So I finally got around to posting this. This took a lot of thought and planning, but I'm glad I got around to doing it. I hope you enjoy these little snippets of what goes on in the day to day of beacon.
Disclaimer: RWBY is own by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth productions...If I owned it there'd be far more one off episodes with Professor Port in them.
It was a peaceful morning in Vale as the sun rose over Beacon. Artemis Shelia slept soundly until the shrill ring of her alarm pulled her from her sleep. Slowly she got up, stretched, and put on her glasses unsurprised by how empty the room was so early. She'd thought that she and Jason would be the only early riser on the team, Jason being set in his regimen of studying late into the night and waking up before the sun for a rigorous training routine and her getting up at the crack of dawn out of habit from years of working on her family's farm, but Sigurd not to be out done also seemed to get an early start to his day often being out of bed before any of his teammates awoke. In fact Nidhogg seemed to be the only member of Team JASN unconcerned if the early bird beat him to the worm. Even now he was happily and loudly snoring in his bed which barely managed to contain the burly young man. Artemis couldn't help but smile at the contented expression on their resident sleeping giant's face as she began quietly gathering her things for her shower. It didn't take long for Artemis to shower and return to room to change into her uniform, she was never one to dawdle and she'd already made the mistake of lingering around the room until Nidhogg's personally designed alarm clock went off. The hodgepodge contraption was impressive but no matter how deep a sleeper he seemed to be Artemis had a hard time believing he really needed two air-horns just to get up in time to get ready for class. She was just glad no one had made a noise complaint about his alarm yet, she still hadn't gotten used to Professor Goodwitch's intimidating stares enough to deal with one aimed directly at her.
She did a once over in the mirror once she was finished getting dressed and couldn't help but frown. No matter how much she tried to convince herself she just couldn't get used to the school's uniform. Altogether she was not comfortable wearing this much black or wearing a skirt, much less once so short. She sighed smoothed out the skirt and grabbed her backpack and left the room. She headed for the cafeteria, stopping on the way to give a wave and polite greeting to Professor Arch as he made his way towards the faculty lounge. The cafeteria in the early morning was incomparable to what it was like any other time of the day. Students sat alone with entire tables to themselves eating quietly, reading, or just enjoying a peaceful moment before the hustle and bustle of the day began. Artemis got her food and found Jason and joined him at the end of the table. "Hey Jason, how was your workout?" She asked cheerily.
"It went well, I was even able to get some time in on one of the cycles before getting back into Chiron." Jason smiled.
"That' great, but remember to take it easy okay." Artemis warned between taking bites of her eggs.
"I told you, you don't have to worry, I know my own limits."
"And it's my job as your friend and partner to remind you not to go overboard, I do wanna see you not have to need that chair again someday." Artemis said pointing at him with her fork.
"I know, thanks." Jason said blushing a little and casting his gaze off to the side. Artemis loved that she could still get Jason to drop his tough soldier attitude every now and again even after all these years and she couldn't picked a better leader for her team. After a few moments she noticed Jason was still looking off to the side, by now she didn't even have to follow his gaze to know who he was looking at.
"Is he still insisting to sit alone?" She asked with a hint of uncertainty. The person in question was their teammate, one Sigurd Sigmund. He'd taken it upon himself to keep his distance from the team as much as possible and Artemis believed if it wasn't Nidhogg he would ignore them as much as possible outside of class if given the choice. He made sure during these early morning meals they shared he would always sit at least three tables away and with his back to them. They'd hoped he'd warm up to them with time, but after almost two months he was still as set in his ways as when they'd first became a team.
"That's it." Jason said slamming a fist against the arm of his chair. "I'd hoped giving him some space would help him acclimate to this team, but apparently I was wrong."
"C-calm down Jason." Artemis pleaded, hoping he wouldn't do something rash and make things worse.
"No, I'm going over there and talking to him as leader of this team." Jason said wheeling himself from the table and off towards Sigurd. Artemis could only cringe, she knew this wasn't a good idea. She watched the exchange, it went as poorly as to be expected. Jason first tried to be his usual friendly self and she couldn't tell if Sigurd ignored him or dismissed him, but Jason steadily seemed to be get madder until Sigurd stood up like they weren't even having a conversation disposed of his trash and walked out of the cafeteria. Jason was fuming as he rolled himself back to their table.
"That didn't look like it went well."
"I have never met such and arrogant self-assured bastard in all my life!" Jason groaned sinking into his chair while he crossed his arms. "I need to come up with some kind of a plan to convince him he's part of this team."
"I-I'm sure you'll think of something. Just don't go too…" Before Artemis could finish her thought Nidhogg strode up to them with his usual big smile plastered on his face.
"Hey guys how's it going?" He asked enthusiastically.
"O-oh morning Nidhogg." Artemis greeted, even though they'd been part of a team for close to two months she was still getting used to their very own good natured brute.
"Go ahead and get your food, we'll wait for you." Jason half offered, half ordered in what Artemis was beginning to call his 'Leader' voice.
"Gotcha boss." Nidhogg said giving a mock salute before hurrying over to the slowly growing breakfast line. It wasn't long before he returned with a tray piled high with food and small collection of various flavored milks. "So I saw Sig heading back to the room to get his stuff, he seemed to be in a good mood." Nidhogg managed get out between shoveling food into his mouth getting odd looks from his fellow teammates.
"Re-really, that's…good." Artemis managed while Jason just put a hand over his mouth in a thoughtful manner.
"Yeah, I think he's finally starting to warm up to the whole team idea." Nidhogg laughed before chugging one of his milks. "I'm sure he'll come around soon, you should have seen how long it took him to get used to our old crowd at signal."
"Yeah, y-you're probably right. You do know him better than any of us." Artemis said with a hopeful smile. They continued their meal with lighthearted conversation before leaving the cafeteria and heading their separate ways for class.
Artemis had over time become more accustomed to class. At their old school in Mistral things had been more strict and disciplined and the teacher had much less character. But by now she was beginning to like it better here. Her day wasn't out of the ordinary, Professor Port's class didn't go anywhere after Perciva got him started talking about the time he took down an entire flock of Nevermore so she used the time to get a head start on the reading he was bound to assign once he realized time had gotten away from him. Once she was done with that she had history with Professor Oobleck, everything was normal until she noticed Robin's partner Dae snickering under his breath a few rows below her as the Professor went grab a fresh cup of coffee from the coffee maker near the blackboard. Slowly but surely the Professor's caffeine induced speed seemed to wear down turning him into a slouching and yawning caricature of his former self. The class could hardly contain their laughter and he shuffled about the class trying to maintain his train of thought until he all but slid himself over to his desk, slumping over it for support and retrieved a thermos from one of the drawers. He unscrewed the top and poured out its steaming black contents into the cup before he gulped it down like it would save his life. She watched as a telltale shiver seemed to run through him from his head to his toes before he shot upright and zipped back in front of the class.
"Hmph, Yes I'm sure you all considered that very amusing," He said zipping to one side of the room to another returning back to his usual rapidfire pace, "But now that the distractions are out of the way, let's get back to the lesson at hand." As he started back from where he left off Artemis couldn't help but giggle a little at the immature prank. Then something caught her eye, Djack was sitting a little ways down from scribbling something furiously in a small black notebook filled with colored leafed post-it tabs. She remembered how early on Sigurd had made it a point to warm Jason and her about Djack and his rather unscrupulous dealings and how her few interactions with the broom wielding boy had cultivated a bit of fearful wariness in her. Unfortunately her natural curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but sneak a peek at what had Djack so engrossed. Inside the book she could see a few picture of students she recognized from around school, some with circles full of arrows around them others with different colored lines leading small notes scribbled in a tight messy script, one even had a large red X through it which caused her to let out a muffled gasp that didn't go unnoticed by Djack. He carefully closed the book and he turned towards her wearing an unnervingly fake smile that made her bury her head in her notes until the end of class. Once the bell rang she gathered her things in a rush, Djack just sitting in his seat with his hands crossed with the same unpleasant fake grin on his face following her with his eyes as she made her way out of the class.
She had the next period free and sought refuge in the library. The library had quickly become her favorite place at Beacon. While it saw its fair share of visitors on any given day, it was still one of the largest rooms in the school allowing her plenty spots to escape for a moment of personal solitude. Growing up on the farm back home she had little to amuse herself with, but she always found time to sneak away to the barn or to her favorite tree and curl up with a good book. While she weaved between the shelves checking for something new to read she noticed a familiar red cap peeking over a book off in the corner. She blushed a little as she slipped behind a nearby shelf. Robin had been the first people outside of Jason and her team to approach her at Beacon and he had been so nice to her, plus he seemed to really love books. She composed herself and headed over to his table. "I-is this seat taken?" She asked catching his attention.
"Hey Artemis." He greeted with a smile. "Go ahead, I was just studying." Robin said offering Artemis a seat. They settled into an easy conversation after a while and Artemis began explaining how her morning went. "Wow, must be rough being on a team with him, I mean I only spent a little while with Sigurd as a partner and I was ready to pull my hair out."
"H-he isn't so bad." Artemis tried to defend. "He's just kind of a loner I guess, Nidhogg says he doesn't really come out of his shell much." Artemis checked the time on her scroll. "Oh I have to go, I have to meet my team for lunch." She said gathering her books up.
"Okay, good luck with Mr. Sourpuss." Robin said as she waved goodbye and headed for the cafeteria.
The cafeteria had reached its usual hustle and bustle by the time she made her way there. She could see Nidhogg sitting at their usual table already attack another giant pile of food. He saw her and waved her over enthusiastically. "Hey there, you should hurry up and get your food, lines gonna get real bad once that bell rings." He offered as she set her books down.
"Yeah th-thanks for the advice." She said meeting his warm food smeared smile with one of her own before she hurried off and got her food. It wasn't long before classes let out and Jason and Sigurd joined them at the table with trays in hand. Lunch was one of the few times Sigurd chose to join them, and only at Nidhogg's insistence. Nidhogg kept most of them busy going on about this and that until Jason cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Alright guys, I had a talk with Professor Port a little while ago and got us signed up for some live Grimm practice for today after class." He announce making Artemis almost go pale and Nidhogg perk up with excitement.
"Dude that's awesome!" Nidhogg boomed sending a flecks of food spewing into Sigurd's salad making the light blue haired warrior push it aside with a look of disgust.
"Ar-are you sure that's a good idea. Sure taking on a few Grimm here and there isn't much trouble, bu-but I've heard Professor Port goes into the forest and rounds up whole packs of them for these sessions." Artemis chimed in.
"That's the point, I'm confident if stick together and work as a team we can handle them just fine." Jason reassured his childhood friend putting a hand on hers.
"Well I will take a pass, I have better things to do." Sigurd said standing up preparing to leave while cast a cold stare towards Jason which the chair bound boy returned.
"Actually you don't have a choice, I signed us up as a team so we have to be there as a team." Jason shot back earning a harsher glare from Sigurd.
"Aw c'mon Sig, this will be great." Nidhogg said either unaware of the growing tension between his teammates or just ignoring it as he put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
Sigurd turned to his partner who just smiled at him before he let out a huff and returned to his seat crossing his hands in front of his face. "Well then I guess since I have no say in the matter I will attend. The idea does have some merit I suppose."
"Great." Jason beamed as they settled back into their lunch with Nidhogg quickly picking back up where he had left off in his story.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully until Artemis found herself getting ready for their training session in the locker room. She felt more at ease once she had Harrier and Kite safely holstered behind her back, she'd fought Grimm before, and her team would be right there fighting alongside her. She didn't have anything to worry about. She met up with the rest of her team in the spacious training hall where Professor Port stood poised atop an expansive cage filled with Beowolves. Nidhogg looked like a kid in candy store as he hoped from foot to foot shadowboxing, Jason was checking his shield Andromeda one final time, and Sigurd just seemed to be standing there glaring daggers at the angry Grimm as they struggled at the bounds of their cage. "Ah, it warms my heart to see a team so enthusiastic to train against these beasts, I could hardly contain myself as I ventured into the Emerald forest to capture these vicious monsters." Port bragged swinging his Blunderaxe as blustered.
"Thank you sir." Jason said as he shifted Chiron into battle mode. "I think we're ready to go. Right team?"
"Ye-yeah." Artemis agreed drawing Harrier and Kite and readying their pistols.
"Hell yeah!" Nidhogg cried activating Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr.
"Let's just get this over with." Sigurd all but moaned drawing Gramm.
"Bully, well then have at you!" Port cried swinging his weapon down and severing the cages lock releasing the angry Grimm.
"Alright Sigurd and Nidhogg take point! Artemis and I will cover your back, watch your sides and don't get overrun!" Jason ordered as he switch Andromeda into a bow and readied the first of his arrows.
"Like I needed you to tell me that!" Sigurd shouted back running out in front and dropping to one knee as he transformed Gramm into its rifle form and opened fire on the Beowolves flooding forth while Nidhogg charged in headlong and began pummeling any Grimm that made it past his partner.
"Artemis watch Nidhogg's sides, I don't want him getting flanked if we can help it!" Jason shouted as he fired off a few arrows into Grimm charging their way.
"Roger that!" She hollered back firing into the mass of Grimm as Nidhogg jumped back to give himself some breathing room. A ferocious snarl ripped Artemis attention from the battle as Beowolf snuck up on her from the side leaping at her with its claws bared. She screwed her eyes shut and braced herself for the blow to come but all that came was a loud thud. When she opened eyes she found Nidhogg standing between her and the Beowolf with Tanngrisnir pressed hard into its chest.
"Hands off the little lady ugly!" He roared swinging his shield out of the way as he brought Tanngnjostr up in its place, the piston crashing down on the shell as the blow landed. The force of the impact filled the room as the Grimm was blasted to the ceiling with large fist sized hole through its chest. "You okay?" He asked turning back to check on her.
"Look out!" She yelled flipping her grip on Harrier and hurling it around Nidhogg at two more charging Beowolves, cleaving off their heads before it soared back into her hand. Nidhogg just took a second to register what happened before he flashed her a smile and a thumbs up and charged back into the fray, crushing a Grimm with a shield tackle.
Sigurd had returned Gramm back to its sword form as he furiously cut a swath through the Grimm. He managed to cleave one unfortunate Beowolf clean in half when one of them finally managed to slip past his guard and take him to the ground. He cursed as he struggled to keep the beast at bay while it swiped at his armor and gnashed its teeth mere inches from his face. Two loud cracks rang out as the Grimm was ripped off of him and sent flying into the nearby wall. As he got up Sigurd could see two of Jason's arrows piercing the Beowolf's side and pinning it to the wall. The leader in question had rushed over to his side, rearing Chiron back and sending a powerful set of powerful mule kicks into a pair of Grimm.
"You in one piece?" Jason asked spinning back around to fire a couple of arrows.
"Of course I am." Sigurd growled back as he gathered his sword.
"Good, cause we need you out there." Jason shouted turning around and kneeling Chiron down to offer Sigurd a hand.
Sigurd couldn't help but grin as he pushed himself up and readied his sword. "Of course you do!" He laughed as he charged back into the fight, taking out a pair of Beowolves with one swing.
Jason just chuckled shifting Andromeda back into its shield mode and elongating his last arrow into a spear as he called out to his team. "Alright guys we have them on the ropes, full offense, let's show these Grimm what we're made of!" He leapt into the battle joining Sigurd near the front of the pack with his weapons at the ready.
It wasn't long before they were done, Nidhogg bashing the last of the Beowolves into the training room's floor. Artemis wiped the sweat pouring from her brow as Professor Port leapt from his spot on top of the cage to give them his congratulations. "Good show, good show students. Your teamwork and tenacity was quite impressive."
"Thank you sir." Jason said removing his helmet and shifting Chiron back into chair mode.
"No by all means you've earned it, you did a fine job directing your team young Argo." Port laughed patting Jason on the shoulder making Sigurd scowl a little.
"With all due respect sir, I just put my team into the position best suited to their abilities. If anything I'm just glad I have a team I can rely on and put my trust in." Artemis couldn't help but smile, Jason was never one to take credit, even when it was well deserved. She also couldn't help but notice Sigurd's scowl seemed to evaporate and be replaced with thoughtful look.
"Well said my boy, but all of you made an admirable performance today. Be proud!" Professor Port proudly bellowed. "Now if you excuse me I must be getting back to my duties and send someone to clean up this mess, you're dismissed."
Artemis couldn't help but feel good about the day as Nidhogg cheered on their victory and sent a playful yet too powerful punch into Sigurd's arm which sent him sprawling to the ground. Sigurd began loudly berating his partner's lack of control while he only laughed it off and Jason tried get them to calm down. Sure, getting used to Beacon was proving to be a daily battle, but she was sure with a team like this she'd manage to get through it.
Well there you have it, the first of many (I hope) one-shots. I had a lot of fun doing this because for once I got to mostly focus on one character and address one of the other two teams.
Well as always please review, I'm considering taking requests or ideas for the next few chapters. Also I'll be doing chapters about the character's that are the most popular or need the most characterization so if you want to see someone pop up vote in the poll on my page.
Til next time.