I Know You

by AStranger'sFate

He's dangerous, reckless and irresponsible but Ruby still wants to trust him, Yang wonders why she can, Weiss can't afford to ignore him, and Blake, despite everything, wants to keep him from becoming Adam. The question for all of them though isn't why, it's how? How do they know Jaune Arc?

1. Chapter 1

I do not own RWBY or any referenced material, only my disgustingly over powered but infrequently appearing, hilariously unhelpful, probably sociopathic OC

Please support the official release so we can stop making up stuff we don't know.

RATED M FOR THINGS LIKE SWEARING(mostly my own), BRUTAL VIOLENCE, AND ALLUSIONS OF RAPE YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

This might and eventually will count as a full AU but I leave that to individual discretion for now.

IIIII

"Yang!" The blond brawler looked across the street from the club she'd just stepped out of to spot Ruby running towards her quickly, well quickly for people without speed semblances anyway.

"Oh, hey sis, what are you doing in this part of town?"

Her sister snorted as she waved her scroll under the blonde's nose. "I've got your scroll accounts password, you might as well be carrying a tracking device Yang as long as you have its location on."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever nerd."

"Hey!" Yang winced from her sister yelling all but directly into her ear. "Don't call me nerd; I'm way to cool for that."

Yang crossed her arms and gave her sister a flat look. "Ruby, the one hobby you have would only make you more of a recluse if we let you." Ruby pouted, Yang resisting only through long exposure to the devastating weapon, which was honestly saying something. For a fifteen-year-old girl, she was an absolute terror in a fight, physical or otherwise.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The brawler forced herself to monotone as she stalked past the cloak wearer toward bumble bee. She refused to even acknowledge her sis until she had her helmet on. "You hungry sis, I know a pretty good diner between here and home."

She had to keep her arm from fist pumping on reflex when she watched Ruby go from angry to embarrassed when her stomach audibly rumbled like Yang knew it would. Ruby couldn't go an hour before her metabolism burned off all but the heavies of meals. Ruby scowled at her but having the high ground over the girl only made the victory all the sweeter. "Come on, can't let the old folks think I can't take care of you."

Ruby snickered. "Sure, you certain you aren't worried about another 'sparring match' with a certain someone Yang."

The blond tensed. "No."

Her sister giggled sweetly in a 'I'm five foot two and carry a scythe that weighs almost as much as I do' kind of way. "You totally are." She all but sang as she jumped behind Yang. "You totally are." Yang gunned it, trying to drown out her sister's laughter, it didn't work.

The diner was fairly busy thanks to a sizeable handful of night owl's which honestly spoke more for the place then the fact that it was open all night. One needed a reason to go somewhere at this kind of hour and food typically wasn't good enough. Watching Ruby down the nicely oversized for its price strawberry milkshake across from her, Yang could only smile at this place's choice of remedies for that dilemma.

"Something happen Yang?"

Yang blinked at Ruby's abrupt question, one that taken precedence over finishing the strawberry flavored goodness which was normally had world imperiling requirements attached instead a simple question. "What?"

Ruby shrugged but didn't go back to her shake. "Yang, it might be late by sanity's standards but its not even midnight 'yet' and you already seemed to be ready to call it a night even before you saw me."

Yang really hated how well her sister knew her sometimes. "It's nothing sis, just got stood up is all."

She tried not to smile at the dumbfounded look on her sister's face. "Who's crazy enough to stand you up Yang?"

Yang only laughed. "He's got a good reason sis, cool your jets." She placated her sister easily.

Ruby only gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Your way to calm about this Yang, how into this guy are you?" And there was the crux of the manner, something Ruby was frighteningly accurate at getting to with or without her sniper rifle as well as another talent Yang envied in her genius sister.

Fortunately, Yang had an infallible decoy or she'd never get her sister to back off, it just hurt like a bitch to use it. "It's not like that Ruby, he might have info on Raven is all." She wasn't even lying but that didn't stop the taste of bile from filling her mouth.

Like that her sister wilted, knowing all to well what kind of sore spot Yang's birth mother was to Yang or, if she was being honest, their entire family. "Oh." She answered awkwardly unable to look at Yang.

Yang didn't hesitate to grab Ruby's hand. "Don't worry about it Rubes, he already gave me a time he could meet me again, it's not like I haven't waited years for answers anyway." Ruby nodded with a weak smile and Yang groaned, not even wanting to consider the ramifications of bringing home an upset Ruby at the moment.

"So, you have anything new in the works or is you writers block still in effect?"

The cloak wearer perked up noticeably. "I do actually, remember how I never could figure out how Suzume and the stranger met?"

Yang blinked. "You finally wrote that?" While books were anything but her style, Yang had found an almost incessant attraction to her sister's wildly unpredictable stories of a single huntsman in training forced to go back in time over and over again and relive a war that would decide the fate of Remnant.

In her sister's usual unconventional fashion that had her insisting on using a scythe like her uncle it had started pretty much in the middle. In short, the beginning had been little more than fragments that could only be distantly connected to each other at best. Even the reason for his suffering had taken the girl a year of effort alone to decide on.

Ruby all to proudly pulled out her scroll and slid it over to her. "It's a little rough still and honestly doesn't make a whole lot of sense yet but at least I've got something." Yang was too busy reading to actually listen though.

The knight leaned heavily against the rubble behind him, dull blue eyes fixated on the incredible blood-stained sunrise in the distance through the rooms shattered wall, tears trailing slowly through the blood, and soot covering his face, blond hair half burnt and strewn with filth rippling softly in the smoke-filled winds.

Fingers covered in burns passed through soft red locks as they mechanically repeated the same motion over and over again, a shattered bronze colored shield in front of him, the gapping maw of a monster only feet away, its stillness all but mocking the loss suffered below.

He was thankful for the numbness if nothing else. Being dead sucked but at least it spared him actually feeling his injuries. As for his mental state, soul, heart, or whatever else one wanted to call it, watching his partner's always so amazingly expressive eyes dull as that woman's blade slowly slid between her ribs might as well have thrown him into the ocean surrounding Atlas.

He had nothing, was nothing. Just another corpse among the hundreds or thousands that no doubt lay scattered about the school and city below.

Dramatic as it sounded he wasn't the one who'd made that call. Rouge's uncle, Salt?, had done that when he'd rescued the girl after whatever she did nocked her unconscious. He'd watched the huntsman check his pulse, breathing, even his pupil reaction with a scroll's flashlight.

Yang chuckled once again over her sister's choice of names for her character that was in no way at all based off their uncle. The grouchy old man did need to find more cheer in life then what came out of a bottle and making fools out of people.

While he doubted the man was anyone's idea of a doctor, Suzume didn't think it took an actual degree to tell if someone was dead. He was still a little bitter that after finding none, the bastard had gone and dragged his partner's body on top of him, doused them both with his flask and set them on fire. Standard practice among huntsman and huntresses ever since it had been discovered that Grimm didn't touch bodies with any form of severe burns.

The 'why' of the matter had never been discovered as Remnant was a world that 'Why' was a luxury for the powerful. . . or those already dead but too stupid to apparently even do that right.

He gave off an empty laugh at the first sign of madness. Being left with nothing but his thoughts, what may as well be all the time in the world and, through some sick twist of fate, partial motor functions he'd regained only minutes after the man had left, it seemed like the thing to do.

With his mind wandering as it was, he came up with any number of theories to explain, ranging from plausible to ridiculous with his favorite being that he was already dead and was actually in Hell already suffering his eternal torment for his failure. If that was true, he'd never complain about boiling pits of molten lava again.

The hours of torment ended with an ember, a simple random fluttering spark in the air he'd been tracking absently with his gaze, that broke up his thoughts when it abruptly stilled in midflight taking the soft wind and the howls of distant Grimm with it. Dull blue eyes darkened as burn covered fingers slowly moved towards the worn and battered sword by his side.

"Legends," A woman's voice filled the still smoke-filled air, "Stories scattered through time." She continued.

"Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past." The woman's soft voice in the otherwise absolute silence chilled the knight faster than any winter wind.

"Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction. The creatures of Grimm set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void." Each soft word was punctuated by pain as he struggled to grasp the sword beside him.

"However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds." His weapon finally in his grasp, the knights formerly glazed eyes danced about.

"This power was appropriately named, Dust." The woman's voice had changed, gaining a faint electronic sound halfway through the sentence.

"Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness and in the shadow's absence, came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life."

"Even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die and when they are gone… darkness will return." A stranger stood in front of the knight, a stranger that had not been there a moment ago.

Dark brown hair and decent build though a good few inches shorter and at least half a dozen years older than Suzume, the man didn't give off the usual signs of someone dangerous, he didn't even seem to have a weapon hidden anywhere under the red and black of his plaid shirt or thin tan T and jeans while his grey and orange running shoes had definitely seen better days, the black of his socks visible through the toe of one of them, the material stretching precariously as he crouched on the balls of his feet.

"So, you may prepare your guardians," The woman's voice continued, echoing faintly from a black scroll in the stranger's hand, "Build your monuments to a so-called free world, but take heed… There will be no victory in strength." He couldn't suppress a shiver at the shift in her tone from faint apathy to chilling hatred between one sentence in the next.

"But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul." The voice of a man Suzume knew, respected, trusted. Whatever was supposed to come next ended as the man tapped his scroll before sliding it into the back pocket of his faded jeans.

"Shit luck huh, learn your perfect woman loved you, then lose her after a single kiss." The stranger's chuckle enraged the knight but an unnatural weight held him still as the stranger continued. "You planning to die here as well?" He rose from his crouch as he spoke and wandered towards the edge heedless of the petrified monster beside him, "As things are, it would take a miracle to get out of here alive."

And there he was, Fate, or at least her sister's depressing as reality eccentric showboat rendition of the cosmic force in a nut shell. Before Yang could get any further though Ruby snatched her scroll back. "The dust shops across the street, I'm gonna go see if they have anything new."

Yang might have complained but stopped herself as it would only be to the trail of rose petals still falling in her sister's wake. "What kind of dust shop is open at midnight?" She muttered in annoyance.

IIIII

Ruby hummed softly as she bobbed her head to the beat of the song, silver eyes flickering across the latest weapon mods on the market not really expecting to find anything of any actual use. She'd used the dust shop more as an excuse to stop Yang from pestering her with questions over what came next.

She loved Yang with all her heart but the girl was persistent as her name sake, which had of course led to nor shortage of altercations, some of which had not turned out well in the slightest. Ruby simply did what she had to if it meant avoiding some of those clashes.

She struck gold when she reached the section normally devoted to tips from pro-hunters or at least what the magazine insisted were anyway only this time it had an excerpt from a huntsman who'd been rescued by Spectrum, the only known alias for the most wanted rogue huntsman turned anti-hero criminal in the world. Like Torchwick, Spectrum was in it for the fame but unlike the well renown thief he held no reservations about killing or who's toes he stepped on, as proven through his many run ins with the SDC or the Schnee family itself.

On the other hand, the renegade had on countless occasions saved civilians or huntsmen and huntresses from overwhelming Grimm, stopped White Fang riots and protected any number of Faunus from oppressors and published countless thesis's that ranged from weapon modification to the most compelling unbiased argument on Faunus equality or even superiority to normal humans in no less than three hundred thousand words.

Oddly enough it wasn't the Grimm that the renegade had saved the man from this time but from committing suicide after he'd lost his partner from Beacon during a mission. He stated that the mercenary had told him 'If you feel so guilty about living after someone died, then punish yourself by living with that guilt and doing something with your life since they sure as hell don't want to see you anytime soon."

The quote sparked a familiar cord with in her. All but tossing the magazine back on the shelf, she dug her scroll from her pocket and pulled up her note pad, fingers typing with practiced ease.

"What would you give to make your perfect world?"

"What would it cost me?" Suzume snapped back.

"Amusing me and cleaning up the mess you make." The knight fixed him with a dead man's look but it only made the stranger's smile widen.

The knight gave the stranger the first look of surprise he'd managed to weasel from him yet. "You planning on being of any particular use?"

The stranger snorted. "Look, as much as I would like to go from A to Z and skip everything besides F and U along the way even I have rules to follow kid," He gestured to the world about them, "Rules and requirement's that state that while I can leap from here to F followed to by a quick a quick dimensional portal to U, I still have to go back and tag the others, or provide a ridiculously good reason as to why I did not."

"Sounds like more work than its worth." Suzume replied dryly.

The stranger groaned in such a beleaguered manner one could almost believe that he'd completely missed the knight's sarcasm. "I know right, I mean seriously, it's all twenty sixty-two this or AR six seventy dash one that with these people."

"Huh?"

The stranger gave him a sheepish look. "Uh. . . sorry, wrong job."

The knight nodded slowly like he was dealing with a crazy person. "Suuuure." Ok, maybe not the best choice when dealing with what was clearly an actual real life cosmic being, gods that sounded ridiculous even in his head, but he really didn't have anything to lose at this point.

Of all things, the sullen pout that would have looked far more appropriate on a petulant child, that came over the stranger's face as huffed and glared at the knight was the last thing he expected. "Look, this is a take it or leave it option kid and I won't lie, the heavy liftings on you and you're probably going to regret this any number of times before it's over."

The knight snorted. "How convenient my only other choice just happens to be death."

Ruby's shoulder was suddenly grabbed rudely, nearly making her drop her scroll when she was forcefully turned around. She found a tall man in a black and red suit and a red bladed cleaver type sword in his hand and shades on despite it being the middle of the night. Social recluse that she was, Ruby could tell where this wind was blowing. Add the sin of interrupting her writing to the list and this little toad was in for a world of pain.

IIIII

Roman all but threw himself into the bullhead before all but dragging himself in to the bullhead's cockpit. "We've got a huntress."

The pilot snorted and vacated the chair, Roman catching the joy stick easily before he'd even taken a seat. Dust flared wildly outside, trying to tear it from his hands as the two experts duked it out. He hissed barely a second later when a super-heated fragment of concrete smashed into the window by his head, turning the ballistic glass in to a spider web of cracks. "When the hells did you start using fire dust combo's with wind bastard!" He shouted.

"Spice of life and my parents are married!" Was the near ecstatic reply.

Clinching his jaw on the near instinctive response about said parents, Roman focused on keeping the craft in the air as his splash zone seating to what was turning into the dust match of the decade heated far too rapidly for his comfort, all to happily leaving the huntress to the mess the second his partner created an opening.

An arrogant deep throated chuckle preceded said partner as he stepped back into the cockpit. "At least your good for something." The man mocked sarcastically as he dropped into the copilot seat.

"Mind your manners before I pull this thing over." Roman shot back. Regret came instantly as the man perked up.

"Really?" The eagerness was impossible to miss, the manner similar to a demented combo of a playful puppy and a shark smelling blood.

"No." Roman snarled, doing his best not to show his panic to the creature across from him.

"Pussy." The man muttered as he pulled out a smoke, lighter clicking softly a second later.

Roman glared at the man across from him. The tall white-haired kid was the poster boy for teen rebellion everywhere, literally, Roman had seen them. "What happened back there Spectrum, that girl didn't even look like puberty's hit yet."

"Say's the idiot screaming about huntresses." The man snarked back so distantly Roman actually blinked before looking at the younger man, who's silk dress shirt and pants were both inky black while his gloves and tie were somehow the exact same shade of white as his hair, none showing even the faintest sign of the intense combat he'd been in mere minutes before as he thumbed through his scroll despite the black silk covering the upper half of his face.

For the longest time people had made the mistake of thinking he was blind folded. Roman was among the few able to regret that assumption.

The only break from the outfits monochrome pattern were the thin diagonal scarlet lines across his fedora and a gold chain dangling from a belt loop before vanishing into his pocket, suggesting a watch. Again, Roman knew better.

"I'm serious Spectrum," Torchwick snapped, "I'm one thing but that girl had us pinned for almost five minutes." It shouldn't need to be said that five minutes was a life time in combat.

"She's got talent unlike someone." Roman swallowed, hearing the near monotone decibel his partner voice had reached, just shy apathy. Apathy meant carelessness and carelessness meant mistakes which were quickly followed by cops. This was where the line between Spectrum and the rest of the criminal underworld separated. Criminals went to jail, Spectrum left bodies. Mangled, burned, unrecognizable bodies he wouldn't even recall a week later.

Unlike most criminals, Roman didn't have a single problem with the law or those who enforced it. They kept the city's sheep herds in line and made his work interesting enough to be entertaining. In turn he kept the damage down to property and a bruised ego here and there, greased the wheels a little and voila gentleman criminal for all the world to see and admire.

And now Spectrum, being a right and proper anti-hero, was a potential monkey wrench into that carefully built business arrangement the equivalent of an explosion with aura assisted legs leaving Roman with the choice of doing something stupid or dealing with that mess. "Are we ever going to end this cold war between us Spectrum, even the boss is tired of it.

"She also thinks your mildly useful scum, like fertilizer just less reliable." The barb was a clean hit setting Torchwick even further on edge as he ground his teeth but forced himself to focus. Spectrum had a mouth on him but, antagonistic as he was, he rarely crossed the line between banter and out right insults.

"Her opinion of me doesn't change the facts."

"No, but the fact that she actually likes me wants to remind you to leave my usual pay in site four." The man stated easily as he stood, dragging the leather blazer from the back of the chair as he did, disappearing into the back. "The fact that I can do your job twenty times better then you and still have time to have a life tells me you're going to double the gravity and burn dust this time as well."

"Any particular reason you enjoy making my life hell." Roman called back, trying to keep a smirk off his face until after the man left.

"Cause baby you're a firework." The man sang mockingly before being cut off by the wind and engine as the hatch opened

Roman didn't say anything knowing the bastard was already gone. He also knew he'd double the burn and gravity dust.

His scroll chimed as he landed the bullhead in a clearing several clicks out of Vale. "Evening dear." One would never have guessed how much he did not want to have this conversation.

"Roman," her dark silk voice came across the scroll like cold liquid, "I just watched the most fascinating video on a mutual friend's assurance it would be amusing." Roman shivered, having never heard her talk so casually before, while thanking the cosmic forces that be for his natural intuition.

"I broke my mirror this morning while shaving when a black cat broke in chasing a magpie." Roman quipped lightly, answering her unspoken question.

Her soft amused hum told him that there wasn't nearly enough space between the two of them. "Bad luck is a factor for certain but I can't help but wonder why you'd pick a fight with anyone in a 'dust' shop after midnight." It was a given that low balling that estimate put the odds at nine out of ten such individuals being hunters or at least being trained as.

"Junior's not in the habit of hiring or encouraging intelligence." Roman mercilessly threw his old acquaintance under that Boarbatusk without a moment's hesitation knowing she wouldn't pursue it. The info broker wasn't worth her time.

"You didn't think to warn them?" The question felt like a noose.

One he slipped free of on reflexive sarcasm. "Do you think about breathing?"

"I recommend you do a better job managing things Roman." The woman replied, leaving the threat buried in the subtext as the call ended like that and Roman stared at his scroll briefly only to jump as something soft brushed his shoulder.

Neo was looking about the cabin in disappointment. Roman only rolled his eyes. "Boyfriend's long-gone lover girl, better luck next time." He cursed loudly as a small set of knuckles rapped him sharply on the forehead even as the multi-colored girl blushed. "Don't blame me, he ditched half way through the flight."

The silent girl clearly still blamed him forming a dangerous pout in the process. "He wants his pay dropped at site four, you can handle that if you want." That his two reliable associates were burning sheets on top of everything else was a pain in his ass but one Roman begrudgingly accepted. For one he liked his blood inside of his body. Then there was his closet romantic that couldn't help but admire their Burgundy and Clyde flair.

Neo smiled brightly, dashing off barely a second later leaving Roman behind. The thief only chuckled even as his scroll chimed with his updated warrant along with another's, Spectrum's masked visage and Cheshire grin pasted on the front.

'Alias Spectrum, international mercenary criminal, expert in dust manipulation, weapon crafting, military and civilian machinery and tech, espionage, psychology, and pancakes, the last one had been added, amongst other things, through the man's frequent hacking of his own criminal record.

Roman couldn't help but smile as he continued to scroll through the boy's warrant, the thing chocked with sarcastic quips, outrageous claims, fabricated stats and. . . measurements, all of it generally pointless info only die-hard fans would be interested in, not that the boy didn't have a surplus of those running around.

Oh yes, Spectrum was a vibrant blazing star amidst the darkest of this world's shadows.

IIIII

Ruby did her best to remain inconspicuous on the massive airship, not for the first time regretting the fact that her mom's old cloak was such an eye-catching color. She'd been absolutely ecstatic over Ozpin's offer to let her attend Beacon early but hadn't realized how crowded it would be. She was also pretty certain Ms. Goodwitch absolutely hated her after last night and worse yet, she'd completely lost where she was going with Suzume and Fate thanks to that toad.

Groaning at the thought of forcing the scene, Ruby pulled out her scroll. Her fears were put to rest barely a second after she'd scanned last night's work before she started typing.

"It would take a miracle to get out of here alive."

The knight snorted. "You have no room to talk."

The stranger smirked. "Your about as wrong as your right but that's not why I'm here." The knight gritted his teeth when he realized the stranger was fishing as he all but dangled the strand of possible hope over the Knight's head.

"What are you selling?" The blond spat out along with no small amount of bile and ash.

The amused chuckle made the blonde snarl silently as the stranger walked back to him. "You've read too much fantasy kid but that'll save us time." His unwanted guest knelt in front of him once again.

"What are you selling?" The Knight repeated through clinched and bloody teeth.

The stranger's smile never wavered. "How would you like the chance to make your 'perfect' world?"

Ruby's scroll suddenly vibrated, a text message cropping up on the screen. 'A Wild Flower finally free, in its roots an untouched Gem just for me.' Ruby read the text over and over, completely forgetting her work as she did, her smile growing wider and wider with each time simply knowing she must have been working on it for days at least. Ruby honestly felt better then when she'd gotten cookies, strawberries, and explosive sniper all in one day.

Ruby could honestly barely keep herself from squealing with happiness as she typed a quick response. 'A Cruel Flame vast and untamed, a gentle star whose warmth I claim.' She'd barely hit send before a deep chested groan pulled her attention away from her scroll in time to watch as one of her fellow cadets threw up only a few feet away before muttering a number of nasty things about fate as well as something omnipotent whatever that meant.

She vaguely felt a tinge of sympathy for the poor guy but all thoughts of such went out the window when the airship lurched abruptly from sudden turbulence causing the young girl to flail briefly to regain her balance only for something heavy to ram into her which in turn pushed her into the person beside her, shoving them both into the wall.

Ruby looked at her feet, prompted by a low groan, to the sight of the guy who'd just thrown up, now splayed out on his stomach and no apparent interest in changing that.

"Unlucky or just doesn't care?" She asked under her breath not expecting a response.

"Yes." An amused and unexpected voice replied. Ruby glanced behind her, eyes widening at the sight of topaz eyes dancing behind black locks. Her shock lasted for all of a second before she realized the girl wasn't nearly tall enough followed by the bow she was wearing, something she never would.

A wolf whistle split the cabin, instantly drawing Ruby's focus to her big sister who was grinning like crazy. "Getting a little personal there girls, rumors start on a dime and sell for less you know." Her smile was bright but Ruby had known Yang long enough to see the faintly nervous tic on the edges.

A rare and, for most, an almost imperceptible change in Yang's normally carefree persona that may as well have been a glaring neon reminder to Ruby's current position. Silver eyes widened abruptly barely a second before rose petals all but exploded around her as she jumped back, clearing almost six meters before she stopped again.

With the numerous snickers around them, Ruby felt like her cheeks were covered in scarlet dust and probably looked the same. The girl for her part looked equal parts amused and embarrassed about the whole thing as Ruby awkwardly walked back to her. "Sorry about that?"

The girl only shrugged. "Its Ok," Her remarkable eyes flickered towards the boy who was groaning against the side of the air ship, "Not like it was your fault after all."

Before they could get any further Yang lunged, putting Ruby in a head lock. "I can't believe you brat, play a hero and skip two years of homework, do you have any idea how annoyed I am with you."

Ruby squirmed as her sister dug her knuckles into her head. "Cut it out Yang." The sun haired girl let up but still ruffled her little sister's hair one last time for good measure before taking in the sight of the other girl. "Thanks for putting up with my socially stunted sis, she spent way too much time with our uncle and his less then social apprentice."

The girl eyed them both. "she did 'skip' two years of homework."

Yang stared at the girl open mouthed. "No, please don't encourage her, she idolizes our uncle to much already."

"Hey!" Ruby snapped at her. "Uncle Qrow is awesome." Yang just looked at her dryly. "Well he is." Ruby finished sullenly.

Yang loud out a loud snicker and the dark-haired girl tried to hide a smile behind her hand. Unfortunately for her, Ruby had a little too much experience noticing the expressions of the dark and secretive kind to miss the light in the girl's eyes. The sight however drew the younger girl's attention back to the bow.

The cute childish thing just didn't suit older girl with her shadowy vibe and bright gaze. Ruby really wanted to say something but she'd already given Yang all the ammo she needed for the rest of her time at beacon.

The airship shuddered as it landed and the ramp lowered. Ruby was only a few steps off it when she remembered something. "I'm Ruby by the way, Ruby Rose." She stopped and offered her hand.

The girl shook it firmly. "Blake Belladonna."

Yang offered a cheeky salute when the dark-haired girl turned towards her. "Yang Xia Long."

The girl frowned. "I thought you were sisters?"

Ruby grimaced, not really wanting to talk about their family's less then enjoyable history. "We're technically half-sisters, I have my mom's name while Yang has Dad's."

"I see," Blake responded in an almost distant fashion that had Ruby looking towards Yang for help but the normally out going blond only shrugged helplessly.

Of all people it was the guy who'd thrown up and shoved her into Blake who ended the awkward silence when he walked straight up to them. "Sorry about earlier, wasn't exactly at my best." He stated with mild embarrassment.

Yang, ever the protective big sister, was prompt to respond, moving closer to Ruby at the same time. "It's no big since you didn't get any puke on us." Ruby all to easily picked up the threat in her sister's subtext and, if the amused edge in the boy's smirk, so did he.

"Good to know," He stated while offering his hand, "I'm Jaune." Yang shook it firmly, brief sparks of brilliant white aura flashing against sunny yellow.

"Yang." As her sister replied with a sharp grin, Ruby forced herself to stifle her groan of embarrassment over her sister's nearly obvious flirting though it wasn't really surprising. Now on stable ground with his balance, health and over all demeanor back he wasn't all that bad looking, being fairly tall and well-built from training, along with scarlet highlights threaded into his blond hair and a strong facial structure that hinted on the side of feminine without crossing into and dangerous territory.

Add swallowing his pride to apologize, perceptiveness and decent fashion sense consisting of a lightly armored black vest that worked well with his grey jeans and white button up that he wore with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows and he was making a damn good lie out of first impressions.

It was his belt though that caught most of Ruby's attention. Made up of inch or so sized midnight blue metal squares linked together long enough to wrap around his waist twice, it's buckle hidden amidst a dozen or so finely crafted black and silver spirals twice the size of the squares. The intricacy of the patterns was enough to make Ruby so dizzy that she ended up staring at the worn black leather of his boots.

"You ok?" The blond asked as he caught her shoulder.

"Yeah, your belt buckles are kinda strange." Ruby mumbled, unintentionally leaning into him a little more than necessary, dimly recalling moments when her father or uncle did something similar.

"You seem to have recovered remarkably quickly?" Blake commented reminding Ruby he'd even been sick at all. Even standing still the way he was showed no signs of illness or affliction of any sort. Even if it had been something as simple as motion sickness, no one's aura was potent enough to remove all effects only minutes after they'd occurred.

He chuckled. "Yeah, fate's an ass like that yah know." It was more the remarkably depressed look then the strange response that kept anyone from asking for details. "We should probably get to the entrance ceremony though. I think I've made a bad enough impression for one day as it is."

They'd only made it a few steps before Ruby noticed Jaune catch Blake's attention. "Isn't that uncomfortable." He gestured towards her bow. Ruby blinked when the girl stiffened only for the boy to cough. "I mean my sisters are always complaining about their hair and all and that's with just normal hair ties."

The girl relaxed just as quickly as she had tensed before playing it off with a shrug. "Doesn't bother me, besides it's a memento my mother gave me." Ruby was paying so much attention to them she didn't notice the white-haired girl tell she and Jaune had already crashed.

Now that his health and balance had been regained, Jaune's slightly imposing height of six foot something and weight of two hundred something plus pounds followed the natural law of physics and sent the girl tumbling, brief case splitting open releasing half a dozen vials of dust to roll about.

No one said a thing as they scrambled to collect the unstable material before their first day became far more interesting than it already was. They succeeded

The dramatics though could never be avoided as only a rich girl could be in possession of that much dust and the Schnee family was RICH. "You clumsy oaf, do you have any idea the kind of damage even one of those could have done?"

The boy's empty gaze seemed to look straight past the girl, his only comment seeming to be a muttered "Fate" under his breath which only pissed the petite girl off. Ruby and Yang however shared a soft laugh as they watched the girl rant and the boy weather it with absolutely no regard, even going as far as to yawn widely as her decibel level reached the range of low shrieking.

The girl finally gave up and started to storm off in a huff before the boy spoke. "Bet you can't not act like a spoiled princess for a day."

The girl turned back to glare at him. "What?"

"Did I stutter?"

"No but your implication is barbaric and stereotyping." The girl snapped crisply.

"A sucker bet then, my favorite." The boy answered with faux enthusiasm all but screaming that he thought she was making excuses.

The girl scowled darkly at his response. "What are the stakes and rules?"

The boy smirked. "You join us for the day and actively participate, no complaining, insulting, or demeaning any of us until after midnight tonight, you can state your personal opinion as long as it's in a civil manner." He fished a hand inside his vest. "This is my half of the wager, if you lose you have to abide by the conditions of the bet for an entire week."

To Ruby, Yang, and Blake it looked like a brilliantly cut diamond roughly the size of their thumb tip. The Heiress however dropped her suit case in shock. "How did you get an aura imbued dust crystal?" The shrill hiss was a cross between an outraged cat and water splashing against molten metal.

The boy smirked. "Made it."

Ruby gawked at the older boy. Dust in any form was volatile and crystals for most people were little more than elemental bombs at the best of times making, a fact that terrorists or criminals loved. Ground Dust on the other hand could be much more easily manipulated allowing for Adepts to even exist in the first place. The problem was that it burnt out quickly making the powerful class of huntsmen all but none existent given the sheer cost of pursuing it.

Dust rounds had been the most recent solution in the last century and had pretty much become the staple for most hunters, letting them enhance their aura in different ways with greater accuracy. Not as long lasting or efficient as an Adept but any advantage against the Grimm was welcome.

Finely cut pieced like the one in Jaune's hand offered the absolute best of all worlds. Ruby knew she could simply glue that thing to a stick and aim it like a laser. A single glance at the rich girl's rapier told her the girl was an Adept in training so what she could do with it let alone a full Adept like Ms. Goodwitch she couldn't even begin to imagine. The problem with imbuing dust was that it was like performing surgery on solidified nitro glycerin.

Yang was the one who asked to ask the million-dollar question. "How?"

The boy smiled drawing out the moment even as everyone present unconsciously leaned forward. "Practice." He promptly snickered at their collection of dumbfounded looks.

Blake finally snickered, breaking the tension. "He did say he had sisters."

The boy's laughter ended rather weakly as he scratched the back of his head. "Seven of them, never thought I would be thankful for their nagging tell I came here." He looked back at the white-haired girl. "You in or out Princess?"

The girl's scowl even at seventeen was nothing to scoff at. "No one calls me princess and find an impartial judge."

"Awesome, I'm Jaune Arc by the way." He answered cheerfully.

A round of polite introductions went around, only to be repeated once Jaune got the attention of a black-haired boy in a green shirt, a lock of magenta draped along the side of his face and a high-spirited girl with orange hair and green eyes whose names they soon learned were Lie Ren and his companion Nora Valkyrie.

Jaune quickly gave the boy a breakdown of the bet before asking him if he would act as Weiss's impartial judge. The boy shrugged. "Sure."

Nora jumped up and down excitedly. "It's a battle of wills against the ice queen and the nameless warrior, a fierce crucible that will undoubtedly be remembered by all." The girl's and Jaune all snickered at how quickly the girl called Weiss out on her personality.

Weiss looked at the blond in amazement. "Hundreds of possible candidates and you manage to find the one whose best friend is a bundle of raw energy."

Jaune shrugged innocently, too innocently. "Fate's an ass," Ruby couldn't help but note just how much Jaune reminded her of Suzume with that excuse, but didn't have time to comment before he continued, "but we should probably be getting to the entrance ceremony." His suggestion was greeted with mutual cries of agreement from the three more excitable members of their group.

IIIII

The Entrance ceremony was brief thankfully, Ozpin being vaguely cryptic and mysterious as his reputation hinted at before sending them off and Yang for one payed more attention to their party's unspoken leader as he blatantly played on his scroll instead of listening.

Ms. Goodwitch sporting a well covered but still fresh split lip caught her attention but she quickly wrote it off as a training accident.

Jaune on the other hand had already surprised her twice today. The first time when he swallowed what little pride he probably had left and approach them at all. She'd honestly half expected him to crawl into some proverbial corner for at least a couple months after a stunt like that. The second time had happened when he'd both caught her threat and had the cheek to laugh at it instead of wilting like most boys did around her.

She also couldn't say she didn't appreciate the strength she'd felt coiled tightly in his grip and the arm behind it when she'd shook his hand along with the. . . playfulness of his aura when it met hers.

Now, as the seven of them wandered down the hallway, Jaune was telling them what he'd managed to dig up about Beacon's imitation around Nora's unending babble, a feat he seemed remarkably adept at. "Apparently we're all getting stuck with partners as well as teams."

Ruby spun walking backwards easily so she could look at him. "Really?"

"Yup," he answered with a nod, "The interesting part is how those partners get chosen." His grin told all of them he was dangling something good over their heads.

Blake surprised all of them by being the first to bite. "And that would be?"

"Launched into the Emerald forest at random, first person you match gazes with is who you're stuck with, romantic eh." His tone was dryer then burn dust. Yang and Ruby shared a look before laughing and Blake only rolled her eyes. Weiss was the only one looking suitably horrified as Nora was talking at Ren about sloths, the boy seemingly unaware of her existence.

Yang slugged her sister's shoulder with a laugh. "So what happens if you get stuck with Weissicle tomorrow, grin and bear it or die honorably facing overwhelming hordes of Grimm." To give her credit Weiss didn't even balk at the rude question.

Ruby snorted as she gave the girl a snide look. "I'd live just to piss her off."

Yang laughed as she wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulder. "And a star of hope sheds light in the face of our fears and offers a devilish compromise."

Nora laughed boisterously while Ren only shook his head and Blake hid a brief smile behind her hand. "Little morbid don't you think?"

The blond only ruffled Ruby's hair. "Hells no, this is the girl who unlocked our dog's aura on a whim, carries a fifty-cal sniper rifle scythe combo, and writes dark teen romance in her scroll." It was a toss-up between her weapon and hobby choice for wide eyed looks thought the tidbit about Zwei did get its own set of reactions.

Ruby paled briefly before turning the same color as her cloak, the look of a doe in headlights all over her face. A look that vanished as her silver eyes brightened behind dark scarlet locks as she slowly turned to glare at her sister. "Yang, have I mentioned your hair recently."

It was the violet eyed girl's turn to pale. Ruby was too sweet to make actual threats, least of all about her hair. You had to bring out her reaper for that. Even Yang feared the reaper. "So yeah, talk later." She spoke quickly before vanishing.

IIIII

Blake watched Ruby quickly shift back to embarrassment the second Yang jumped through a nearby window. "I'm not talking about it." The girl stated sullenly unknowingly pouting in the most adorable manner Blake had ever witnessed making it all but impossible to keep up her indifferent façade.

Jaune didn't even try and simply hugged the small girl tightly while yelling. "You are so adorable!"

The younger girl turned the same color as either of her name sakes in a heartbeat, instantly starting to squirm as she tried to free herself. "Let go." She squealed as she pushed against his chest. She clearly wasn't expecting him to do just that.

Neither was Blake who was directly behind her when she shot backwards, the black-haired girl catching her on reflex. The disguised cat faunus struggled not to hug the girl herself when Ruby stuck her tongue out at the boy childishly. "Meanie."

He laughed and ruffled her hair to quickly for her to dodge. "You really are too cute for your own good." He murmured softly.

Blake suddenly felt Ruby's muscles stiffen as the girl's breathing turned erratic. It ended quickly but left the girl looking at Jaune with trepidation that Blake hadn't even though the spirited girl was even capable of. Jaune's face on the other hand was twisted into a pained grimace. "Sorry, my semblance can be erratic at times."

Ruby moved towards the blond slowly. "Why would I see you covered in blood?" The question alone told Blake that of all semblance's, Jaune possessed an illusion type and a distinctly unsavory one at that.

The boy was silent for a brief moment before sighing. "Normally I control it but. . . certain memories or emotions can act as triggers if they sufficiently align with my own, creating illusions based on the afflicted's subconscious creating their own image."

"Remembering someone you lost?" Blake felt an all too familiar pain in her chest when Ruby all but whispered the question.

Jaune blatantly refused to look at anyone and even Weiss held what could even be called a respectable amount of sympathy for the otherwise antagonistic boy.

His scroll chimed suddenly and he rushed to answer it, mouthing an apology to them as he did. "Arc," He answered with a surprising amount of professionalism only for what could only be described as a Grimm like smile to spread across his face. "Finished collecting then, you've been lazy." He was silent for a moment before he chuckled deeply. "No, I am perfectly aware just how at home you are in Mistral."

Weiss couldn't help but take note of that little number. Cross continental calls directly to one's scroll were possible. If one forked out the ridiculous fees for it. Jaune did not look or act like the owner or employ of a company that could afford or require such.

The blonde eyes rolled at whatever was said next but the smirk never changed. "Make it interesting, we aren't exactly going for subtlety here." If anything, his smirk grew even more dangerous. "Shoot me a text when you're out." He ended the call.

"Who was that?" Ruby asked sounding almost hesitant.

"A friend from Vacuo though he immigrated to Mistral to attend Haven." He stated easily.

"You've been to Vacuo?" Weiss's tone while perfectly civil suggested she wasn't surprised.

"Been everywhere honestly." He shrugged as he spoke. "Liked Menagerie best though, Faunus are pretty chill once you make a good impression and none of Taurus's idiots are shooting their mouths off." Blake stiffened at the sound of her old partner's name. "Spiteful abusive bastard but he's got Vales White Fang branch in the palm of his hand."

"Abusive?" Blake spoke without meaning to.

Jaune didn't even seem to notice. "I don't think he had a chance to get physical before she ran off but I heard he was highly manipulative of his girl, playing off her feelings and all that."

Ruby gagged beside her. "What a creep."

"Terrorists have never been anyones' go to models for civility." Weiss commented, her voice under tight control.

"Tell me about it." Jaune stated lightly. "Guess he took it to far though since she took off almost a year and a half ago, sent the prick into a real frenzy to."

"How do you know so much?" Blake hoped the tension in her voice wasn't as obvious to the others as it was to her.

Jaune shrugged. "Right time, place, friends, chat boards. Remnant's not complicated once you look at the right angles." He suddenly looked further down the hallway. "I think lunch is ready."

Blake barely kept herself from hissing in annoyance as the blond abruptly changed the subject. Unfortunately, the mention of food got Nora going. "Really, do you think they'll have pancakes!" She wasn't quite hollering but it was a near thing.

Jaune shrugged. "I doubt it." The only other male of their group abruptly focused a dull look on the blond, but Jaune didn't even notice as he headed towards the lunch room. Ren's sudden animosity became rather obvious as Nora became of veritable storm of complaints and threats.

Taking the boy's cue, Blake simply ignored the girl to follow the blond into the grand ballroom where the lunch buffet had been set up. She only made it half way through the line when Ruby dropped a serving spoon abruptly. The small racket drew some attention but Blake doubted anyone else notice how the younger girl's attention was all but riveted on pitcher of dark red juice.

'Why did I see you covered in blood?' The words flashed through Blakes mind, her stomach instantly turning. She quickly rushed through the rest of the line and caught Ruby before she made it to the empty table Jaune had found. "What did you see?"

The girl instantly grimaced. "It really confusing but I remember smelling a whole lot of smoke and feeling absolutely exhausted and numb at the same time," She paused briefly but not long enough for Blake to speak, "Jaune was crouched above me, one of his eyes damaged by shrapnel I think and his hoody under what was left of his armor was absolutely soaked with blood."

Blake frowned. "Hoody?" She glanced towards the blond they were discussing, trying to figure out why an erratic semblance of all things would show something Ruby couldn't have possibly seen before.

"Yeah it might sound ridiculous but the blood did wonders for it I promise." The young girl's scathing tone caught Blake by surprise.

"No, I was just trying to figure out why you saw him clothing like that when you've never met him before." Blake quickly explained.

Ruby winced. "Sorry."

Blake nodded silently. She'd dealt with all sorts of injuries during her time with the White Fang and how even a small injury could bleed let alone a head injury. "I'll listen if you need to talk about it." Blake finally murmured softly not liking the borderline fear in the younger girl's eyes. Not even Ilia had taken her first post-battle experience so badly but if Jaune's illusion was as nasty as it sounded, Ruby was probably lucky he'd been able to cut it off as quickly as he had.

Ruby grinned at her weakly. "Thanks." Blake returned it with a tight but honest one of her own.

As the two of them joined the others, Blake couldn't help the faint twitch of one of her hidden ears when she heard that Weiss was trying to dig more information about the White Fang out of Jaune.

"How can you know about the personal life of one of their highest-ranking officers but nothing about their agenda?" Weiss asked, sounding impressively diplomatic.

Jaune shrugged. "Agendas or plans aren't exactly spread around the lower ranks Weiss, drama is typically rather public."

Seeing an opportunity Blake leaned forward, completely ignoring her food. "You knew details about their relationship Jaune, just how much of that could you have picked up from gossip alone."

The blond shrugged. "None, Taurus was only ever seen with the girl during raids that didn't do more then destroy property or mechs," he stated easily, "With the train only possessing a token number of living crew aboard, he probably thought his sway over her would be enough this time." The blond smirked coldly. "She gave up everything instead for a handful of humans she didn't even know instead."

Blake couldn't help but remember all the times Adam had sent her on different mission from his or simply left her in charge of their current encampment. Worse, she'd never pressed when he refused to give her any details about how the mission went. She'd never once tried to see past Adam's cast iron façade hiding the spiteful creature he'd become.

"Brave of her." Blake's gaze snapped towards Weiss who, of all people, made the comment. "Betraying one's loyalty for their morals can only be commended."

Jaune shrugged. "Perhaps but I can name a number of incidents concerning fanatics and family members."

"What does that mean?" Blake didn't miss the younger girl's brightening even more then when her sister had revealed her hobby.

Unlike Yang though, Jaune remained completely unphased as he matched the girl's glare. "Ever heard the phrase 'A devil has a hundred agendas and ninety-nine of them are selfish' by chance?" Ruby nodded hesitantly, eyes dimming as the boy leaned forward on his elbows. "Well humans and Faunus are a hundred for a hundred every single time."

The morbid philosophy twisted sharply in Blakes gut. "Says the boy who swallowed his pride to apologize for nearly throwing up on us." She called him out, seeing how far he'd keep to his belief.

He smirked with clearly exaggerated lechery. "My pride or an easy way to start a conversation with three gorgeous girls?" The honesty cut through Blakes argument as cleanly as her partner's blade through SDC security mechs. It was hair raising how easily he ruptured the very basis of their short friendship to win an argument.

Blake thought she heard Ren offering his fellow male a murmur of condolence, the blond clearly oblivious to his impending fate as he focused on his meal. Ruby and Nora simply started debating tactics for dealing with multiple Grimm verses singular high-level ones. Blake looked towards Weiss, "Your family semblance boasts the widest verity in terms of dust manipulation correct?"

Weiss nodded crisply. "It does but it requires a severe amount of training to handle the necessary calculations, even after almost ten years of training I've only truly mastered the most basic of them."

"The irony behind your family semblance and property is thicker than the grey surrounding you company." Jaune snarked but Weiss didn't even favor him with a look.

The four of them methodically ignoring everyone of the blonde's comments for the rest of lunch.

By the time they were done eating the blond had given up in favor of hiding his face in his arms. "Are you ok?" A gentle voice asked from behind them. Looking over he shoulder, Blake's eyes narrowed at the sight of Pyrrha Nikos of all people.

As for Jaune, he didn't even look up when he responded. "Girls are mean."

The girl went from concerned to amused confusion. "Oh?"

The blond finally raised his head to look at the renown fighter. "Yup, tell them an ugly truth and it's like I'm asking for an open relation -"

"I think I'm going to stop you there." Blake stated dryly, her focus as much on Ruby as the blond.

The blond chuckled as he cracked open a soda. "She's fifteen, mothering her here will only hurt her in the long run." He stated bluntly.

"How did you know I was fifteen."

Jaune's scroll was out in a flash and moment later it was playing a video of the girl trouncing a number of men in red and black suits without even drawing her weapon. The video became all to interesting when Torchwick of all people stepped in. Blake watched in shock as she watched the girl that was two years younger than her actually force the renowned thief to legitimately scramble in his efforts to escape.

She noted that, on top of the near cloud of rose petals surrounding the girl, her eyes were exceptionally bright and even leaving faint trails in the air whenever she moved in a manner similar to the grimm.

Things escalated from bizarre to ridiculous when not only did a bullhead appear to whisk the thief away but its pilot proved to be an adept of almost frightening talent. His casting technique was anything to go off of, all while keeping his face hidden in the shadows of the bullhead's interior.

It was hard not gape as they watched the cloak wearer not only handle the barrage of wind enhanced flame, but actively manipulate it and no shortage of the shrapnel kicked up by the resulting explosion with a powerful wind stream created as much from her own semblance as the dust rounds she'd been using to trade an impressive series of riposte's involving nothing but dust and aura with the unknown adept.

Blake, even after witnessing Adam's frightening talent, couldn't help but look at Ruby in a very different light. The girl in question seemed more embarrassed then anything and it only got worse as the fight ended only for Ms. Goodwitch to appear on the roof top once the bullhead was out of range.

At first Blake was surprised by the level of caution that the highly renown huntress took to approach the girl but it quickly proved inadequate as the cloak wearer spun adroitly, her weapon discharging to enhance her speed, dealing a glancing blow to the blond woman's jaw from an apparently blind angle, giving the clearly over functioning girl an opening to rest the barrel of her high caliber weapon directly against the woman's throat.

Blake stood half way through the barely half second action and she wasn't alone Weiss in absolute sync with her as both gaped openly. Pyrrha Nikos looked equally dumbfounded. Whatever reaction Ren had was cut off as he had to deal with Nora who was seemed on the verge of going absolutely ballistic.

Only Ruby and Jaune remained seated, Ruby having covered herself with her hood and buried her face in her arms while the blond could have frightened a Grimm with the smile spread across his face. "Your teacher must have been ruthless if he or she was able to cultivate moral division in you so early." The blond rested his chin on the back of his hand in a manner that suggested a coiled snake. "That its potent enough that you actually weep aura is even more remarkable, most can't get past simply losing all color in the eyes."

The concept of the emotionless berserker state wasn't a foreign one to Blake as it was among Spectrums thesis's but that just meant she understood how rare and old actually documented cases of it were. More importantly though, she understood how dangerous it was. Moral division was the only piece of work submitted by the renegade that out right stated that it should never be attempted under any circumstance.

Ruby groaned almost pitifully. "She didn't, it just happens when I get really upset." Jaune let out an impressed whistle and Blake now completely understood why Yang had taken off so abruptly, she'd clearly been on the receiving end of that at one point. Blake doubted even the vivacious blond would need a second lesson on the matter. "I honestly wouldn't even know what it was without Spectrum's thesis."

Jaune nodded in agreement. "True, I had to scan through it just to be certain myself and even then, I noticed a few discrepancies."

Blake watched as Ruby frowned. "Discrepancies?"

"Inconsistencies that didn't match up with the original theory," Jaune explained simply, "Namely your use of high-level dust manipulation which is atypical for the effective but still limited berserker state that moral division implies."

"Where are you going with this?" Weiss asked in actual interest.

Jaune shrugged. "Dust manipulation while effective in combat is still a thought-oriented ability, you have to apply it tactically so not to waste the precious material or worse, leave yourself open before, during, or after you use it correct?"

Weiss nodded in agreement. "True, your saying that she shouldn't have been able to use it to such an effect in that state then?"

"I am, moral division focus's the mind so sharply it consistently leaves only rigorously trained muscle memory, semblance, aura, and instinct behind. For her to use dust manipulation in that state means that she should have its use down to the same level as any of those."

Ruby once again found herself the subject of everyone's attention. "Don't look at me, I don't remember any of it."

"That at least is consistent, Spectrum theorized that the process involved the mind enhancing its sensory capabilities, both aura and physical, to the absolute max while lowering areas such as memory in order to deal with the strain leading to a borderline precognitive state of being."

"Who uploaded that video?" Weiss asked, seeming to have at least regained her sense of decorum if not actually recovered from her shock.

Jaune shrugged. "No clue, he or she uses the tag 'SalemB!tchPleez' whatever that means whenever possible, which wasn't this time because of the uploads sights rules."

"How did you find the video then if it wasn't listed as such?" Ren quired.

Jaune snorted. "Talented hunter's and huntresses go viral quickly, especially the cute ones," Jaune only grinned when Ruby sputtered as she did her best to blend into her cloak and continued, "Though I don't think that will be considered until after the initial shock wears off so you might want to be prepared to become exceptionally popular."

Blake couldn't help but laugh though she tried to muffle it with her hand. At the same time she noticed Nikos's down sudden down hearted look. Jaune however seemed completely oblivious as he turned to her. "Jaune Arc, jack of trades and hopeless romantic." He gestured to the empty seat beside him even as Weiss choked on the bight she'd just taken.

Nikos's laughter instantly brightened her face as she sat down, while Blake shared a knowing look with Weiss but said nothing. "Pyrrha Nikos." The others introduced themselves quickly if not quite as flamboyantly as the blonde so it wasn't really a surprise when she turned back to him first. "Interesting resume, which comes first?"

Jaune grinned before shooting Blake a look from the corner of his eye. "Yes." This time Weiss was the only one not to laugh as even Ren's shoulders unmistakably shook as he covered his mouth with his hand to hide a smile. "I've got most of Vale's talent pegged solid so I'm guessing you're from one of the other kingdoms."

While the champion was clearly caught off guard, Blake struggled to keep her face clear of suspicion. "I'm from Mistral," The red head answered, "Haven certainly expected me to join though."

Jaune frowned. "Why?"

"I've won Mistral's regional tournament four times in a row, people like to make a big deal out of it." Pyrrha answered somewhere between embarrassed and shy.

An understanding look came over Jaune's face. "Gotcha, I rarely pay attention to tournaments stats, too much time to prep and strategize with little probability for error." He explained easily. "Street fights reveal flaws and strengths much quicker and it's easy to tell which ones are staged and which ones aren't."

It was fairly clear that Pyrrha had absolutely no clue how to react to what basically amounted to someone telling her to prove herself all over again. Blake didn't think she actually minded though. "You've got some strong opinions." Weiss abruptly choked on her salad while the rest of them excluding Nora shared a common look.

The blond shrugged. "Twisted logic at best but I think everyone has the right to be hesitant before trusting a stranger to have their back, reputation or not." Another look was abruptly shared and Blake simply came to the conclusion the Jaune was honest to a literal fault.

That honesty typically came out looking like a pretzel considering the likeliness that Jaune Arc, who possessed a frightening accurate analysis of Blake's own abandonment of the White Fang wouldn't be able to simply miss the existence of a fighter like Pyrrha, it just wouldn't happen. "I still find it hard to believe you've never heard of her before." She commented, trying to sound as distant as possible.

The blond shrugged. "I probably have, names aren't my thing honestly, I might be better with faces but a few pictures here and there aren't going to stand out." He was mocking her by mimicking her distant tone, possibly even daring her to call his bluff.

"Jaune," Ruby spoke hesitantly, breaking the staring match between them, "Her pictures on one of the most popular brands of cereal in the four kingdoms."

The blond only tilted his head to the side in a show of blatant confusion. "Cereal?"

IIIII

Pyrrha was in something of a daze. She'd come to Beacon hoping to eventually climb off the pedestal that nearly all of Remnant had placed her on and make actual friends once they'd come to know her. Instead she'd found herself accompanying a number of. . . interesting individuals, the only one who even seemed to care in the slightest about her being the Invincible Girl was Weiss Schnee and even she maintained a professional air though that could have something to do with the bet the girl had apparently made with Jaune.

Said blond had been filling the role of rather exceptional if impromptu tour guide for most of the afternoon, while only half paying attention to where they were even going. Much to the champion's hidden amusement, the other half was devoted to answering or diverting endless stream of questions from their youngest member Ruby who was apparently a prodigy beyond even Pyrrha's caliber.

The invincible girl had confidence her abilities for certain but by no means did she think she was powerful enough to catch a Huntress of Ms. Goodwitch's caliber off guard as the younger girl had.

Things had become even more amusing when the same girl's sister, Yang, appeared, or reappeared as the brief story went, when they'd wandered into the school's extensive gardens and was now failing to grovel for her little sister's forgiveness. After watching that clip, Pyrrha could understand why, she wouldn't want to be on the younger girl's bad side either.

At the moment the girl was half jogging beside him to keep pace with his longer stride. "What kind of weapon do you use?" This question caught the attention of everyone present as they all focused on the blond, waiting for his answer.

"I can use a verity of weapons but I've always been a better hand with short to standard blades." He stated easily as he answered her latest question as they wandered into a rather sizable field. Blake could tell the broadness of his answer to a rather harsh bight from the cloak wearer's already limited patience.

"What about the weapon you use now?" Ruby reiterated as she gestured to the belt around his hips wildly. While certainly an interesting fashion statement this was a huntsman academy. People safety checked their nail clippers for the ability to turn into something that went bang.

Jaune's eyes softened as he gestured for Ruby to get closer but instead of whispering in her ear like expected he poked her in the forehead gently. "Not telling." The girl all but went through the roof only for the only other male, Ren if Pyrrha remembered right, in their group to place a hand on her shoulder, seeming to level her out like magic but it was probably his semblance.

"Don't give him what he wants." He remarked dryly. Ruby still glared at the boy when whatever Ren did wore off only to get her hair ruffled barely a moment later, Jaune stage whispering about how adorable she was.

Jaune dodged the girl's following wild swings. "Don't think I didn't see that smile Weiscream." He yelled.

The girl's mouth opened briefly before she clamped down on it tightly. The blond laughed even as he twisted around Ruby who shot by him, rose petals fluttering everywhere.

Beside her, Yang looked ready to explode but because of the bright sun Pyrrha couldn't even tell if the girl's hair was just remarkably shiny or actually glowing like she thought it was. The champion could only assume she was holding back her temper because of her current status with her sister. Ruby didn't seem like the type to side against her sister even if she was angry with her but Pyrrha was already at a record for surprise's in single day.

Jaune simply trailed after the speedster like nothing had actually happened, hand stretched out in an attempt to block the girl's devastating pout from ever reaching him, a failed effort when she hugged his arm without hesitation.

Pyrrha instantly concluded that Jaune was the oldest child of his impressively sized family simply by the fact that he did not cave immediately to the girl. She wouldn't have a snow ball's chance in hell if faced with such a frightening power.

The blond stubbornly refused to make direct eye contact as he half dragged the girl down the path. He made it all of ten steps before finally hugging the girl tightly, the cloak wearer letting out a sudden adorable squeak as he did. "Yang I'm sorry but I'm keeping your sister."

Said blond finally exploded, ripples of fiery aura heating the air rapidly, her hair undoubtedly glowing now. "Like hells you are bastard." Yang screeched as she rushed the man.

Ruby abandoned ship the second she could while Jaune sprinted away, Yang hot on his heels. Nora responded to the sudden violence with her apparent usual enthusiasm as she sprinted after them, completely ignoring Ren shouting her name as the black-haired boy ran after her. Weiss and Blake shared an unsettling look before both followed suit, leaving Ruby and Pyrrha standing in the path staring after them owlishly.

Ruby suddenly cackled. "No way am I missing this." She zipped away leaving Pyrrha no choice but to break into an aura enhanced sprint to catch up to them.

The chaotic race came to its end as the eight of them sort of crashed into the ballroom, ending in something of a dog pile thanks to Ruby's vortex that sucked the others in with both blondes on the bottom groaning in pain.

Ren, the only one to have miraculously escaped the chaos, simply stood of too the side while Weiss and Blake weren't quite so lucky and ended up pretty much in the direct middle of the pile on top of each other. Pyrrha probably would have if Nora hadn't caught her leg during the ride. How she'd even managed to was beyond the champion fighter.

Things went from bad to horrifying when Jaune apparently smelled the potential black mail. "Hey Ren, five hundred lien for pictures." The sheer amount had even the stoic boy reaching for his scroll on reflex, only to catch a pair of ice-cold baby blue eyes that didn't need to say a single thing. The dark topaz ones not far away were no better. "Just think of all the pancakes you could make with it."

Ren's eyes dilated as the dog pile was sent into chaos when Nora cheered wildly, her love for pancakes having been made rather clear throughout the day, his scroll's camera working overtime while as Blake and Weiss struggled to free themselves, their efforts as much as Nora's happy flailing and Jaune, Yang's, and Ruby's laughter hindering them more then helping.

Pyrrha on the other hand succeeded in freeing herself rather easily, her feelings torn at helping the two girl's escape and laughing with the other four as they only made it worse. Her conscious won and she pulled the two struggling girls free, disentangling Ruby, Jaune and Nora in the process only to reveal the sheer awkwardness of the two blondes' position as Yang had actually landed on top of Jaune, her legs straddling his shoulders as she lay face down across him.

"No, no," Jaune commented abruptly, Yang looking back at him in confusion just before he finished with a small shake of his head, "You don't have to do that." His head thudded twice in rapid succession, the first from the heel of Yang's boot, the second off the tile of the ballroom floor. Pyrrha had a feeling there was a little more behind that kick then just embarrassment.

More importantly she learned not to underestimate Jaune's Aura as the blond only chucked briefly before he caught her gaze, a lazy smile stretched across his face before accepting the hand Pyrrha hadn't even realized she'd offered.

The world shifted as it became one of the school dormitory roofs of all places, Pyrrha recognizing it easily thanks to Jaune's all day tour. The calluses of his palm softened, no longer those of a lifelong fighter she when she'd shook his hand but a determined novice, his clothing a little better with his basic armor and hoody while his plain longsword and shield seemed more antique then was prudent for combat.

His bright blue eyes though sparkled at her, the sense of agelessness that she'd grown accustomed to not even hinted at within, easing a tightness in her chest she'd never recognized only to watch them darken again, going from eager and confident to kindly distant as he withdrew his hand. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Pyrrha returned.

She carefully watched him as he walked away, Blake and Yang both fighting over each other to scold him while Weiss followed, her eyes hinting at a number of less than 'refined' solution she was possibly contemplating. Ren and Nora trailed after them, the hammer wielder not even bothering to hide her snickers while even Ren had a small smile on her face.

"Saw something didn't you?" A voice asked beside her startling the champion fighter and Ruby smiled shyly at the unintended mischief before giving her an expectant look.

Pyrrha was horror struck when she caught herself briefly fidgeting with her hands before she managed to answer. "I did but it didn't make any sense."

Ruby tilted her head to the side much like a confused puppy. "How so?"

"It was on the dorms roof of all places," Pyrrha managed to answer the first part rather easily but the rest, "The strange thing was that Jaune seemed a lot . . . younger?" It came out more like a question then a statement thanks to her uncertainty.

"You mean he was a kid?" Ruby asked eagerly, completely, if understandably, misunderstanding what Pyrrha meant.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, physically he was still probably same age but," Pyrrha tried to find the right words, "Less mature I guess or at least less guarded."

The younger girl frowned. "Guarded?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "I'm not certain how else to explain it without sounding like I'm demeaning him in some way."

Ruby just shrugged. "Who knows, he did say his semblance wasn't all that precise? He may not even know what you saw."

"Semblance?" The champion fighter asked in confusion but she quickly caught onto what the younger girl meant. "That would make a lot more sense I guess."

"Yep," Ruby chirped brightly, "I mean it's not like they could be actual memories or something."

IIIII

Dinner was a rather brief affair that started with Weiss almost losing the bet when Jaune politely asked for her sister's contact info and ended when Nora almost picked a fight with a huge boy with burnt orange hair and full suite of plate armor requiring Ren to level her out while Jaune had a quick talk with the boy about manners around women who swung massive hammers about like they were kindling.

Nora stormed off the second she'd gotten her pajamas from her bag, Weiss and the other girls quickly following the irritated red head with their own sleep wear.

"You ok?" Ruby asked softly as she sat down beside the girl who was furiously pulling at her shoe laces, vest and shirt already on the bench beside her.

Nora looked up from untying her boots, jade colored eyes blinking in surprise. "Uh. . . yeah." Her voice was hesitant, even a little embarrassed, which just seemed distinctly wrong where the normally free-spirited girl was concerned. "I'm not actually certain why I lost it on that guy."

"He wasn't exactly being a model of decent human behavior," Pyrrha put in gently, "But he did seem to put you on edge rather quickly."

Weiss definitely found it a little bizarre that a complete stranger would set the abundantly cheerful girl off just by acting like a teen male would-be-hunter trying to impress a girl.

Compared to Jaune who could possibly give even her father a headache, the fool was clearly the lesser evil.

But it did set the Blond apart and even forcing her to acknowledge him as at least more noteworthy then nearly every male she was surrounded by on average. Most of them being completely swept aside by her commanding nature or family name and those that weren't were nowhere close to her age. "Jaune did say his semblance couldn't be readily controlled, do you think it could have been that?"

Ruby's sister looked at her in confusion. "What?" Everyone ignored her though.

Nora perked up. "We should go ask him." Only Pyrrha and Blake's exceptionally quick reflexes kept the girl from running out of the bathroom half naked in search of the boy.

"Let's get changed first since we're already here, then we can go ask him." Weiss stated firmly once Nora's attention had been reacquired. Despite her near catastrophe the orange haired girl bounced back quickly, changing at ridiculous speeds before prodding the others emphatically.

Despite the distraction, Ruby and Weiss managed to share a silent if rather obvious bonding moment over the other four's distinct advantage in the area of the chest over them. Pyrrha was mildly embarrassed but Blake and Yang shared their own moment as they took a certain amount of impish delight in the choicely located glares.

When they relocated the boys, the two had sequestered a corner of the ball room, Ren reading and Jaune tuning a guitar of all things. Nora ran up to the boy without hesitating. "Jaune, did your semblance affect me during dinner?"

Despite the rather rude abruptness of the question the blond wasn't put off in the slightest as he stopped playing to consider it. "It's probable since without direct eye contact it tends to take on a subtler approach and I can already tell you that guy's the bullying type." The disgust in his tone said everything he wasn't.

"Any reason it affected her and not any of us?" Weiss asked.

Jaune grinned. "Not very subtle princess but even when I'm not using it directly, the odds of it not effecting you are pretty low actually but at worst it's going to make you a little short tempered." He adjusted one tuning pegs briefly before looking back at them. "Only those able to relate with my mindset will be affected like Nora."

"You said it tends to be subtle," Pyrrha stated, "what happens when it's not?"

The blond nodded. "It can, people usually describe it really intense déjà vu, worst cases having mild physical effects." He rolled his eyes when he noticed everyone shifting uncomfortably. "Don't think too hard about it, it's a pretty rare occurrence I swear, someone has to be thinking almost the same thing as I am for it to have that strong an effect."

Blake stopped in the middle of rummaging through her bag to look at the blond. "Able to relate?"

Jaune shrugged as he started into a soft tune. "Like I said, he's the bullying type." The blunt statement ended the discussion as the blond focused on his instrument. Not seeing a reason to press, the girls silent set up their own sleeping bags while listening to Jaune play softly, a feat that had attracted no small amount of attention from the rest of the room.

By the time they'd all gotten comfortable Jaune had switched between four different melodies, each vastly different from the ones before it.

Pyrrha was the one who finally spoke. "You really are a Jack of all trades aren't you." It wasn't a question.

The blonde smirked as he started into a soft rhythm. "You wouldn't believe how long I've been practicing."

Yang snorted from where she lay. "Your only seventeen vomit boy, couldn't be that long." The music stopped as Jaune blinked before he started to shake, laughter coming out in broken spurts he tried to stifle. The strange looks he got only made him laugh harder.

"I think you broke him." Ruby murmured softly.

Blake snorted without looking away from her book. "To be fair, he probably came that way." Her dry comment sent the blond into yet another round of laughter that had his legs spasming even as he buried his face in his pillow trying to stifle himself.

His face was red by the time he finally got himself under control in which he promptly rolled onto his stomach, a wicked grin on his face as his eyes pinned Ruby where she was. "So. . . dark teen romance writer huh?" Blake closed her book instantly even as Pyrrha looked at her in surprise. Weiss was doing an amazing job of not listening and Ren was holding his hand over Nora's mouth.

Ruby groaned loudly as she shot a dark glare at Yang who wilted under it before turning it towards Jaune who didn't even blink. "You don't just get to change the subject like that and I said I wasn't talking about it." She shot her sister another glare for good measure.

Jaune however just pouted. It was a disturbing sight.

"I've never met anyone who wrote as a hobby." Pyrrha remarked gently.

"I've tried but it never seems right." Blake admitted, Weiss could tell she was trying to prompt the girl to open up.

"I'm a little more curious as to what our little reaper considers dark." Jaune teased riling the girl up more than ever.

Ruby snorted at the jovial blond. "You first."

Her friend accepted the challenge without a word as a mournful tune began to strum on his guitar as he started to sing, his voice now tinged with a faint rasp and deeper then they'd ever heard it before.

"I know you
We've been here before
No surprises
A settled score

Blue eyes grew even more distant as Jaune's gaze grew hooded with each word and Weiss couldn't help but feel like part of her was going with him as the tepid air of the ballroom seemed to change, more akin to the muggy night air of Mistral's wilds.

Yang shifted beside her in her sleeping bag while Ren sat up entirely, one hand falling on Nora's shoulder as the girl leaned into him, as they carefully listened. Jaune either ignored or didn't notice, continuing to play without giving them a single regard

I know the darkness
From inside
Reckless rage
And poisoned pride

By now Weiss could hear a small campfire cracking alongside the notes, the familiar scent of smoke undoubtedly present. Her muscles felt tired and numb, the feeling of intense combat all too familiar. Something else ached even deeper, something that had her looking at Pyrrha, almost to reassure herself that the girl was still there. She wasn't the only one.

I know the weakness
I know the pain
I know the fear
We do not name

Though she'd never distinctly felt the sensation of deja vu before Weiss was absolutely certain she'd heard this song before, the unsettling feeling growing with each note or slowly sung word.

And the one who comes to find me

When my time is through
I know you
Yeah, I know you"

As the final note grew silent Weiss swore she could see the faint gleam of tears forming in his eyes when he glanced towards her.

The ballroom vanished with the fear as the wilderness surrounded them, the camping lantern turning to a small comforting fire, the lot of them no longer comfortably tucked into their sleeping bags but sprawled against damp moss covered logs, rocks or just on the ground itself without care.

Weiss was directly across from the blond as he carefully stitched shut jagged wound across the back of his hand, his other in seemingly little better condition. Both she distinctly recalled him using with frightening effectiveness an untold number of Grimm once his sword broke.

The blond was piece of work himself even without the self-administration, his body covered bits of worn and heavily tinkered with Atlesian combat armor covering vitals and joints and of his eyes replaced by the faint blue of an artificial one. Even still, his remaining one was soft if ever so slightly haunted, his gentle smile warming something with in her chest as he met her gaze easing the tightness that had been there for hours now.

The ballroom returned and Jaune mouthed a quick apology to her before he looked at Ruby expectantly. "So, how'd I do?"

Her silver eyes were sparkling as the girl nearly destroyed her sleeping bag as she burst from it, scattering rose petals everywhere. "Teach me." She all but begged as she bounced in excitement in front of the blond.

The blond laughed as he poked her forehead gently. "Pass the exam, then we'll talk." The girl pouted but it only got her hair ruffled once again. The rest watched in amusement as the girl sulked back to her sleeping bag.

IIIII

Ruby didn't even try and sleep, instead opening up her scroll. Tired as she was, she wasn't going to waist the inspiration Jaune had just given her by falling asleep and forgetting all about it.

The knight snorted. "How convenient my only other choice just happens to be death."

The stranger raised an eye brow from where he crouched and the knight simply knew something had changed. "Yeah kid, you being here or anything of her still being here is on me, harsh truth is that your one out of infinite blond blue-eyed fox boy wannabe losers I can chose from so you dying here won't even be a ripple in my pond."

Suzume's limbs felt like led as he watched the man gently closed the once vivid green eyes that gaze dully at the ceiling above unable to shift a single muscle to stop him.

"I'd just have to alter the next world so that your even more desperate, maybe have you taste a little more than just this brief spark," he stood, looming over the knight in a manner that made it all too easy to forget the monster paralyzed only a handful of feet away, "Or perhaps Rouge will spend just a little longer in Remus's care down in those tunnels, not much, just enough to lose a little more than a chunk of aura."

Fear finally gripped the knight as the creature in front of him revealed the barest fraction of it's power, formerly dull boring green eyes now sparking with untold amusement. "Why? Why is my choice so important when it clearly. . . isn't."

The stranger only smirked as he held out his hand. "It's more fun for me obviously."

Blue eyes narrowed. "Fu-"

"That's the spirit kid." The stranger cut him off even as he hauled the knight to his feet, hand clasped firmly in Suzume's, the blond realizing he'd accepted the man's hand.

Caught between her writing and exhaustion Ruby never noticed herself falling asleep, scroll simply falling against her chest. She also never noticed a pair of lightly scarred hands gently pry it from her grasp a moment later to plug it into the wall with the others or the soft gem colored eyes shooting a wink towards the gold ones despite the darkness.

IIIII

Morning had come and all initiates were prepping for the exam. Most of them at least. Yang was personally darting around her sister still trying to apologize once again. It wasn't until the cloak wearer finished checking her beloved weapon that she actually started to listen to her sister's groveling, a sharp glare on her face. "You know how much I don't like sharing my work Yang."

Yang shrugged weakly. "Come on Rubes, your works fantastic, why do you want to hide it."

The scythe user snorted. "Well excuse me for not wanting to come across as a total nerd right off the bat."

Yan started to reply but went silent as Jaune wandered by muttering about locker numbers, fate, and some sort of dust theory neither of them understood a single word of. The rant was also thoroughly intermixed with curses, death threats, and torture techniques, completely missing them as he passed.

Yang absently noted that he'd abandoned his nicer clothes and vest for rattier ones, the ratty off-white button up untucked, it's lower fringes suggestively stained black like it had been dipped in ink, same with the top of his jeans with a number of lines trailing down as far as the knees. Given his belts positioning, it wasn't hard to guess how they'd come to be.

"Yeah I get it Ruby," Yang groaned once he was past, already knowing exactly where this conversation was going, "I just knew none of them were that shallow Rubes, hells Ruby, that Blake girl's probably going to be asking you to let her read them the second she can.

She winced when Ruby's eyes narrowed even as she crossed her arms. "And just where might that little thought train be headed Yang?"

"Don't be digging a hole where nothings buried Ruby," Yang retorted, "The girl had almost a dozen books in her night bag, the library here doesn't stand a chance.".

The dull look Ruby gave her was distinctly wrong on the normally adorable girl's face. "Your still sore about her aren't you, why?"

"Nothing, she just hates me." Yang stated.

"True but you'd still have to get on her radar first." Ruby shot back, something Yang couldn't argue with in the slightest.

Yang groaned as she dropped on to a nearby bench, head buried in her hands. "I said I knew you better." She could tell that Ruby was trying not to laugh but it really only delayed the inevitable and honestly made her feel even more embarrassed.

The young reaper gave in sooner than later but also hugged her tightly when she did. "I bet that was traumatizing." She bit out between fits of giggles.

"I had nightmares." Yang whined pitifully.

"Worse than when she convinced you to give up your crown as queen of puns?" Ruby asked impishly.

Her sister shuddered dramatically. "Less effort, same results."

Both went silent again as Pyrrha Nikos walked past briskly, Weiss on her tail, her prize from yesterday already set in the pommel of her sword thanks to a clever feature Ruby recognized as one of Spectrum's designs. The sisters shot the red head a pair of sympathetic looks before Ruby patted her sister's shoulder. "Don't let it stress you out to much, she'll have to accept you eventually."

She didn't give Yang a chance to retort, bursting into a cloud of rose petals a vanishing further into the locker room.

IIIII

Pyrrha was trying to be polite to the Schnee heiress as she listed all the reasons' they should be partners. The heiress remained as polite as she had the day before but she simply couldn't take the hint that the champion wasn't interested. So distracted by the heiress, Pyrrha didn't see Jaune until he had already bumped into the girl, to busy looking at his scroll and muttering about fate and lockers to pay attention, spilling his cup of fresh hot coffee all over the poor girl who shrieked in pain.

Jaune only danced around her flailing form, never looking away from his scroll except to briefly catch Pyrrha's eyes and wink as he moved away, the heiress turned banshee following after, putting her vocalist training to exemplary use.

Pyrrha's scroll beeped with a new text. 'Have you ever been too nice and ended up in a situation that could've been avoided if you had just been an asshole?' The smiley face attached to it was mocking her, Pyrrha was certain of it.

"That was interesting." Pyrrha looked up to see Blake leaning against one of the lockers, her own cup in hand though Pyrrha would already be willing to wager it was tea instead of coffee. Blake struck her as simply to disciplined to require something to help wake her in the morning.

"I feel bad for agreeing with you." the champion responded as she pulled her weapon and shield from her locker. "I don't envy whoever gets her for a partner in the least."

The dark-haired girl smiled faintly over the rim of her mug before lowering it. "Neither will I."

Pyrrha could all to easily here the confidence in the girl's tone. "You seem rather certain you can control that outcome, anything you'd like to share."

"You have a month to spare for intense stealth lessons?" The offer was genuine if a tad snide and nothing like the fools who'd tried to pander to her more times than she could count.

It caught the champion by surprise before she smiled. "Not at the moment but perhaps after."

The dark-haired girl smiled. "Looking forward to it."

Pyrrha returned it. "Same." Pyrrha couldn't help but think back to how concerned she'd been about making friends or even fitting in at all. Now here she was talking to a girl she hadn't even know for a full twenty-four hours about a training she'd never even considered before. While she knew she wasn't the best judge of character, Blake simply didn't strike her as an open person, supportive maybe but not open.

"Why the offer?" She winced as soon as the question left her mouth not meaning for it to sound so defensive. The dark-haired girl only shrugged with an amused smile though instead of answering though. Feeling the need to fill the sudden silence Pyrrha returned the smile with a shy one of her own. "Sorry, that came out a little blunter then I meant it to, its just that you don't strike me as anyone's idea of a panderer."

Blake gave her a nonchalant shrug. "I want to."

Ruby appeared beside them before Pyrrha could think of a response, rose petals pelting the two girls briefly at her sudden stop. "Morning, ready for this?" She greeted them before they could fully comprehend her arrival.

Pyrrha could help but smile having already grown fond of the darker red heads energetic approach to life. "I certainly hope so."

Blake on the other hand was fishing a petal out of her cup. "Any idea how your semblance creates actual rose petals?"

The younger girl looked embarrassed as she shrugged. "No clue, took forever to convince my dad I wasn't doing it on purpose, well con- con-" Ruby struggled to get the oversized word she could never remember out.

"Consciously?" Pyrrha supplied helpfully.

"That's it," Blake noticeably winced at the cloak wearers volume level, bow twitching ever so slightly in a fashion no civilian would notice. Pyrrha wasn't a civilian but she didn't have time to say a thing before Jaune appeared, an artic wind of feminine fury on his heels.

"With how much you complain, I'm not surprised your dad sent you cross country." He commented blandly as he sat on the bench across from them, setting a black dust carrier beside him before nursing his refilled coffee.

His tone appeared to have the heiress ready to throw her ice queen status to the wind and spit fire. Jaune only sipped his coffee without a care in the world, clearly not afraid of the enraged woman who just happened to have access to more money than Vale's council, advanced combat training, and ties to the higher ranks of the Atlesian military.

"What did he do?" Ruby asked timidly, not seeing Blake and Pyrrha shift on reflex at the possible need to catch the clearly enraged heiress from strangling an innocent simply because Jaune was still armed with a full cup of coffee.

"This imbecile had the audacity to dump his cup of scalding coffee all over me and then pretend it was an accident." Weiss shrieked.

Jaune made a show of lazily checking the cheap ceramic of his mug for possible cracks briefly before setting on the bench beside the dust carrier. "Most of which never even touched you thanks to that fancy little costume." It was true, the girl's dress and coat had certainly protected her from much of the liquid and had even shed a good deal of it but the obvious red mark on her neck and dark stain in her hair provided ample evidence as to where it had and that was after her aura had ample to heal the injury.

Pyrrha was actually rather impressed by how accurate the blonde had been with how natural the incident had looked and not getting much if any on himself but, personality aside, Weiss was well trained and he'd made avoiding her reflective counter look easy as well. The wink didn't even bear mentioning obviously.

"That is so not the point you imbecile." Weiss yelled this time, her throat no doubt going raw after taxing it so heavily.

Jaune only unlocked the dust carrier, revealing what Pyrrha was certain was varied assortment of nail polish of all things with in. "Then I should assume you have one or are you going to tell me?" He asked as he pulled a black one out, his attention clearly directed at it with the heiress's rant being merely humored at best.

"What are those?" Ruby asked, interrupting Weiss without hesitation.

Unlike the rich girl, Jaune was quick to look towards Ruby even as he closed the dust carrier. "The correct terminology is a long-convoluted explanation so I just refer to it as dust enhanced nail polish combo." He answered easily as he pulled blackish purple one without a second of hesitation.

She didn't know what prompted her to but Pyrrha was quick to snag the back of Ruby's cloak even as Blake stepped between her and Jaune while the blond himself snagged the carrier and added another two meters between them, all of which happened in a heartbeat. Ruby looked suitably surprised as she looked over her shoulder at Pyrrha so adorably the girl was struggling not to hug her.

"What?" It was her last mistake.

One Weiss pounced on it like a starving jungle cat on a mouse. "You DOLT, does the term dust enhanced mean nothing to you, as in highly volatile, highly reactive to aura, or how about extremely dangerous!" Now that she had a receptive target to scream at, the heiress was on a war path.

Pyrrha expected Jaune to step in. He didn't but he didn't ignore it either as he set to work on doing his nails in the one he'd chosen previously with practiced ease. On top of doing his fingers he also put half a dozen stripes of it on his forearms and one on the back of his neck all places. He didn't interfere in the ongoing lecture until everything he'd applied had finished drying before he stepped past Weiss, somehow halting her tirade in mid-sentence as he did, and gently ruffled the younger girl's hair.

"Have you learned your lesson?" He asked gently, if faintly amused. The dark-haired girl shook her head vigorously, her devastating gaze clawing at Pyrrha's heart, making her wonder how Jaune could stand being in its cross hairs. The blond just laughed softly as he poked her forehead. "Don't make me repeat it?"

He turned to look at the rest of them. "So, any preferences on who you all want as a partner?" His question killing the tense atmosphere instantly.

Ruby instantly latched onto his arm. "Dibs!" The blond winced at the sudden increase in volume all but directly in his ear while Blake and Pyrrha laughed.

The blond recovered quickly as he raised his arm taking the dark red head with it as he did and giving her a dull look when they were level with each other. "Don't ever change Ruby." He said with a soft smile.

The younger girl's grip to faltered sending her to the floor before her feet were ready. Jaune caught her by the back of her cloak with frightening ease before she could fall though. Dumbfounded silver eyes met gentle gem blue once again and Pyrrha could only guess that Jaune's semblance was acting up. Thankfully it didn't seem negative because Ruby only murmured an embarrassed thanks as she recovered her balance. In turn he ruffled her hair earning an adorable glare but he was already walking away as they were called to assemble on the cliffs.

Pyrrha shared a smile with Blake and even Weiss seemed subdued in the adorable show of sibling affection the two had just put on for them. It was almost sad but she could just let the younger girl have her way. Jaune was far to interesting in that regard.

IIIII

"For years you have trained to be warriors." Ozpin stated solemnly.

"Or so we assume." Jaune totally failed to whisper to Ruby, confusing her and getting a glare from professor Goodwitch.

Jaune's info proved true as Ozpin explained what was expected of them. Jaune's strange commentary routine didn't end as each piece of information was attached one snide remark or another.

"Any questions?" The headmaster finished.

"You out of balloons wiz?" Jaune asked randomly as he looked at the launch pad under him.

"Mr. Arc, please desist in your inane babbling." Professor Goodwitch snapped crisply.

Jaune gave the older blond a suggestive grin. "Oh I'll click my heels for you any time Glynda." He blew her a kiss a heartbeat before the launch pad sent him into the sky. A fact that did not hinder his laughter from reaching them.

Professor Ozpin was distinctly more interested in finishing his coffee in long slow sips without ever lowering the mug then his assistants evident trigger finger.

The others just wondered where their 'friend's' sanity had wandered off to between this morning and now.

IIIII

The Beowolf clawed at the ground, snarling viciously as it felt the call twinge with in its skull. The beast had no means of understanding of what the call meant. It simply knew to follow it, like a spider knew how to spin a web. That's why it lifted its muzzle to the air, seeking the source only to have the rancid breath nocked from its body as something slammed against its chest. The monster felt the call stronger than ever as the figure came into view, the monster snarling savagely at the sight of its prey.

The call forgotten, the Beowolf instinctively lashed out at the human, ebony claws catching the sunlight briefly before the limb seemingly vanished of its own accord halfway through the motion as the human's hand rose as of to stop it, one of the black strips adorning its limb flaring like amethyst, black paste and blood splashing against a nearby tree, the mutilated stump gushing ichor that splattered against the human still perched on top of it as what remained of the monster's arm finished the intended motion.

Then dark sapphire met unhallowed red and the force of destruction blinked first as the call howled with in it stronger than ever. Not even in the waist lands of its birth had it felt so close.

'You've got two piles kid, fails and wins,' a soft amused voice spoke, something the Grimm had never experienced this before. 'Fails AKA anyone still alive after you kick the bucket gets shoved into the time stream we just dumped,' The grim understood the human's words, the call saturated with in them like blood and meat.

'Anything else?' This voice, this voice the Beowolf liked, it wasn't simply saturated with the call but drowning in it without an ounce of remorse.

'If they die there before you fail again, then they come back to life, if they don't then they get, for lack of a better term, a power boost." If the other voice had called to the creature, this voice enraged it.

"Allies or enemies?" The Beowolf all but mewled in pleasure as each individual word thrummed with the call.

'Yes' was the automatic response. 'Think of it as. . . drawing a picture. This place would be the equivalent of a kindergartener's master piece, lots of effort, color, and plausibly good intentions but lacking any form of technique or skill." The first voice was different, its amusement no longer enraging the Beowolf, not with the edge in its words. "Those swept into the pile overlap each other, their differences filling the blank spots giving the picture more detail but obviously it is still a mess."

The first voice snorted in annoyance. 'Your one twisted asshole, aren't you?' It bit out as the human knelt, a set of lightly tanned fingers brushing against the leathery skin of the monster's throat before turning so black nails could softly caress along its jaw.

The sound of clapping followed it. 'In a nut shell.'

"What happens if I win?"

"You win." The first voice stated dryly before laughing as the call spiked higher than ever. It was the last thing the Beowolf heard before one of the fingers currently tracing its fangs flashed amethyst and the top half of the monster's head vanished, a puddle of goo and ichor pooled into a small crater in the ground beneath.

IIIII

Props go to Coeur Al'Aran for his work on 'Not this time fate' which was the initial inspiration for this fic and easily one of my favorite authors to date fanfiction or otherwise.

Yes, this is another groundhog's day fic, their fun, we love em and at the very least it's not a bloody Gamer fic, can't swing a dead cat in manga or anime anymore without nocking a dozen or so over like fricking dominos.

Only flames that, deliberately or otherwise, contain spoilers will be deleted so have at but do attempt to actually clarify what set you off, that way I can A) not do it again or B) add even more. If this is beyond you, at least attempt to be creative about it.

A huge shout out to TheArchmage1 for pointing the horrendous editing on the final part. Major thanks there.

'I know you' by 'the white buffalo'

Here's a brainteaser for all y'all: With everything we know about Cinder, WHY was she piloting Roman's escape bullhead in episode one?

Do not respond, I have my own answer that will not change that I'll put somewhere in the next chapter.

Question, comments, concerns?