It was an average day at Beacon Academy's dining hall. The students were all gathered at the tables for breakfast before they went to their morning classes. Seated at one of these tables were two teams that had become pretty famous, and infamous, at the school. Teams RWBY and JNPR were eating their fill and chatting animatedly. Well the most animated one there was Nora as usual, who seemed more hyper active than ever. As the teams continued their meal, a certain amazon by the name of Pyrrha Nikos stared at her team leader with what one would assume was a worried expression. The blonde goofball Jaune Arc had been acting distant of late, only really interacting with her during their training sessions. He had become more skilled, there was no denying it. He had even managed to disarm her a few times while training with her. All the while his piercing blue eyes carried a certain intensity now that she couldn't deny was captivating. He began carrying himself with more confidence. But he also seemed to have become a bit colder, his nervous charm replaced by a cool confidence underscored by a fiery temper that lay just beneath the surface that had begun to turn the heads of the female population of Beacon. Despite how much happier he seemed Pyrrha was unsettled by his behavior. Ren and Nora had noticed a similar change when she had asked them about it. Even now he was seated a little away from them, a few loose strands of his golden locks visible dangling in front of his face, displaced by the white headphones perched on his head, the crest on his shield painted onto the cups, which flashed to each beat of the music, effectively letting him ignore everyone else at the table. She saw him look up towards the entrance to the dining hall. Following his gaze, she saw a familiar pair of bunny ears that belonged to the faunus girl Velvet Scarlatina. She watched as Jaunes gaze followed her, pausing briefly as it settled on the schools bully and a tormentor of Jaunes when he first arrived, Cardin Winchester.
Pyrrhas face grew more worried as Jaunes gaze lingered on Cardin with a barely visible scowl, pulling his headphones off his ears to hang around his neck, though his music kept playing. The volume was up enough that if she closed her eyes and focused she could make out the words. The song was fast paced and loud, filled with wailing guitars and pounding drums. The lyrics became clearer as she focused.
Born with, no life, into subjugation.
Treated, like a, worthless animal
Stripped of, all rights
Just a lesser being
Crushed by, cruel
Ruthless human rule
The rest of the song was drowned out by a high pitched yelp of pain. Pyrrhas' eyes snapped open to see Jaune scowling in the direction of the yelp. She, and the rest of the table, followed his gaze to see poor Velvet being bullied by Cardin, who was pulling on the poor girls rabbit ears as the rest of his team laughed. She watched as Jaunes teeth clenched and he audibly growled before standing up and practically stomping towards the bullies. RWBY and JNPR shared nervous looks as they watched the knight make his way to them. "Winchester!" Cardin turned at the sound of name just in time to see the closed fist of Jaune Arc slam into his nose, breaking it with a loud sickening crunch and sending him tumbling over the table. A collective gasp was heard through the dining hall and all other conversation ceased as team CRDL stared between Jaune and Cardin. Russel, understandably, recovered fastest as Cardin began to rise. The rest of the team shook themselves from their stupor and immediately began circling Jaune. Cardin, ignoring the blood streaming from his nose stood in front of Jaune with angry eyes. He spoke, and it took everything the blonde knight had not to laugh. "You bastahd, you brog my dose, for what, some stubid little faunus?" he yanked on Velvets ear again, eliciting another cry of pain, which in turn made Jaune growl again. Silent tension filled the room as the students watched the two face off, the dead silence allowing everyone to hear the song Jaunes headphones had been playing end, then a few seconds later began to play again.
The fight began when Sky threw a punch at Jaunes face, which Jaune deflected with his left hand, spinning and driving his right elbow into his attackers stomach before spinning around and slamming his knee into Sky's face as he doubled over, leaving him sprawled on the ground. Dove and Russel decided it would be best to attack as a team, coming at Jaune from both sides. Jaune shot forward, making Cardin jump back as Jaune spun, catching Doves arm as he used his free hand to drive a punch into his elbow, bending his arm at an impossible angle and guiding him in front of Russels punch, almost feeling bad for Dove as his jaw dislocated. He unceremoniously dropped Dove, shooting forward to hit the off balance Russel in the kidney, eliciting a loud cry before Jaune grabbed the back of Russels head and slammed it into his own, breaking a second nose and leaving Russel sprawled on the ground. Jaune turned his eyes to Cardin, who stared at him with the same fearful gaze he'd reserved for Yang and Nora. The knight closed the distance between them in what felt like a heartbeat, and grabbed the bully by his collar, dragging him down to eye level before muttering two very simple words in a deadly serious tone. "No more." Cardin nodded vehemently as he felt a warm fluid run down his leg and puddle on the floor.
Jaune let him go and walked over to Velvet, who had been hiding under the table since the fight started. He offered her his hand and gently helped her stand, a warm smile on his face. "Are you hurt?" he asked, then continued, "I mean besides the ear pulling." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, the awkward, shy young man he was before resurfacing. The bunny girl blushed lightly as she shook her head, stammering out a 'no'. Jaune nodded before putting his headphones back on and walking past the carnage of his fight and out the door. RWBY and JNPR shared glances between each other and staring at the door. Yang was the first to break the silence. "So . . . who else wants to have Jaunes babies?" Weiss and Blake both blushed and Ruby covered her ears, not wanting to hear her sister talk about this. Nora on the other hand went off on a tangent, which was normal for her. "Oh my gosh can you believe what he did it was so awesome he was like pow bam whop and they were all like oh my gosh my limbs are broken and oh my gosh Yang your babies would be so cute with their blonde hair and-" "Nora." Ren said, cutting her off gently. This seemed to jam the clip of the Valkyries machine gun mouth. "Sorry Ren. Hey, where's Pyrrha?" she asked, everyone looked at the door just in time to see a red ponytail disappear around the corner.
As every student knows as soon as they see it from the air ship, Beacon Academy stands on a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Often when students have free time they come out to sit on the edge of the cliff or the grass a little farther from the edge and study, or kiss if a couple happened to be there. But along one particular stretch of land there rested only one tree. And pacing beneath the shade of this tree was Jaune. His calm veneer had shattered, leaving the blonde goofball everyone remembered he was when he first arrived. "Oh man what did I just do? I'll tell you what I did, I beat up four students, which was totally badass but also grounds for expulsion. I can't believe I was actually able to do that." He said to himself as he banged his head against the tree. A new voice spoke, making him panic when he recognized it. "Nor am I Mister Arc, it seems you're full of surprises." Jaune immediately looked up to see the silver haired professor Ozpin, cane in hand and scroll in the other. "Would you like to see your handywork as captured by the security cameras?" he asked, offering the scroll to Jaune, who took it and watched as he beat up team CRDL by hiself from four different angles. It had felt longer in his head but it only took maybe twelve seconds. "Cardin and his team are in the infirmary being patched up as we speak. Considering the circumstances I have forbidden them from using Aura to heal themselves. Nature will do the work for them. I've also thrown in a hefty amount of detention for all four of them. Bullying is not tolerated at Beacon." Ozpin said, adjusting his glasses. "Wow. That was me, I wasn't dreaming." He said to himself, making the professor chuckle. "Indeed it was. You're training sessions with Miss Nikos must be paying off." Jaune paled. "Know about that huh?" he said lamely, rubbing the back of his neck. Ozpin smiled "I do. I also know you faked your transcripts to gain entrance into Beacon." Jaune went wide eyed at this statement before sighing. "Well I guess I better go get packed."
As Jaune started to walk past him Ozpin slapped his cane against his chest. "That's not necessarily true. When I became headmaster of this academy I wanted it to be a place where people could excel and become great if they wanted it badly enough. You were willing to falsify your transcripts just to get here, and while you were far from skilled when you first arrived you have shown a tremendous amount of growth, as a leader, a warrior, and a person. I believe you capable of great things Jaune Arc. So long as you continue to work hard and strive for greatness you will be allowed to remain. I have my eye on you." Ozpin finished, smiling at the knight from overtop his glasses. Jaune stared at the professor, dumbstruck. Before Ozpin could process it he was hugged by the blonde goofball. "Thank you professor, I promise I'll live up to your expectations." The professor chuckled as Jaune set him down. "I'm sure you will." He said, gesturing with his cane to the group of people walking towards them. "It seems your friends have come to congratulate you. I'll leave you to it. You've earned some time in the spotlight." The professor nodded to Jaune and started to leave before turning back. "And Jaune, professor Goodwytch believed you should still be punished considering you were the one that initiated the fight. Sadly she raises a valid point. You have one week of detention, to be served at the end of the year." Jaune nodded and professor Ozpin departed.
Jaune smiled as his friends finally made their way to him. Yang got to him first, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his lips, shocking the poor blondie. When Yang pulled away she grinned like the cat that ate the canary and whispered in his ear "If you ever want some extra training I'll gladly take you to the mat." She backed away and winked as Jaunes face turned a shade of red that matched Rubys' hood. Blake and Weiss were next, who gave him more praise, and he also got a kiss on the cheek from each of them, which made him smile. Ruby offered her fist for bumping and said "Way to kick some ass Jaune. I'm impressed." Then they handed him off to his own team. Nora went into a tirade about how awesome the fight was until Ren calmed her down. Ren patted his shoulder and said "You did good Jaune.", which was considered high praise from the silent fighter. Pyrrha was last, and surprisingly she looked nervous, wringing her hands. Seeing the direction this conversation might go, Yang and Nora herded everyone away to, in Yang's words, 'Let the lovebirds chat alone.' Pyrrha smiled at him awkwardly as Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "Jaune, what you did was amazing. I knew you had the potential to be a true warrior, and it showed today." The warrior woman said as she wrapped her arms around Jaunes chest in a gentle hug. The blonde returned the hug whole heartedly.
When they pulled away from each other they stared into each other's eyes for what felt like forever until Yang finally shouted '"Just kiss already!" the two blushed before slowly moving closer. When their lips finally met it was soft, gentle, tender, everything they had expected it would be. When they parted Pyrrha couldn't stop herself. "I love you." She gasped and covered her mouth when she realized what she said, her face turning bright red. All Jaune could do was smile and pull her hands away from her mouth so he could kiss her again. "I love you too."