. Before she realized she was alone in a room with the blonde, then it promptly turned into a sigh of exasperation.

Taking a moment to rationalize, she turned to him "Thanks..." she stammered still a little shaken by the quick run.

"No problem," he said with a smile before it turned to a look of curiosity "Wait, haven't I seen you in Oobleck's class?" he asked.

She nodded "Yeah, my name's Velvet." she stated rather meekly.

"Jaune Arc." he replied with another smile. "So, why exactly is Cardin chasing you?" he asked.

She paused as she thought for a moment on the best way to explain. She wasn't certain what his stance was on the Faunus, but given he helped her hide it probably wasn't bad. "I was on a quick walk and," she paused, thinking of a good way to explain. "And I happened to run into Cardin, and well you know the rest." she finished like a child being disciplined. Honestly, she wondered at times about the younger years at Beacon, given so many of them seemed to have chips on their shoulders.

Though Jaune's response blew that thought out of the water.

"Yeah, he's a jerk." Jaune stated rather decisively, which made her think he really didn't like the teen. This obviously made her let her guard down just a tiny bit. Anyone who disliked Cardin couldn't be a bad person, in her mind.

She allowed herself a moment to really look over him. His hair was disheveled, his stance was awkward, and he seemed to be searching his mind for something to say next. He must be in the same socially awkward boat as her, she thought. That thought eased her, and she straightened her stance just a little, taking the moment to breathe easy.

"So," Jaune continued, "uh, why aren't you with your team? I get that sometimes you need a bit to be away from them, but it seems like the majority of students seem to stick to groups. Makes it a lot less, you know, easy to be picked on…" he finished awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head.

"Oh, they went into Vale for the weekend," she replied. "If they were here, I'd be with them. I hardly ever leave their side if they aren't busy. It's just easier for me." Jaune nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Yeah, Cardin picks on me a lot, too." He didn't say anything more than that, he didn't need to. She could easily read the look on his face. She let out a laugh. Not one of amusement. Just a laugh. Just because she wasn't exactly sure what to say or do next.

He gave her a slight smile at the laugh, it was similar to something he would do. He started to laugh a little himself now as he spoke. "Would you like me to join you on that walk?" He asked, rather harmlessly, though it caught Velvet off guard.

"Oh." That took her a little by surprise as she was actually half-expecting him to open the door to let her out, but she couldn't just leave him without an answer, and anyone who suffered from Cardin too was more than a friend of hers; and with that thought, she quickly came to a decision. "I'd like the company." She replied with a nod as she watched Jaune's face light up.

He walked past her and opened the door before giving a rather gentlemanly gesture. "After you," he stated with a bow of his head whilst Velvet giggled.

"Why, thank you," she replied, walking past him as he followed suite, accompanying her to her destination.

Velvet walked with her hands behind her back, just enjoying the fresh air. There was silence, and that was all. No one was being loud, everyone was just minding their own business, and the birds provided a serene backing track for the walk. She had to admit, even having just met him, Jaune offered some amount of comfort. Knowing that he was nearby allowed her to relax, and it seemed like she was giving the same comfort for him.

She glanced over to him, noting the expression on his face. As if he were deep in thought. She bit her lip and just focused on moving forward. There was an unspoken rule that they not deviate from their selected path, but in all honesty, she didn't know what that path was, and she assumed he didn't either.

They were just going wherever, and wherever was fine with them.

"So, why exactly is your team away in Vale? And why for the weekend, specifically?" Velvet forced herself to look him in the eye, and she bit her tongue before attempting to reply.

"Er, well, Coco likes to go on these weekly shopping sprees, and she usually likes to have Fox and Yatsuhashi help her carry her stuff. If you ask me, I think it's because secretly Yatsuhashi has an eye for fashion," she said, covering her mouth and giggling. Her comment leant a light-heartedness to the atmosphere, and Jaune found that he could easily follow up on it.

"Really? Yatsuhashi? The big hulking guy with the swords that took down Cardin in like 20 seconds?" Velvet nodded, feeling pride in her teammate's strength.

"As much as he's a useful packmule, he's got a lot of other neat talents. He just doesn't talk a lot. People mistake him for being humorless, but he's actually a pretty funny guy once you get to know him." Velvet looked up to the sky in thought. Her team was really well known at Beacon, but not really well known. A lot of the time people just kind of assumed they were all one dimensional.

"That's good to know. I'd like to meet your team, you know, when they get back. You're like, really cool, so I can only assume the rest of your team is too." Velvet tried her hardest not to blush, and looked away from him just in case. She wasn't used to being complimented.

"Th-thanks… You're really cool, too, Jaune. What's your team like?" she asked, seeing the blonde give the question a little thought.

"Well, Ren can be pretty mysterious, but he's kinda like Yatsuhashi in the sense that he's really quiet, but he's really cool to talk to. Nora is," he stumbled for a second to think of a good way to explain the bubbly Valkyrie, "she can seem totally crazy, and maybe a little dangerous, but there's no one you can count on more to back you up," he explained earning a few nods of understanding from Velvet. "Then finally there's my partner, Pyrrha. She's kind, supporting, and super patient." he stated.

Velvet slightly laugh, "It sounds like you and your team are quite close as well." she suggested earning a nod from the Knight.

"Yeah, we are, I would say we're pretty much a family. We all see each other as siblings, with the exception of Nora and Ren. Maybe. Not entirely sure. The point is, we do almost everything together, so there was a lot of room for bonding early on." Velvet stretched, nodding even more as she let out a small, adorable yawn. "Oh, I guess that's our cue to head back, isn't it?" Jaune chuckled out.

Velvet rubbed at her eyes. "I'm really not that tired, it's just, you know, today was really…" She mulled over her next words carefully. "Eventful. I guess. I could do with a little bit of rest."

"Well, come on, we can talk more in your dorm!" Velvet let out a surprised yelp as he took her hand, showing a small surge of a more outgoing personality. It was so sudden, but it didn't really seem out of character. She just accepted it, knowing that he was just being himself more than likely. Although, the thought of having him in her dorm so soon after meeting him brought a blush to her cheeks that she definitely couldn't fight off this time.

She felt a joyous laugh rise from her chest, and she couldn't help but smile widely as they broke into a run. She couldn't believe it, but so soon after thinking she was done for, she had found a friend.

I hope you all enjoyed chapter 1 and ME and Lonely look forward to bringing you more chapters in the weeks to come, until next time NightX signing off.