1.
This was a mistake. This whole thing was a huge, massive, colossal mistake. I should have known this would only end in death, or pain, however that saying goes. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna hit the ground and die, and that'll be the end of Jaune Arc, forever and ever.
These were the thoughts that rushed through Jaune's head as he flew through the air above the forest, flailing and spinning and plummeting (not to mention screaming) towards the green death pit below.
Sneak into Beacon, I thought. It'll be great, I thought! There's no way I'll die on the first day! Well this is just GREAT! How do they expect everyone to have a landing strategy, was that some secret message that everyone except I got? That is just so typical. I bet Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin are laughing at me right now, not to mention the other guys!
He caught glimpses of his brightly coloured fellow students as he fell- each of them seemed to be falling gracefully, some even deploying their somehow pre-prepared landing strategies. He heard the sounds of gunshots in the distance, and even saw what he thought might have been a parachute. But Jaune was now arcing towards the ground, and all the while flailing about with the grace of a panicked, squawking chicken.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Not like this! I don't want to die like this!
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" was all he said (or rather, shrieked) aloud.
He fell through the canopy feet first, leaves whipping at his arms and legs. He threw up his arms to cover his face in fear as the ground rushed to meet him. It would take a miracle to save him now.
At what seemed like the last possible second a flash of crimson and gold flew towards him and then- thud thwing! He suddenly stopped. He unscrewed his eyes, and found himself nailed to a tree by a long, gold and red accented spear that had pierced through the shoulder fabric of his jumper.
"Wha-? I'm alive? I'm ALIVE!" he called out to the surrounding trees, throwing out his arms and swinging a bit with the sudden movement. "THANK YOU!" he yelled as loud as he could, euphoria flooding through his system.
He swore he could hear a faint "I'm sorry!" in reply.
2.
"Just hold still, Jaune. I'm almost there."
"Right holding still. Just don't leave me hanging too long, okay?"
Pyrrah laughed a laugh that tinkled with joy and a genuine amusement, before jumping to the next highest branch and quickly steadying herself against the trunk of the tree. As much as Jaune was grateful that he was stuck to a gigantic old tree and not a flattened mess on the ground, it had been getting boring just hanging there, not able to do anything but wait and hope that someone would come along.
"Thanks again, for helping. And for coming to find me, that's really nice of you," he said, reaching to rub the back of his neck. Pyrrah had reached a branch that was slightly above and to the side of him, and was now taking a closer look, surveying him with a calculating and intelligent eye. No doubt she was figuring out how to get him down, while all the while he just hung there helplessly. Doing absolutely nothing useful.
"Jaune, I'm telling you, don't mention it. It was my pleasure," Pyrrah said warmly. "And besides, I kind of had to come find you to get my spear back. I couldn't exactly leave it behind, and I figured I may as well help you in the process." There was a note of teasing in Pyrrah's voice, as she reached for said spear over Jaune's head.
Jaune snorted. "Well I'm glad I could keep your spear safe while you came for it," he retorted, light and playful. He grinned at her, and she took a second, and then grinned back.
"Alright Jaune, I'm going to pull out the spear on the count of three. Then I'm going to grab onto you before you fall and lower you onto the branch below me, and we can work our way down from there. Are you ready?"
He sighed, and looked down, before realising that was a bad idea. He was overcome with a dizzying fear- the ground seemed to be so far down, and was probably very, very hard.
"Uh," he gulped.
"Jaune," Pyrrah said firmly grabbing hold of his arm. "Look at me. If we're going to work together, we're going to need to trust each other and we may as well start right now. Do you trust me to catch you?"
Jaune looked into Pyrrah's green eyes. They were earnest and determined.
"Yes, I do," he said, and she nodded. He hoped to every deity that may be listening that he hadn't made a mistake trusting his life to a girl he had only met earlier that day.
"Alright. One, two, three!"
Pyrrah yanked at the spear, and with a single tug it yielded. Suddenly, Jaune was falling, sliding down the tree trunk- and then he felt another strong tug, and instead he swung. Pyrrah had caught his arm, and was holding steadfast as he swung back and forth under her branch. He reached out with his free arm and steadied himself against the tree trunk, and let Pyrrah slowly lower him down.
"Put your feet a little to the left, Jaune, the branch should be there."
He did exactly that, and his feet connected with a solid surface, and he made sure to get a solid footing before he let go of Pyrrah's grip. He turned and hugged the trunk of the tree in triumph.
"Woo!" he yelled. "Thank you!" he said again, partly to the tree. He kissed the brown bark, and immediately regretted it, tasting dirt.
Above, Pyrrah laughed again.
"Okay, now… how do we get down?" He said, turning to take stock of his surroundings. He was still fair way off the ground, but it seemed much less of an obstacle now that he could move about on his own.
He looked up at Pyrrah, who was leaning over, her long red hair spilling over her shoulder.
"Well, did you have time to work out a landing strategy while you were up here?" she asked, with a cheery grin.
"What? No, I was a bit busy wondering how I was ever going to get down. Wait, why?"
Pyrrah only grinned, then straightened up. She backed herself up against the tree trunk, rolling back and forward on her heeled feet a few times, before she ran along the branch and leaped straight off the end. Jaune watched, opened mouthed, as she summersaulted gracefully through the air and rolled headfirst into a landing on the undergrowth below, coming to a stop on her knees.
Jaune was awestruck. "That was awesome!" he cheered down.
"Thank you, but it really wasn't that impressive," Pyrrah called back, but she sounded flattered nonetheless. "Okay, now your turn. You should be able to swing yourself down on the branch beneath you, but I would advise you to hurry in doing so. Some of our comrades may have already reached the ruins and retrieved the artefact by now, not to mention the threat of the Grimm."
"Oh, right," Jaune replied, and he hastened to work. He found a suitable branch below him that didn't look too difficult to reach, and lowered himself down.
He managed this three times, the branches getting thicker and more abundant the more he travelled downwards, Pyrrah watching and giving advice from below. On his fourth attempt, however, Jaune miscalculated just how far he was from his next branch, and when he tried to swing himself down, he overshot by nearly a foot.
"Oh no," was all he said as he plummeted to the ground for the second time today, landing with an ooof on his back on the forest floor.
"Jaune, are you alright?" asked Pyrrah, running hurriedly to him.
"You didn't catch me that time," he said, sitting up and rubbing at his stinging back.
"Sorry, you weren't that far from the ground. Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." His didn't mention that his pride had probably taken a hit more than his body.
Pyrrah extended her hand, and Jaune took it, smiling. Pyrrah had a strong grip, and he'd already seen that she was deceptively strong. She pulled him to his feet with ease.
"See, no harm done," she said, brushing off a leaf from his shoulder plate. "I can catch you when you need to be caught, Jaune, but sometimes you just need to fall on your own."
"Is that supposed to be wise?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrah grinned knowingly. "Just some good advice."
"Thanks, partner. At this point I need all the good advice I can get," he said, looking around. Above, stripes of sunlight filtered through the green canopy high above, and a breeze rustled through the winding old trees, nipping at Jaune's hair. At ground level there were thick green bushes and a layer of moss all around. It was quiet and strangely beautiful in this forest, Jaune thought.
"We should get going," said Pyrrah, and Jaune nodded.
They set off side by side.
3.
"Remember to keep your balance, Jaune. Put your right foot forward just a little more. That's it, now- strike!"
Jaune thrust forward with his sword with a grunt that echoed around the rooftop, cutting at the floating suit of armour before him. The blow hit the armour's shoulder with force, causing it to bounce downwards, before Pyrrah lifted her hand and it floated softly back to its starting position.
"Great, now hold your sword a little lower and try again. This time, try to focus less on force and more on accuracy. An accurate strike can be more important than a powerful one, in some cases. Try to aim for the heart."
It was nearly sunset, and the sky was a brilliant array of pinks and oranges, and the first dots of light were beginning to appear in the distance in Vale. They'd been up here since classes had ended, leaving Nora and Ren in the library. Jaune had changed into his armour, while Pyrrah had instead opted to remain in her uniform. He could tell that he was improving quite well with her lessons, mostly because he'd been quite terrible before, but now he seemed to be getting the hang of things. Maybe he could do this after all.
"Go, Jaune," Pyrrah cried.
Jaune stepped forward and struck again, laying three blows on the armour across the chest plate. It bobbed back and forth with each blow, and he was sure the last one landed right above where the heart would have been.
"Good work!" Pyrrah called, clapping. He flashed a grin at her, then stepped back and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead.
"I'm really starting to get a feel for the sword. It almost seems lighter than when I first started using it, although," he stretched out his sword arm, and rubbed at the bicep with his free hand, "that may just be because I have muscles here now that I didn't even know existed before."
He lifted up both his arms and flexed, pouting his lips at the same time, and Pyrrah giggled. He wasn't quite sure if she was laughing at him being silly or the fact that his arms still looked like sticks, but he took it either way.
"That's a good thing, Jaune." She gently lowered the suit of armour to the ground where it clanged dully and then stilled, the fuzzy black aura disappearing from her hands as she walked closer to him. "A hunter or huntress always needs to have a special relationship with their weapon. In battle, you need to have complete trust in your equipment as much as your team."
"Kind of like you with your spear or Ruby with Crescent Rose!" Jaune interjected excitedly, after a moment of thought.
Pyrrah nodded and smiled. "Yes, Ruby's scythe is quite impressive, isn't it, and her connection with it is one of the strongest I've seen. Usually when people design and create their own weapons like she did, they have intimate knowledge of how they work. Although," Pyrrah added, gesturing towards Jaune's sword, "With family heirlooms like yours, there is also a unique connection of blood and history, mixed with your own personal style."
"You know, I never really thought about it like that," Jaune said, eyeing his sword with a newfound appreciation. "I always thought having a shield and sword was a bit boring compared to all you guys. I mean, Nora has a lightning hammer and Yang can fly through the air using her arms. Her arms!" He moved his own arms back and forth to emphasise his point.
"To each their own, Jaune, but I personally think that simple weapons suit you more than any fancy one would."
"Ha!" came a laugh from over near the edge of the roof. They both turned and looked, Jaune raising his sword.
"Who's there?" he called. There was a silent minute before a head popped up over the edge of the rooftop, and Cardin Winchester looked awkwardly in their direction.
"I wasn't listening in on purpose! I just put my window open for some fresh air, it's not my fault you guys are talking so loudly."
"Cardin," said Jaune, firmly.
Cardin had changed greatly since the incident in the forest. He'd not only kept his promise to Jaune to leave Team JNPR alone, but he'd also become far more interested in studying and applying himself in class, and after Jaune had sent him some stern and vaguely threatening looks, had even stopped picking on faunuses in the lunch hall. Jaune was almost beginning to like him. Almost.
"I hope we weren't disturbing you, Cardin," said Pyrrah, far more politely.
"Nah, I wasn't really studying," came Cardin's reply.
"I see, and what exactly was so funny about what I just said?" Pyrrah asked pointedly, putting one hand on her hip.
"Uh, well, the bit about Jaune… being simple…" Cardin trailed off, averting his eyes. He cleared his throat loudly. "Anyway, I heard you guys were discussing weapons. If there's one thing about fighting I love, it's wielding a deadly weapon. Do you guys mind if I join in?"
Pyrrah looked to Jaune, and Jaune shrugged in return. There was really no harm in including Cardin. He nodded, and she nodded back.
"Come on up, then. The more the merrier," he said.
Cardin pulled himself up onto the roof. He was wearing half of his school uniform, with his shirt untucked beneath his sweater and pants wrinkled, tie and blazer notably missing.
"Did you make your mace, Cardin or was it handed down to you?" asked Pyrrah, as he brushed himself off.
"I made it, but its design is based on my father's. His was much more impressive, though- it was massive and way more intricate. I always remember him swinging it around in battle and knocking down Grimm like it was nothing." Cardin chuckled, turning to look out towards the setting sun. "Something about that must have made an impression on me."
Pyrrah glanced Jaune's way, then walked towards the edge of the roof and stood a little distance from Cardin, her shoes clicking on the concrete as she went. He followed suit.
The sky was now a burnt orange, and the sun was a glowing half crescent over a distant hill. Night was creeping in, and a chilly wind was coming with it. Jaune stood between Cardin and Pyrrah, and crossed his arms, admiring the almost bird's eye view of Beacon in the dusk below. It was quite a lovely sight, with everything bathed in orange and long shadows from the courtyard pillars crawling slowly across the ground.
"My dad's weapon was a relic from my grandmother, though. So I guess it's kind of what you said, Nikos, blood and history and whatever," Cardin added. "But really a weapon can only be as good as the one who wields it, right?" he said, turning his head and looked at both of them in amusement, as though he'd made a joke that Jaune hadn't quite gotten.
"That is one way to look at it," replied Pyrrah. "Another would be to say that both wielder and weapon need to work in harmony, much like we do with our body or our semblance. Without synergy with all extensions of our soul, we cannot have the balance we need to succeed."
"Wow, that was deep, Pyrrah," said Jaune softly. They smiled at each other.
Cardin sneered. "Deep? More like a bunch of baloney, in my opinion. A weapon is metal and you control it with your hands, and a semblance is a semblance. They're different things."
"Yet both a semblance and a weapon can be powered by Dust, Cardin," Pyrrah threw back with a note of annoyance. "And we use the dust to control both. I hardly think that makes them completely different altogether."
"Yeah, right, Miss Top-of-the-Class," Cardin scoffed. He turned to Jaune."What do you think, Jaune-y boy?"
Cardin was much taller than either Jaune or Pyrrah, and Jaune already knew from personal experience and from seeing him fight in class that he could hit pretty hard. Jaune also knew from his short, humiliating time at team CRDL's beck and call that Cardin liked to play rough. So really it made sense that when Cardin then thumped Jaune on his back in a misguided push of companionship that it wasn't a soft knock. At all.
Jaune wasn't prepared at all. His legs were straight, and he barely had time to fling his arms out and yell before he was pushed clean off the roof by the sudden blow. He saw the ground below and the window sills of the dorm rooms flashing towards him and blind panic seized his mind before- he suddenly stopped. Something that felt like a giant hand seized at his middle. He looked down himself to see his white armour covered in a familiar black fuzz, and then he felt himself drift calmly skywards.
He must have looked quite silly to anyone watching, his arms and legs dangling down and his back in the air, ascending slowly back onto the roof. A pair of hands pulled at his arm to steady him as he was placed back exactly where he'd been standing before. He looked to Pyrrah to see her lowering her hand and huffing a sigh of relief, before turning and glowering at Cardin, who was still holding onto Jaune's arm. He let go in an instant.
"Okay, that one was on me," Cardin said, sheepishly. "I'll admit that. Sorry, Jaune."
Blood was rushing in Jaune's ears as he patted himself down, relieved that he once again had escaped from being flat mush on the ground.
"You bet it was on you," Pyrrah fumed, crossing her arms. "We're on the edge of a roof! Did that not cross your mind?"
"It's fine, Pyrrah, thank you," Jaune interjected, throwing out his arms between them. Pyrrah looked like she was about to duel Cardin then and there, which probably wasn't a good idea. He had a feeling he wouldn't be the only one to go off the roof in that case. "Cardin, it's fine, I'm okay now. But also, I kinda gotta agree with Pyrrah, man. From what I've seen, the best fighters have their own balance between their semblance and their weapons. I think it's all about using the tools we have available to us as best we can."
Cardin blinked. Jaune looked between him and Pyrrah, eyes wide and breathing heavily, then ahead at the dying sun. "Alright, how about we just forget that all just happened and enjoy the sunset. Okay? Guys?" He looked ahead determinedly.
After a few heated seconds, both of his fellow students seemed to come to some kind of silent agreement and they fell in with him, all three looking out onto the horizon. The last sliver of light still shone, determined, until it finally succumbed to the descending cool blue curtain of darkness. The sky turned dark, and orange Dust-powered lamps began turning on below.
Cardin chuckled. "You know, maybe you're right, Jaune-y boy. Or maybe you're wrong, who knows."
Cardin reached out again, and Jaune flinched, spreading his legs for extra balance. But Cardin just clapped Jaune lightly on the shoulder.
"You know, from what I'm hearing and seeing in class, you're improving every day. Maybe you do belong here after all."
It was probably the closest thing to a compliment Cardin had ever given anyone.
Jaune looked over at Pyrrah, who was now standing in shadow, looking behind her towards the rising shattered moon. She looked regal in the twilight, and he found himself infinitely grateful that he had her there to guide him. And occasionally to stop him falling.
4.
It was slightly strange that Weiss, of all people, had organised the party. Well, it wasn't exactly a party, more of an informal gathering in Team RWBY's room to celebrate them all passing the first part of the Vityl festival, but Weiss had insisted that both her own team and team JNPR had earned some fun after their victories of the day.
Jaune had been jealous of the RWBY bunk beds since he'd first laid eyes of them. They just looked fun, unlike the uniform and flat on the ground beds in his team's own room. Plus, they saved so much space, it felt like RWBY's room was so much bigger and airier than theirs. He'd been putting these same arguments to Nora, Pyrrah, Ren several times, but he had yet to convince the latter two that they should do the same in their own room. Nora, of course, had jumped on board immediately.
"How can Pyrrah think these things are so dangerous? They're ingenious," he said to Ruby, who sat beside him on her bed, which was suspended from the ceiling using ropes (who would have thought of that?)
"I know, right?" said Ruby excitedly, "I mean, that one rope snapped like one time, but Weiss was fine in the end. And Blake has waaaay too many books to fit on the shelves, so really it also doubles as storage." Ruby pointed across the way to Blake and Yang's bunk bed, which was divided by layers of books.
"It's awesome, huh Nora," he said loudly.
"Yeah, but as long as the fun police over their disagree, it ain't gonna happen, Jaune. Unanimous group decision, remember," replied Nora, sticking out her tongue at him. He decided to be the bigger person, and not retaliate… until she had turned back to what she was doing. Then he poked his tongue right back.
Nora was stretched out on Yang's top bunk reading a magazine and laughing loudly at the comic strips. She was reading them out loud to an amused Yang, who was standing on the end of Blake's bed to be at Nora's height and spouting out puns relating to the comics at a rapid fire rate.
Across the room, Blake and Ren were playing a silent but intense video game on their scrolls, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the bigger screen. Weiss was standing behind them and cheering Blake on and occasionally offering tactical advice. Pyrrah had been doing the same with Ren, but had now wandered over to the small food table Ruby had set up earlier near the door.
At the start of the party it had been loaded with pilfered dining hall food like individually wrapped cookies and fruit, but Nora had also managed to make a load of pancakes and not eat them all immediately (these were now only crumbs on a plate) and Pyrrah had bought some fish treats that she'd found at the fair specially for Blake. There was also a jug of orange juice.
"So what were you saying about team attack names in your match today, Jaune?" asked Ruby, with a wide knowing grin. "Hmm, I wonder where you got that idea from," she said, playfully pushing her shoulder into his.
Jaune looked at her, and laughed. "Oh man, that did not work out did it. I mean, we won 'cause of Nora, but I just thought it would be awesome if we could do that thing that you guys do, you know? Just call out attack names and be so in sync that it just happens." He sighed. "You guys do it really naturally."
"Come on Jaune, don't act like that," said Ruby, this time punching his shoulder a little harder that what would be considered playful. "You guys'll get there eventually. This is only our first year at Beacon, just imagine what we'll all be doing by the time we graduate!"
"Ow," he said quietly, rubbing his shoulder.
"You guys will have it all worked out. Flower Power will be like a lightning ninja move, and Arkos will be this cool thing where you and Pyrrah launch off each other's shields, or something."
He laughed, and looked over at Pyrrah, who was pouring herself some juice. He caught her eye, and she lifted up the jug and raised her eyebrow. He gave her a thumbs up and a smile in return.
"Would anyone like some more juice?" Pyrrah then called out to the room in general, and several heads turned in her direction.
There was a chorus of "No thank yous!" from all except Nora, who threw her arms into the air and said "Yes please!"
Pyrrah walked over with three cups in her hands, handing one to Nora before standing in front of Jaune and Ruby. Jaune watched, behind her, as Nora drank her entire cup in one extended gulp.
"Thanks Pyrrah," he said as she handed a cup to him.
"Did you see any of those chocolate chip cookies while you were over there?" Ruby asked Pyrrah, leaning forward and swinging her legs back and forth excitedly.
"Yes, I think I saw one or two," Pyrrah replied, looking up at Ruby.
"I can't believe Ren doesn't eat them as soon as he gets them. They're mine!" squealed Ruby. She jumped off the bed with a practised ease. "Excuse me," she said cheerily, and Pyrrah stepped back as Ruby dashed over to the food table so quickly Jaune was certain for a second that she'd used her semblance.
Ruby's hasty exit had caused the bed to swing ominously, which had Jaune clutching at the bedsheets. Not that he was scared. He wasn't scared, the bed was perfectly safe. Ruby slept on it every night, it had to be safe, right?
Pyrrah held out her hand to stop it swinging, and gave Jaune a look.
"It's perfectly fine, Pyrrah. I don't know what you're talking about," he said, unclenching his fingers from the sheets.
"I didn't say anything, Jaune, but I still don't think that making bunk beds like this is a good idea."
"Oh come on, Pyrrah! This is awesome, and look how much extra room they have." He gestured around team RWBY's room. "Think what we could do with that. Ren could have more room to do his yoga, we could practice without having to go to the roof. It's genius!"
Pyrrah shook her head and crossed her arms. "But it's also dangerous. I'd rather sleep soundly at night not having to worry about a bed falling and crushing me at any moment because it wasn't structurally sound. No offence, Yang," she added, looking over her shoulder.
Yang was holding on to her bed with one hand and was leaning back back as far as she could go.
"It's cool," said Yang. "I've been expecting Glynda to come in here and tell us to take it down since day one. I mean, it's probably not safe, but Weiss was okay that one time the rope snapped, so I guess as long as long as no one gets seriously hurt or a teacher tells us to dismantle it, then we'll just keep it like this." She gave them both a thumbs up, and turned back to Nora.
"See!" exclaimed Jaune, as though a point had been made in his favour. Pyrrah raised her eyebrows at him.
"I thought I heard Ruby say Flower Power and Arkos before. Were you talking about partner names?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah. She was saying how we still have time to work out all that stuff."
"She's right, Jaune. With time, we can only grow stronger as a team. Although next time we're in a match, perhaps it's best not to spring moves on us that we haven't practiced for. In a real battle, the enemy won't stop and wait for us while we argue."
"I know, Pyrrah, but like-" he gave a long-suffering sigh, dropping his arms for dramatic emphasis, "Arkos would have been so cool to show the world, you know?"
Pyrrah laughed. "I'm not so sure how I feel about the name Arkos. What about Pyraune or… Nikarc?"
Jaune grimaced, baring his teeth. "Ehhhh, why don't you leave naming things to me, okay? It doesn't appear to be your strong suit."
"Oh, really. Is that what you think," replied Pyrrah. A wicked grin appeared on her face, and she stepped forward.
Pyrrah reached out with both hands and pushed at Ruby's bed. It swung backwards easily, and he found himself gripping at the sheets again.
"Pyrrah! I'm sorry, you can name everything," he said shrilly, as she stepped up on Weiss' bed to push the bed as far as it would go.
Pyrrah was now grinning toothily at him. She let go with one hand and easily leaned against the bed frame with one hand on her hip, while still holding it in place. Jaune looked over and saw that he was quite close to the wall. He reached out and grabbed hold of the short bedpost, clutching at it in fear.
They'd drawn the attention of the rest of the room.
"Let him swing, Pyrrah!" said Ruby from the food table. She had a ring of chocolate around her mouth.
"No, don't let him swing," said Jaune, "Ruby!" he added, annoyed.
"I say we see how it goes," came Weiss' voice.
"That seems dangerous, but it might be interesting to see how long the bed will last under that kind of pressure," was Ren's comment.
"Yeah give it a go!" added Yang.
"Pyrrah!" Jaune pleaded. Pyrrah was still grinning.
"Everyone seems to want me to let go, Jaune," she said carefully. By this point, Jaune was clinging to the bedpost like his life depended on it. "But I really think that it's far too dangerous to do so."
Jaune felt like maybe there was a lesson in there that Pyrrah was trying to teach him. He looked over at Nora and the other bed, eying the now even greater distance between the two. Instead, a plan came to him.
"Wait! Pyrrah, I've got a better idea," he cried, tentatively drawing his legs up onto the bed properly. He folded himself onto his knees, still gripping the wooden post. "I get it, bunk beds are dangerous and whatever, but what about this- if I can successfully jump from here to the other bed, then Team JNPR can have bunk beds. Agreed?"
Pyrrah blinked. "Jaune, that's the silliest-"
"I'll agree to that!" called Nora from across the way. "It'll be fun! Ren, what do you think?"
Everyone in the room was now beginning to crowd around the beds, and they all looked to Ren. He shrugged.
"I suppose if you fail it will be funny, but if you succeed we can probably come up with a more secure way to create our beds than team RWBY." Ren looked to Weiss and Blake. "I mean no offence."
"It's fine," said Blake, "I regret using my books. It feels like every time I want to read a story I find it's one of the ones holding up the bed."
"And as much as I was fine when that rope snapped, it is not pleasant to wake up in the middle of the night half crushed by a full-sized bed," chipped in Weiss, rubbing at her arm. "We really should have planned it better in the first place."
"Yeah," agreed Ruby, bowing her head, while Blake nodded.
Everyone turned to look at Pyrrah, who was still leaning on the bed. She sighed. "This isn't how we should make our team decisions." She looked to Jaune.
"Please Pyrrah," he said, pouting. She rolled her eyes, but smiled as well.
"You have to actually make the jump, first."
"Yes!" squealed Nora, as she rolled off Yang's bed and jumped in beside Ren.
"This is such a terrible idea!" exclaimed Yang gleefully, as she too jumped off the other bunk bed.
Everyone took a step back, murmuring amongst each other in excited anticipation. They may have all been kickass warriors on the battlefield earlier that day, but now they were all just teenagers doing stupid stuff together.
Like watching their friend fall flat on his stupid face because this is such a dumb idea, thought Jaune.
"Alright, quiet everyone!" cried Yang, stepping forward and raising her arms. The room hushed and stilled. "The bet is as follows- if Jaune can successfully jump from one top bunk to another, then team JNPR will get some sweet ass bunk beds of their own. JNPR, do you agree to the terms?"
"Aye!" cheered Nora, saluting.
"Yes," said Ren calmly.
"I agree too," added Pyrrah, "Are you still sure of this, Jaune?"
"What?" scoffed Jaune, "Of course. I've faced Grimm and Professor Goodwitch in a bad mood before, this'll be a cinch."
No, just give up now! You're actually going to fall and kill yourself, and for what? Some bunk beds?
"Okay, then," interrupted Yang again. "Team RWBY stands as witnesses."
"Please don't destroy our room for a stupid bet," Weiss said, crossing her arms, but still seeming as eager to watch as anyone else. It should probably bother Jaune a little more than it did that all his friends were so quick to watch him do something stupid and potentially dangerous.
"Right, one last order of business before we begin," said Yang, holding her arms wide like she was a circus conductor. "Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! I bet ten chocolate chip cookies that he falls on his face."
"Yang!" Jaune yelled defensively
His friends all laughed, and began shouting out their own bets. Jaune huffed to himself as Weiss joined Yang in betting against him, while Ruby and Nora added more cookies and even some pancakes to the mix. Ren and Blake respectfully bowed out of the game, but still hung around with interest, as did Pyrrah, who had now been pushing the bed back for some time. He wondered if she was getting tired.
"Okay then, are we ready to begin?" Pyrrah asked to the room as everyone settled again.
"Wait!" Ruby yelled, flinging out her arms. "I completely forgot. What about the tournament? If Jaune hurts himself-"
"Wow, I'm so glad my friends have so much faith in me-" interjected Jaune sullenly.
"-then won't you guys have a problem?"
It was Ren who answered.
"That's a valid concern, Ruby, but you don't need to worry. We have already decided that Nora and Pyrrah will represent us in the next stage of the tournament."
"Yeah, so Jaune can do as much stupid stuff as he wants, and it doesn't matter," giggled Nora.
"Oh, alright, continue," said Ruby. She stepped back into line with the others, and everyone turned their eyes eagerly to Jaune.
"Errr," he said awkwardly. He suddenly felt a terrible case of stage fright. "Maybe Ruby's right, I mean, don't you need me to support in the tournament? I am the leader after all."
"Three," said Pyrrah, ominously. She readjusted her hands on the bedframe, and the whole rig jolted. Jaune would deny squeaking at that until the day he died.
"Come on, Jaune, you can do this! I want those cookies," cheered Ruby.
Everyone took two steps back.
"Two."
"Fall on your face, Jaune, I want those pancakes!" jeered Weiss.
This was a mistake. This was a huge, massive, colossal mistake, thought Jaune, as he leaned forward on his knees and looked fearfully at the gap between the beds.
"One!"
After a millisecond more of hesitation, he jumped.
In retrospect, his first mistake was not properly checking his surroundings. In pushing the bed backwards, Pyrrah had also swung it closer to the ceiling, and Jaune, hunched over and clinging to the bedpost, hadn't realised. He jumped straight upwards, trying to get some height, and so connected immediately with team RWBY's ceiling. Then he bounced downwards, surprised but still focused on his goal. He moved towards the other bed- but it wasn't enough. He saw in slow motion as the side of the bed came closer, and he had a split second to realise he was going to bang his head on the hard wooden frame. This… had been a huge mistake. And quite possibly his last.
"Jaune!" he heard someone cry, and then he felt himself be yanked downwards at the last second by the hood of his jumper. A hand on his back then pushed him forward, and he landed face first on Blake's bed, shocked but unharmed.
He heard someone say, "Pyrrah, watch out!", and he turned his head to see Ruby's bed swinging wildly, and then someone dropped down beside him. He flopped himself onto his back, and sat up to see Yang and Blake taming the errant bed, while everyone else looked on worriedly.
"Is she okay? The bed hit her pretty good," said Ruby somewhat anxiously.
Confused, he looked beside him to see Pyrrah rubbing at the back of her head. It clicked- to catch him, she had let go of Ruby's bed, and it had swung back down with a vengeance. Gravity really was a heartless mistress.
"I'm fine, everyone," Pyrrah said, raising her arm placatingly before sitting herself up. "One knock to the head isn't enough to keep me down, you all know that."
Her words broke the tension- Nora swore and groaned at her lost bet, while Weiss smugly patted her on the back, while Ruby tried desperately to backtrack.
"Okay, but what if, theoretically, I made that bet knowing that I didn't actually have any cookies to bet with."
"Well, you'll just have to get some then. No wiggling out of this one, little sis!"
"Yaaang, please!"
With the excitement over, everyone started to lose interest and wander back to other parts of the room. Ruby's bed was now still, but the sheets were twisted where Jaune had jumped from.
"I really wanted those bunk beds, Jaune!" Nora called from across the room.
Pyrrah turned to Jaune.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "That was stupid."
"Yes, it was," agreed Pyrrah, still rubbing at her head around her golden diadem.
"Sorry. That was probably one of those times you should have let me fall on my own, you know. As a lesson in stupidity, or recklessness, or whatever."
"Yes, I probably should. It would have served you right." She stared straight ahead seriously, but after a minute burst into laughter. "Watching you bounce off that roof was funny, though."
"Thanks," he muttered, grinning himself. They laughed together for several minutes, before settling down on the soft surface of the bed, still beside each other
"So… why did you do it?" he asked quietly after a short, companionable silence. "Why do you ever catch me?" He looked down, and saw that their hands were resting side by side.
"Because I want to, Jaune," replied Pyrrah earnestly. "I won't always be there when you fall, you must understand that. But I am more than happy to help you while we're both here. You're my friend."
He smiled at that.
"Same for you, Pyrrah. I don't know how much help I'll be, but I promise I will always try my best to catch you when you need it. I have to return the favour, after all."
She put her hand on his shoulder, and they both smiled warmly at each other.
"So," Jaune said, as his friends began laughing from the other side of the room, "the deal still stands if I try to jump again, right- ow! Pyrrah!"
One time he couldn't return the favour
1.
Pyrrah tried, and there was no one in the world who would deny that.
The arrow fazed through the shield, shifting and glowing bright before reforming completely on the other side. It buried itself into the back of her heel, easily penetrating the leather of her heeled boot.
Pyrrah cried out at the crescendo of pain that followed.
She fell to her knees.
Far away in the city, Jaune fought a Grimm, driving his sword into its heart with a scream of frustration and the ghost of her kiss on his lips.
He didn't catch her.
He didn't save her.
I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive.
This was for a Rooster Teeth Secret Santa over on Tumblr.
TBH I'm not 100% with this but I wrote, finished and published something so that's a victory. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas/holiday and has a great New Year. :)