Hey guys, back again with another chapter. I will apologize right off the bat as there will be minimal fighting and more or less talking in this chapter. Rest assured, the next chapter will contain more action as things get even juicier.

Hope you enjoy!


The atmosphere of the classroom was as dull as Ozpin's heart warming welcoming speech to the new enrolees he presented a few weeks ago. Suffice to say, Port had been rambling on for a good hour now about the History of Remnant and half the class struggled to stay awake through the entire shenanigans. Most of his stories were from his own tell-tale experience rather than being drawn from the actual text books they had been given to study and tide over. It was things like these that Jaune wished he was in another class, hell; he'd take Glynda's combat period over history any day of the week. But the fact that he had caught only 3 hours of sleep made it all the while more difficult for him to even concentrate let alone keep his head up.

"Psst, pretend you're taking notes. That way Port won't call you out. Act as if you're documenting his every word." Ren whispered into his left ear.

"Duly noted. Where would I be without your wisdom Ren." Jaune replied before scribbling some lines onto his text book.

As Ren eyed his roommate, he showed a concerned look. Lately Ren had noticed Jaune coming back late into the dorm and had avoided speaking of his actions. Of course, one's personal life isn't meant to be openly discussed, but it was severely impacting those around him and the only right response was to express concern.

"Jaune, what have you been doing lately? You've been missing out on after school training and you always come back late at night. You should slow down; whatever it is you're doing it isn't helping you." Ren said with full blown concern.

"Neurgh!" Jaune groaned as he ruffled his unkempt hair and gave a tired look at Ren, "It's nothing too big dude, don't worry about me, I'm fine, really..." His voice drifted off before his head slumped onto the table.

"This is getting out of hand. Look, you clearly need the rest. How about you go get some sleep and return later at lunch? I'll take down notes for you and hand them to you later so you don't miss out much." He offered.

Jaune shot Ren a surprised look, "Really? You'd do that for me? No man, I can't accept that."

"It's for your own good Jaune. Besides, you can barely keep your eyes open." As Ren finished his sentence, Jaune had already fallen back asleep and was in no rush to wake up.

Raising his hand up, Professor Port stopped his ramblings and addressed the student's needs, "Yes Mr Ren? What can I do for you?"

"If you may sir, it seems my friend here isn't feeling too well. May I accompany him to the Nurse's office and see that he get's the proper treatment?" Ren asked in a manner that reflected his personality.

"Why of course, do hurry! A student's personal health is number one above anything else. Run along now!" Port urged the young man.

Helping the sleepy Jaune onto his feet, all eyes were on them as Ren slowly, but surely, dragged his sleep deprived squad mate out the door. It didn't take long for gossips to flair up into the room. Port didn't take to the liking of gossips and hushed the class in order to resume his story telling.

However, it wasn't only Ren that showed concerned for Jaune. On the other side of the room sat Pyrrha who could only worry so much for their team leader. Her entire focus for the subject had shattered the moment Ren carried Jaune out the room and now all she could do was think of him. Lately Jaune had been doing things that were erratic of him; he always skipped team practice and came home at hours that were questionable even for Jaune.

"Pyrrha, what's up with Jaune lately? I rarely see him at our after school training. Has something bad happened?" Nora asked in a low voice, her usual cheerful attitude gone.

"I don't know Nora. He hasn't said a word, nothing, not a single word. And when I've tried confronting him about it, he would dodge my questions and refuse to open up," She buried her face in her hands, "It's very irritating. Something's up and we need to know. For all we know, Jaune could be getting himself into trouble."

"Ooh, hear me out!" Nora beamed, "What if, Jaune is part of some dangerous underground organization and is some sorta trained mercenary that takes on dirty jobs?"

Pyrrha merely shot Nora the 'Are you fucking serious?' look and was unimpressed, "Really Nora? Jaune doesn't even have to heart to harm a rabbit, what makes you think he can gut a living human being?"

"Just joking, I admit that was a terrible theory." She said.

"Our team leader better have some answers for us later. One way or another, we're going to get to the bottom of this problem. This has been going on for far too long, I just feel sorry for Jaune." Pyrrha sighed heavily.

Ren returned to the classroom just in the nick of time as the bell rang. As second period ended, it was time for lessons with Professor Goodwitch. And everyone knew that Glynda loved to drill them with skills and spar with each other in order to prepare them for the outside world.

"Hey Pyrrha!" A high pitched voice greeted her. The voice belonged to none other than Ruby Rose who joined her side, "How's it going?"

"I don't know Ruby. My mind just hasn't been itself lately." She replied.

"What's up with Jaune lately? He's been sleeping throughout our classes and I rarely see him after school. Did something serious happen?" Ruby asked.

"That's the thing Ruby, I don't know. None of us know what's up with Jaune lately. It's almost as if he's not himself. I don't how long this has been going on for, but I'd be a fool to learn that it's been going on far longer than it should be."

"Oh, I see." Ruby replied softly as her head hung low. Clearly she as well was worried, not to mention Jaune was technically her first friend here at Beacon.

"Anyway, I'll see you later on the fighting grounds. Best of luck to you guys!" Ruby waved before taking off a light speed to re-join her team.

"She's always so optimistic isn't she?" Nora said.

"I wish I had that type of optimism." Pyrrha said.

"In case you guys were wondering, Jaune is doing fine. I saw to it personally that he had been put to rest." Ren calmly stated.

Pyrrha and Nora both shot Ren a concerned look and had to replay his words over and over to understand what he meant. Pyrrha definitely sported the 'You fucking what mate?' While Nora's face screamed 'Ren! What the hell!?'

"Did I say something wrong?" Ren asked, confused by the hostile glances his teammates gave him.

"Ren, I think your wording needs to be clarified. What I think you were supposed to say was 'Jaune is doing fine because I was there to help him catch up on his needed z's'."

"Oh, my bad. I must've said something else then." Ren said in an embarrassed manner.

"Miss Nikos I'm a big fan of yous!" A random passer-by waved.

"Miss Nikos, can I get your autograph?!"

"Pyrrha, can we get a picture?"

The sea of questions kept coming and coming and no end seemed to be in sight for the great celebrity Pyrrha Nikos. Almost everyday there would be a couple of students or outside reporters who would seek her out and ask for an interview or autograph. While Pyrrha didn't have the heart to decline the offer, she grew tired of the recurring incidents.

"Come on Ren, that's our cue to get Pyrrha outta here. One, two, three and lift!" Nora ordered before the duo swept the idol off her feet and began jogging towards the training hall while a sea of fans pursued them.


The grand chase ended as soon as Professor Oobleck caught whiff of the unusual commotion and forced the crowd to disperse less they wished to be temporarily suspended for disrupting classes and the likes. For team JNPR, minus Jaune, it was Oumsend as they were certain they would've been trampled to death by the horde.

"Do you think it would be solo or team based battles today?" Ren asked while checking his weapons.

"Who knows, Professor Goodwitch is unpredictable to say the least. Besides, Jaune isn't with us, so I doubt we'd get matched up for a team oriented fight." Pyrrha replied.

"I wanna break some legs!" Nora said while pumping her fists into the air.

"Easy Nora, Goodwitch isn't going to mildly impressed in the event you do end up breaking some poor person's legs." Ren said.

"Hey guys!" A familiar high pitched voice filled the room.

"Hey Ruby, what's up?" Pyrrha asked before closing the door to her locker.

"Did you know that there's a new student being assessed right now in the hall? I can't wait to make friends with her!" Ruby beamed with joy.

"A new student?" Ren and Nora both said before giving each other a surprised look.

"Well, this is indeed a surprise. Let's go check her out team." Pyrrha motioned.

As the group re-joined their cohort upstairs, the group had their eyes fixated on the display down below which captivated almost everyone.

"Whoa, I've never seen the training ground transform into this!" Ruby exclaimed as she eyed the moving platforms, the fast zipping targets, mechanical robots, bunkers that housed heavy calibre guns that were spewing rounds that could tear apart hordes of Grimm.

"This is, unexpected." Ren said as he took a seat.

"Is that the new student?!" Nora pointed excitedly.

With a flash of bright light, a small feminine figure seemingly glided through the air as if she owned the skies. Her silver hair flew freely in the wind as she executed jaw dropping acrobatic displays flawlessly. Right off the bat Pyrrha knew this new comer showed promising display of skills.

"She's so smooth!" Ruby exclaimed as she watched with excitement.

"If only Jaune were here to see this, he'd never take his eyes off this performance for even a second." Nora said in a low voice.

"Jaune would do what?" Pyrrha quickly asked.

"Nothing, I was just talking to myself." Nora smiled innocently.


Stella stood her ground, ready to blast through this exam in order to prove her worth to the headmaster. Beyond the platform she stood on was a series of moving obstacles each offering a unique play style to aid in the completion of the course. But what good was an obstacle course without the added flair of danger? Amongst the rotating platforms and moving walls sat automatons wielding guns and bunkered down turrets that wished to divert any that dared cross the room.

The amount of excitement that was building up within the girl was immeasurable as this sort of environment was something she was familiar with. The only thoughts running through her head was how she trivial this course was since she could practically cheese it for the entire part.

Swords in both hands, she quickly analysed the quickest path towards the end while dealing the most damage to the enemies as possible. Without warning, the bell rang and she took off instinctively without stopping to think about anything else.

Guiding her throws, the swords flew to their desired locations with pin point accuracy which made traversing the mobile terrain a breeze. Coming up to the first platform filled with targets, she quickly teleported high above them for a quick tactical analysis. Seeing that there were five armed targets below, an idea formed in her mind almost instantly and decided to put it to action.

Descending at incredible speeds, she teleported at the last second towards the nearest target and hacked its head clean off. Sparks flying wildly, the automaton collapsed to the ground and Stella wasted no time in moving to the next. Teleporting yet again, she took pride in her air step skills and slashed away at her next target. As the automatons fell one by one, she was a blur for their targeting receptors which proved their downfall as all of them were swiftly dispatched.

The entire time Stella had not touched the ground and made quick work of her opponents by simply using her speed and prowess followed by her own touch of 'magic'.

Moving onto the next part of the course, it was highly unlikely she would make it through without getting spotted by the turrets and automatons that patrolled every square inch of the platform they occupied. Spotting a moving platform in the distance, she quickly warped to it and used it to mask her approach as it drifted closer to the hostile island.

Deciding to drop the stealth act, she quickly leapt out from her cover with a cunning plan in mind. Landing with loud sound, she garnered the attention of nearly all the machines within the vicinity. Taking advantage of her sudden appearance, she quickly casted a ball of warding light into the air as a means to blind her enemies.

Using this distraction, she summoned a doppelganger of herself and the mayhem ensued. Chaining their respective targets, the bipedal automatons were taken down in a domino affect as Stella and her doppelganger jumped from target to target while dealing deadly finishers to each one of them.

With the foot soldiers out of the way, the only targets that remained were the bunkers and a few stragglers on the far side of the island that were rushing over. Noticing one of the turrets powering up, Stella quickly casted a glass like shield to protect herself from the oncoming fire. Her clone was unlucky however as she watched herself get mowed down by the large gun. Seeing that the remaining automatons were closing in, she quickly teleported away as to break line of sight only to appear closer to the oncoming automatons.

Executing a power slide, she zipped past her enemies and threw a destructive fireball that engulfed the last two robots in a fiery blaze. Hearing the sounds of machinery being operated, the heavy turrets swung around to relocate their target.

A smile swept across her face as a playful idea came to mind. As the barrels spun wildly to charge up the guns, she quickly casted a spell that affected the turrets. Bullets flying wildly, they hit their mark but did absolutely nothing as the projectiles harmlessly bounced off Stella's aura. Within seconds the turrets had emptied their magazines and were dry leaving an unfazed Stella out in the open.

As she dusted off the dirt on her clothing, she quickly threw a dark orb into the small openings of the bunker and teleported fast away as possible. The next few moments was unclear as small explosion erupted from within that emitted a blinding light followed by uncontrolled after shocks that rocked the entire training hall to its core. The aftermath of the battle ended with half of the obstacle course gone into a pile of dust while the other half that survived the blast lay in a mangled heap.


"A wonderful performance indeed Miss Noxfell." Ozpin commemorated her as he rode the elevator platform down to greet her.

"Thank you headmaster, it has been my pleasure." Stella bowed gracefully.

"She will definitely be a great addition to our school. Glynda, I suppose you have no objections?" He asked the Deputy Headmaster.

"I wholeheartedly agree with you Ozpin, but it's just that there are no more teams left for her to join. She can't simply fly by herself." Glynda adjusted her glasses while checking her scroll.

"With that display of such an extraordinary semblance she may not need a team. I'm willing to go out of my way and issue this young lady her own dorm and the free will to choose which team to join. Should there be a 5 man team I shall permit it." He declared.

"Ozpin, surely this is something we must think through?" Glynda objected.

"I have made up my mind Glynda. This young lady has come to us asking us to give her a chance at our institute. I will make sure to honour her choice." His words firm, unwavering at any objections.

Glynda merely sighed and adjusted her glasses, "Very well Ozpin, I'll make sure she's put into the database. If you'll excuse me, I have a class to run." She said before walking off.

"Come young lady, I'll show you to your quarters." Ozpin gestured her to step onto the elevator.

Stella merely nodded her head in agreement and followed his instructions. As the two rode the platform up, the training hall transformed into its original state in preparation for the next class to use.

"I have to apologize for my Deputy. She sometimes goes hard on newcomers as she wishes to see only the best of the best."

"It's okay, I understand that sort of mentality. After all, the real world can be unforgiving and you have to always give your all as it can mean life or death." Stella said casually.

Ozpin eyed the girl with the utmost curiosity, the aura she gave off was filled with mystery and he just couldn't quite put his finger on what he felt. He knew she had her secrets but that was none of his business, what intrigued him the most was the display of her Semblance. Throughout his lifetime he had witnessed unique semblances displayed by various people, none came as close to as what Stella had shown him. It was almost as if she was using magic, something only a select few could wield. Regardless, he was wary of the girl, and to simply pass her up would've probably resulted in dangerous results.

"Follow me please." He motioned.

As the two made their way down the large halls, Stella couldn't help but admire the grand architecture displayed everywhere. From the walls to the pillars to even the hand painted ceilings above. It was art at it's finest. The deep red carpets that lined the halls added to the aesthetics, clearly the Headmaster had excellent tastes.

"I hope that this is not too overwhelming for you." Ozpin stated, attempting to strike up a conversation.

"You have no idea how excited I am! I always dreamed of becoming a Huntress when I grew up. That or settling for a quiet job in the city." Stella replied with full of energy.

"That's good to hear. Regardless of where your choices in life take you, I assure you Beacon Academy will do it's best to prepare you for the outside world," Ozpin assured her, "On a more personal note, may I ask a few questions regarding yourself?"

Stella paused and thought about wether or not she should comply, on the other hand it may generate even further suspicion about her due to the dodgy transcripts she used to get into this school.

"Sure, I'll do my best in answering your questions." Stella smiled.

"Your semblance, it's the most extraordinary one I have ever seen. It's almost as if it's magic; tell me dear, at what age did you unlock your semblance?"

Stella rubbed her chin as she recalled he memories, "Well, I can't really remember to be honest. I just remember one time I was under intense training and it just happened. Before I knew it I could do all these sorts of things."

"Interesting." Ozpin nodded slowly, "Anyway, we have arrived." He opened the door to her quarters.

Inside the furnished room sat a bed, desk, closet and cabinets and a bathroom. It seemed spacious for just one person but Stella didn't mind; at least it gave her room to practice some 'things' at the very least.

"Is this all for me?" She asked in a surprised tone.

"Why yes, since the dorms are relatively full you shall reside here instead. Conveniently it is placed near the major classrooms and the cafeteria. You'll also receive a monthly allowance from the school like everyone else to spend on whatever necessities you may require over the course of your stay. If there's anything else you may need, just dial any of the emergency numbers and a staff member will be on their way to help."

"I-I don't know what to say…" Stella stammered as she wasn't expecting such hospitality.

"No need to thank me, you have proven to me that you have the skills to become fully fledged Huntress. The best thing I can do is make sure this school sees to it that your skills are refined and better honed in for the real world." Ozpin declared, his eyes full of hope.

"You really think I have what it takes to be a Huntress huh?" Stella cocked her head to one side.

"I sure do, now then I have other urgent business to attend too. If you're wondering where the rest of your luggage is, it'll be delivered to your room shortly. In the meantime, do head back to Glynda's class and join her as you are now an official student. You do know the way back there yes?"

"Sure do."

"Very well, I'll be seeing you around then Miss Noxfell." Ozpin threw the keys to her room before taking off and leaving Stella to her own devices.

Stella couldn't help but watch the headmaster leave, something clawed at the back of her mind but she couldn't pinpoint what exactly. The air he gave off was something mysterious, the way he talked and eyed her was nothing shy of uncomfortable. Something was up and it definitely piqued her interest.

As soon as the headmaster was out of sight, she quickly dumped whatever belongings she had in her room and began scurrying around the area for any signs of suspicious activity. Pulling drawers out and over turning every bit of furniture, she found nothing so far. Letting out a frustrated groan, she rearranged everything back to its original state.

As she pandered around the room, she began placing her ear against the wall and knocked on it to see if it was hollow. Sure enough she was met with muffled sounds as the walls were solid concrete. It wasn't until she reached the door that she noticed something was amiss. When she first stopped outside the room, there was no spyhole visible let alone an actual hole for the user to see through to the outside world. Cautiously approaching the device, she gently fiddled with it until it came loose from its position.

Sure enough, her instincts were right as she held a crude, but effective, device in her hand. The design itself was fairly simple, with a built in transmitter and real time audio playback recorder to relay every single detail that would transpire in this room.

'Oh dear Headmaster Ozpin, what game are you playing at? I guess the fun stops here' Stella said aloud in her head before crushing the tiny device.

Throwing the remains in a nearby bin, she ran a brush through her hair before tying it up into a ponytail. Bringing only her weapons and a pen and notebook, she locked the door to her room before jogging to her new class.


The afternoon sunlight crept through the curtains that did its level best to shield Jaune from the outside world's wake up call. By now a solid ray had rested on Jaune's face prompting him to turn his head away from the bright source. By doing so, his luxury of drifting off to dreamland was interrupted and the young man was now wide awake.

"Fuck..." He groaned as he sat up slowly, "Wait, how did I end up in bed?" His voice bounced around the room in hopes of evoking an answer, "Oh wait, Ren dragged me back here earlier. That's right; I fell asleep in class and was too tired to even concentrate. I really owe Ren for dragging my sorry ass here."

As be tossed the blanket to one side, he spread the curtain apart and the full blown force of the afternoon sunlight came pouring into the once dimly lit room. Adjusting whatever bits of uniform he had, he styled his unkempt hair and straightened his blazer before walking out the room. Making sure the door was locked, the school bell screamed like an old goat high in the mountains which made Jaune cringe at the noise. Realizing that the bell signified it was lunch time, he felt his stomach growl in hunger.

"It's okay buddy, we'll get some food." Jaune patted his belly before walking off.

The trek out of the dorms and towards the cafeteria proved to be a quiet one as rarely any students from his year group or any other year group for the matter were present. Wondering if there was some sort of event going on, he decided to pick up the pace in case he was missing out on something important.

The cafeteria was densely packed as always with students scurrying about carrying their share of food. Voices overlapped with each other as conversations varied from table to table. Be it gossips, school matters or other forms of discussions, the walls of the cafeteria always heard them first before any other part of the school did.

As Jaune stood in the doorway, he saw that the middle column tables were being swarmed by students from his year group and from other levels as well. Raising a brow, he heard questions being thrown around and a familiar voice answering it to the best of its abilities.

Slowly walking up to the large crowd, he saw Ren lingering amongst the outer parts and tapped his shoulder to garner his attention.

"Welcome back, I take it you slept well?" Ren asked.

"Like a rock, sheesh I never knew I was that sleep deprived," Jaune stretched out his arms, "What's all this commotion, is someone famous here?"

"That I cannot answer. All I can say is, take a look for yourself. She's a new student here and she put on quite a show for us at the training hall. Even Headmaster Ozpin was impressed." Ren offered a friendly smile.

"Jaune?!" The familiar voice called out to him.

Turning to the source, he knew it was too good to be true. Of course he knew his partner would be enrolling into Beacon sometime soon. What he was unaware of was that he didn't expect her to do it the day after recommending the idea to her.

"Hey…..Stella…" Jaune gave an awkward smile.

"It's good to see you again!" She beamed happily like a child.

"You two know each other?!" The large crowd asked in shock as all eyes were now on the two of them.

"Yeah…" Jaune smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head.

"How long have you two known each other?" Nora asked eagerly.

"That is a bit too sudden Nora." Jaune rolled his eyes before taking a seat at the table.

"Okay everyone, I think it's getting a bit crowded over here. Move along and return to your own businesses!" Jaune barked.

As the people dispersed, rumours spread like wildfire and unwanted glares flew in their direction as they expected more to happen.

"Excuse me a moment while I get my lunch." Jaune said to Stella before pulling away from the table.

As the canteen staff served whatever they had on the menu, Jaune decided to go with some carbonara to satisfy his cravings for pasta. Returning to the table, Stella smiled warmly as she waited for him to sit down.

"You know, I was expecting you show up." He began while digging his fork into the food.

"Yeah, I know. Well now I'm here!" She beamed.

"What I wasn't expecting was for you to show the next bloody day though." Jaune grimaced as he ate.

"Silly Jaune, you know I can't stay separated from you for long. Besides, now that I'm here we're much closer now." Stella said before eating a spoon full of ice cream.

As Jaune was about to take another mouthful, he paused and listened to the sound of the cafeteria. Usually a place like this would've been filled with chatter and laughter, but all he heard was a few conversations from far away tables. Looking around he saw that many eyes were staring in their general direction, even team RWBY and his teammates were all looking at him in curiosity. Nora in particular held a boom mike above them with an audio recorder around her waist.

"Excuse me, some privacy please?!" Jaune said aloud which prompted everyone else to resume their original activities.

"My my, we sure are the talk of the class." Stella purred.

"Maybe because the new student seems to be very close with the dodgy student who fails to pay attention in class?" He suggested.

"Hmmm, so the rumours are true? Sheesh, perhaps you should lay off the wo-"

Before Stella had a chance to finish, Jaune put a finger over her mouth as to avoid spilling any more details about his 'outside' activities.

"Have you forgotten where we are?" Jaune hissed lowly.

"Just kidding, I knew you'd stop me. Besides, I think you need to take a break. Catch up on your studies, you can do that right?" Stella gave a shit eating grin.

"Honestly, you're just here to tease me for your own pleasures sake." He rolled his eyes.

"You know me so well." She chuckled softly to which Jaune merely smiled.

By the time the two had finished eating, almost half an hour had passed and they still had another half hour of lunch left. Seeing the opportunity to spend some alone time with Jaune, Stella quickly grabbed his hand and led him out of the room hastily.

"Umm guys, did you see Jaune and Stella leave?" Ruby asked as she pointed at the empty seats.

"How in the…?" Pyrrha stared in confusion as she swore she had an eye on the just moments ago.

"They left! Oh this spells more gossip and rumours!" Nora pumped a fist in the air.

"Seems Vomit boy is keeping secrets. Guess he's just terrible at keeping some." Yang said with a grin.

"I guess none of us was expecting to be hit by that sudden revelation." Ruby said while playing with her food.

"Indeed." Pyrrha murmured softly as she felt uneasy of the whole situation. The fact that Stella seemed suspicious to her from the get go only added more worry to her about Jaune.


"Is this where you usually hang out?" She asked curiously.

"Sometimes, I don't normally come here. But when I do it's usually for me to take my mind off things."He explained before sitting down underneath the tree.

"May I join you?" She asked kindly.

"Do you need to ask? I'm pretty sure with no one else around you can do whatever you like without being judged."

As Stella took the hint, she gently lay down and rested her head on Jaune's lap. Letting out a yawn, her eyes met with Jaune before giggling and pushing his face away.

"What was that for?" He asked in confusion.

"Nothing, I guess it's just a habit that's all," She sang happily. "Anyway, is it true you're struggling with school?" Her face was riddled with concern as she looked at him.

Jaune sighed heavily as he rested a hand on Stella. Leaning his head back, he knew yesterday's contract really threw him off from school and sooner or later Oobleck, Port or Glynda was going to come after his ass.

"Yeah, it's just that I have been relying on my teammates a lot to cover my back while I pass out from sleep deprivation. Add to the fact that I've been lagging behind in class because I have little to no time to submit the work that was given out."

He felt sharp sting across the side of his face as Stella sat upright next to him. "You idiot! What gave you the bright idea to accept these contracts if you knew it was going to affect your performance at school!" She glared angrily at him, disappointment written all over her face, "Are you trying to get yourself kicked out of here? You just told me last night that you wanted to try living a normal life, are you trying to ruin that chance?"

Out of all the things Jaune would do, he merely grinned and shook his head slowly. A happy sigh escaped his mouth as he relaxed his head on the tree trunk. "Yes I get your point, yes I know I was an idiot for not telling you about my conflicting schedule. Yes the decisions I made were fairly poor and it hasn't helped me one bit. I am well aware of my decisions Stella and I was a fool to not give them a second thought," His voice full of acknowledgement as he looked her dead in the eyes, "Perhaps the slap itself brought me back to reality. I guess I should find out whatever assignments I have to do in order to avoid getting kicked." He groaned at the thought of staying up late again doing work.

"What am I going to do with you?" Stella rubbed her forehead as she wondered how Jaune would pull through.

"By the way, how did you know I was struggling with school?" He asked with a raised brow.

Stella put a finger to her chin as she recalled where she exactly picked it up from, "Oh, I overheard that red head chick in your team talking about you when I was walking down the hall towards the cafeteria." She replied.

"Wait, you mean Pyrrha? Ah crap, I've really dug myself into a pit now." He moaned while covering his face with his hands. Jaune knew that with Pyrrha getting all worked up over him, she and the entire team is going to corner him one of these days and gouge the truth out of him about his late night outings.

"Why, what's the matter? Is she causing you trouble? If she is, can I break her legs?"

Jaune gave a shocked look at Stella as if he heard a piece of Nora within her, "You know, I have a feeling you and Nora are going to get along in the future."

"Ohhh, so that's the crazy girl's name. She seems like a cool person."

"Nora? Crazy? I won't argue with you on that. But the girl sure is fun to have around."

"Sounds to me you've been making some good friends. I'm happy for you; you've made quite the start here at Beacon. I'd hate to see it get thrown out the window." Stella said with a smile.

Jaune's massaged his left cheek as the slap Stella gave earlier left quite the mark, "Heh, I won't waste it, promise. And you're right; it would be a shame to lose everything now."

"Sorry about the slap, I felt that I needed to do something to wake your delusional ass up," She said with full honesty, "May I?"

"Oh, sure," Jaune hesitantly said before removing his hand. Before he knew it, he felt a soft peck on his cheek followed by a soothing sensation that lasted for a while.

"You seem a bit surprised? Consider it a healing touch, at least people won't question that mark on your face." She giggled.

"Sure, can't stir up more of a commotion than you already have." Jaune responded cynically.

"You can't blame me, after all I wasn't expecting people to be watching my performance," A smug look filled her face. "Which reminds me, that headmaster seems like trouble."

"How so?"

"I found a recording device in my room. Etched into the spyhole of the door. Unfortunately whoever installed it did a shoddy job as it was fairly easy to seek out."

"Really now? I would agree with Ozpin being a shady character, but this? This raises the bar even further."

"I have a feeling there's more to this school than meets the eye. Do you want to find out what he's hiding in that office of his?"

"Nah, I'll pass, can't be too serious anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if he was engaged in some underground business and sorts. Anything beyond that is something I wouldn't want to get involved in unless there's a reason so otherwise."

"Fine, if you say so," She rolled her eyes before pausing for good few seconds while looking at Jaune, trying to find the right words to say, "So are you going to stop? All the contracts, the offers and deals? No more using your abilities for dirty work?"

Jaune scoffed at the question, "I wouldn't say stop. I highly doubt I'll stop taking a few contracts here and there. Maybe something like picking small time contracts that doesn't require much. I would like to try and use my abilities for something else other than killing," He shot a quick glance at her, "And you? Will you do the same?"

Stella scratched her cheek while pondering at the question, "Perhaps I'll give it a shot. Highly doubt I'll succeed in the long run. Doesn't hurt to try though, I'm excited to what sort of results will be produced."

"Alright then, fair enough," Jaune groaned before standing up, "Let's bail, we have five minutes left before the siren goes. Next class is going to be social studies and that's run by Oobleck, you're going to like him."

"Ughhh, that means I'll have to get my notebook and pen." Stella rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Lazy bum." He snickered.

Responding to that remark, Stella quickly jabbed her elbow into Jaune's side causing him to pull away and groan in pain. The amount of curse words flowing from his mouth was enough to merit him detention time if any of the teacher's caught whiff of it.

"Was that necessary?!" He glared daggers at her while returning to her side.

"You deserved that!" She shot back while hugging his arm, "Apologies for my rash behaviour yet again."

"Lord give me strength for this perilous journey." Jaune mumbled quietly under his breath.

"Did you say something?" Stella asked.

"Hmm? Oh nothing, just talking too myself."

"Okay…." She replied in an unconvinced tone.

The trip back to the dorms was something people would describe as odd if you were seeing it from their perspectives. Normally Jaune was considered the lazy ass since negative rumours about him not completing any assignments while failing to turn up to class reached the far corners of the academy's walls. To top it off, the first thing people would assume Jaune to be was a loner. That all broke when students witnessed he and Stella walking down the hallways like some happy couple turning a blind eye to the world's problems. Sure enough it didn't take long for the gossips to spread like wildfire to every corner in the building.

"You know your way around the school right?" Jaune asked before departing from Stella.

"I wouldn't say it's anything solid. But I've got a decent layout. See you at class!" Stella waved goodbye before taking off like a little kid.

Watching her fade into the distance, the young man couldn't help but smile as he realized what sort of person Stella was underneath that disguise of hers. Yet the emotions she displayed around him were nothing short of genuine happiness. Truly she would continue the happy interactive facade during the coming weeks as she adjusts to the school's environment. But how long it'll remain a facade and transition into actual feelings is something that was best left to be seen.

"Here you go, some notes I took for you while you were absent. No homework from Port or Glynda yet. But I wouldn't hold your breath around Oobleck." Ren explained while handing him a small binder full of notes.

"Thanks Ren, I owe you again." Jaune bumped his shoulder slightly.

"No need to repay the favour. I'm just doing what I can to help a teammate in need." Ren smiled.

"There you are Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she came through the door.

"Oh, Pyrrha. This is unexpected, did something happen?" He wore a surprised look.

"You owe us an explanation Jaune. For the past few weeks now you've been slacking off far too much. You haven't shown up to training, always fall asleep in class and to top it all off, you have the audacity to come back late at night sometimes even in the early morning as if it were a normal routine," Pyrrha's breathing stabilized as she spoke without taking any breaths. She took a deep breath and calmly resumed, "Jaune, if there's something bothering you, or if you have some sort of problem you can't deal with. Please tell us, we're here for you, all of us." She gestured towards Ren and Nora who offered their smiles.

'Oh Oum, I knew this sort of shit would happen. What the hell do I do now?!' Jaune cursed at himself while keeping a straight face towards his teammates, "Look guys," He began slowly, "I appreciate what you're trying to do for me. Really, and I'm sorry if I've caused you a lot of worry lately. But to be honest, there's somethings that you just have to do your own. I am grateful that you guys are trying to help, but I need to see this to the end, by myself."

The tension in the room remained uneasy as his team members gave him a concerned look. Pyrrha most notably gunned him down with an unconvinced look, as if she wasn't going to let the problem go.

'Fuck, I am terrible at lying. I am real sorry that I have to lie to you guys, but you're just not ready to know the truth at all.' Jaune said in his head.

As the silence lingered on, Jaune feared that he had created an even wider gap of distrust between him and his teammates and fucked up his situation even further than before. He hoped that whatever came next was something bearable or else he would accept the fact that his team downright disliked him, which was something he felt he deserved.

A heartfelt sigh came from Pyrrha who broke the silence, "It's fine Jaune. I understand, we understand," She said while looking towards Ren & Nora who nodded in approval, "If you say that this is something you need to face alone, then we won't interfere. We're just worried about you that's all. But please Jaune, whatever you're doing isn't helping you in school. At this rate you're going to get kicked out."

Jaune sat upright and smiled at his teammates, "Thanks guys, really, I appreciate the concerns. And don't worry, I'll sort things out at school. Your Fearless Leader isn't going down that easily!" He patted his chest.

"Alright! Our leader is back!" Nora cheered.

"Technically he hasn't gone anywhere." Ren rebutted her statement.

"Silly Ren, it's an expression, learn to keep with the times!" She shook him wildly.

"I am seriously confused." He wore a confused look as Nora gently pushed him out the door.

Right on cue, the bell rang and students idling about the dorms rushed down the halls in order to get to class on time.

"Come on Ren!" Nora urged him happily as they disappeared out the door.

"Come on team leader, you don't want to be late now do you?" Pyrrha nudged his foot as she walked by him.

"On it." He groaned before gathering his needed supplies.

As he approached the door, Pyrrha waited eagerly at the side for him with a subtle smile on her face. Stopping near the exit, he looked at her as if she had something to say.

"You know, we're always here for you Jaune. Doesn't hurt to ask for help once in awhile or if you need to talk."

"Thanks Pyrrha, you really do look out for the team. I appreciate that."

"Helping the leader as best I can," She beamed, "Hate to break it to you, but it seems someone left a mark on your face." Her laugh filled the room as she held up a small mirror to show Jaune what she meant.

Sure enough, there was kiss mark on his cheek that had been lingering there for quite some time now. Quickly erasing the mark, he knew there was only one person behind that and it was no wonder people gave him those even weirder glances earlier.

"Argh, not funny." He grumbled.

"Cute." Pyrrha said under her breath while giggling softly. Although her reaction seemed somewhat forced.

"Can we go now?" He urged while walking out the room.


Oobleck's class was filled with hyper active discussions as he zipped around the room talking about the formation of the four kingdoms to the great Faunus War. Occasionally he would take a sip from his caffeinated steroid red bull injected coffee to keep the hype vibe going and keep the students interested. It was also partially thanks to Weiss, Pyrrha and Stella who answered majority of his questions that saved Jaune from being picked on as he knew little to nothing about the topic and had half a book to go through to catch up on things. Before long the class had ended and everyone was to hand in a three page essay by tomorrow's class. All of which incited displeased groans and moans from half the class.

"What now?" Stella asked while gathering her things.

"I'm guessing after school training is cancelled since we all have homework to due in. Which is even better for me since I need to catch up on other shit." Jaune replied as he stood up next to her.

"So, you going with your teammates?" She asked curiously, a slight hint in her tone that she didn't want him to go.

"Honestly, I don't mind if it's with you or them or by myself. I just want to get this work done and over." He replied.

"Hey Jaune, hey Stella!" Nora chirped as he joined in, "We're all heading off to the library to smash out this essay. Wanna come?"

"Sure, was just thinking of heading there as anyways." Jaune said.

"Sweet, and you Stella?"

"Sure, I'll tag along."

"Alright!" Nora said excitedly before running off.

"Oh boy, this is going to be fun. First time doing homework, I'll probably screw this up."

Jaune scoffed at her statement, "Are you even listening to yourself? You competed with Weiss and Pyrrha in terms of answering Oobleck's questions. Look at me, I had zero knowledge on what you guys were talking about."

"You never bothered to pay attention to our history didn't you? Unlike you, I actually go and bother keeping up with the times. Come on Jaune, step your game up." Stella said in a mocking manner.

"You challenging me now?" He crossed his arms

"You bet I am!" She gave a shit eating grin.

"Oh it's on!" Jaune declared.

With that, the two of them gathered their remaining belongings and raced out of the classroom. Determined to beat each other, they took slightly faster steps and delved straight into some borrowed text books while making notes of their own. Behind them lagged the other group memebers who could only watch and speculate what they were up too.

"You jelly?" Nora wore a shit eating grin as she nudged Pyrrha.

"Wha-?!" Pyrrha said with visible confusion as the action nearly made her drop her textbooks.

"Come on, you're jelly aren't ya? The fact that someone is already wooing Jaune over. Better step your game up Pyrrha!" Nora squealed as she shook her teammate wildly.

"Nora!" Pyrrha yelled as she struggled to push her off, "And no, I don't see Jaune in 'that' manner. He's merely a good friend and a leader full of potential. That's all." She boldly said.

"You're still jelly." Nora grinned as she jumped away to avoid a swipe from the red head.

As they entered the confinement spaces of the library, Jaune and Stella wasted no time and dashed off to wherever their senses lead them too. Eager to begin their work, they snatched the largest table in the room and reserved the other seats for the remaining members. Pen in hand and paper on the desk, books flew open at the flick of finger as the two of them got delved deeper into the history of Remnant all for the sake of writing a Oum damn essay. As the others joined them, they gave an impressed look as Jaune and Stella was buried nose deep into their research and studies, crafting their well formulated thesis statements and arguments.

"This, is unusual." Weiss whispered softly as she took a seat next to Ruby.

"The new girl seems fired up as well. She's almost like you Weiss." Ruby snickered.

"No not that, Jaune is actually studying. I didn't think the pack mule had the motivation to pick up a book." Her words harsh and blunt.

"That's kinda pushing it Weiss, maybe he just needed some inspiration and maybe the new girl gave him that."

"At least the new girl knows what she's doing, finally someone who takes studying seriously for once. I like that sort of attitude." Weiss said in a pompous tone.

"Ahem, I still exist." Pyrrha raised a hand with a scowl on her face.

"Sorry Pyrrha, I didn't mean to leave you out." Weiss quickly apologized.

"But what about me Weiss? Don't I take studying seriously?" Ruby clamoured on as she tried to grasp the Heiress' hands.

"Ruby you dolt, get off me!" She hissed.

"Why is it whenever we decide to meet up and do a study period together it's always these two causing a ruckus?" Yang asked while amusing herself at the bickering that unfolded before her.

"Can we get this done and over please, I'd like to go back to the sweet warm comforts of the room that radiates home." Nora said while her mind drifted off elsewhere.

"I agree with Nora on this, we all agreed to come here and do our work. Let's actually do some work." Pyrrha chimed in.

Giving a quick glance down the table, Pyrrha noticed that Jaune and Stella were unfazed by the events that happened around them. Surely Ruby and Weiss bickering in the corner would've disrupted them, but no, instead they stayed on track like reality didn't even matter to them anymore.

"It's good to see you taking things seriously again Jaune. Let's see you keep that up," Pyrrha said to herself as she found herself staring at the blonde haired teen.

For the next few hours or so, conversations were exchanged briefly either about Oobleck's assignment or about other topics. Papers would find themselves on opposite ends of the table as multiple eyes referenced works for information or as a source of inspiration. Jaune and Stella would rarely converse save for the occasional critic and feedback they would give to their fellow classmates who handed them work.

Before long the sun had set and the night hours crept up onto the studying teenagers. By now team RWBY had already finished their work and packed up early to do their own 'activities' while team JNPR stayed behind for a little while longer.

"Jaune, are you sure you're going to stay here until closing hours? You don't have to learn every topic you've missed out on in one evening." Pyrrha suggested to him.

The blonde haired teen merely looked past his book and wore a warm smile, "It's fine Pyrrha, I just feel like it's necessary for me to do this."

A loud yawn escaped from Nora's mouth as she put her feet up on the large mahogany table, "Can we go now Pyrrha? I'm sure Jaune can find his way back to the dorm."

Glancing at Ren, he was fast asleep on the table with a book slumped over his unkempt hair. Deciding it was best for them to head back to the dorm, she accepted Nora's request, "Very well Nora, we'll start heading back now."

"See you guys in a bit." Jaune waved as they left the table.

"Likewise Jaune." Pyrrha waved back as she exited the room.

Shortly after they left, the book Stella was reading dropped from her hands while she let out a long sigh.

"I'm beat." Stella groaned while stretching her arms.

"At least we finished that damn essay a few hours ago. Now it's a matter of catching up on lost time." Jaune said while rubbing his eyes.

"I'm going to get some coffee, you want some?" She asked while standing up.

"Sure, why not?" He replied mid yawn.

As she left the room, a small groan escaped his mouth before burying his head into the text book. Taking a big whiff of the scented papers, the aroma calmed him down almost forcing his body to shut down. Within a few minutes Stella came back with two plastic cups of steaming hot coffee.

"Thanks," He nodded at her while taking his share.

As they both sat in silence and drank their drinks, the atmosphere of the empty library added to the calming sensation.

"I don't want to continue this anymore. I'm beat and the coffee is not helping. Normally I would be fine staying up for a whole day, but somehow staring at words drains me." Her face collapsed onto the book in front of her.

A small chuckle escaped Jaune's mouth as he watched his partner, "I think we can call it day. We did go over board, but I'd say we covered most of the lessons discussed."

"We? Wasn't it you who needed to catch up? I just got here." Stella replied in an offended manner.

"True, but you also need to catch up on lessons you've missed. The teacher's aren't going to hold your hands you know."

"Just like how life didn't bother to hold our hands when it beat us with its shitty stick. Fun times indeed."

"Heh, also true."

With a final yawn escaping her mouth, Stella pushed herself up from the table packed her belongings, "Would you mind returning the books for me?"

"Sure, pass 'em here." Jaune held out his hands to catch the heavy objects.

As he drank the last drops of his coffee, he threw the light object across the room and scored a perfect shot in the bin. Smiling like an idiot at his accomplishment, he returned to his task at hand and rearranged the borrowed books in their respective places. Upon returning to his table, his belongings had been packed away neatly into his bag by courtesy of his best friend.

"Come on, let's go." She urged him while waiting at the door way.

"Be patient will ya?" He replied while picking up his bag.

Joining her at the door, they left the room briskly and avoided walking loudly in order to not garner attention from unwanted teachers and students.

"Walk me to my room pleaseee." She begged while hugging his arm.

"Sure, sure. Like I could say no anyway." Jaune said.

"Yay." She cheered softly.

Before he knew it, Stella had fallen asleep on his arm and he had no choice but to carry her back to her dorm room. He prayed to the Oums above that no one saw them and that was the last thing he needed. Thankfully though, he managed to find her dorm with little effort thanks to Stella answering his questions about directions.

"Here we are." He said as he set her down.

"Ahh, thanks for your help. I kinda feel bad for using you to ferry me all the way here." She said while unlocking her door.

"Hey, anything for a good friend." Jaune said proudly.

"Carry me to the bed please." She said nonchalantly.

Rolling his eyes, he picked up the lazy girl she was and carried her into the room. As the door mysteriously closed behind them, he set her down on the bed only to find her fast asleep again. Sighing softly, he adjusted the blanket and tucked her in properly before readying himself to leave.

Just as he was about to move away, he felt something soft tug on his arm. Turning towards the source, a half awake Stella pouted as she gestured him to come closer.

"What is it now?" He asked before leaning in closer.

"Don't leave." She whispered.

"You kidding? I'm only going to be in my dorm, not like I'm leaving for good though." He said.

"No, just don't go. I need you…." She said slowly while raising a hand to caress his cheek.

As he stared into her eyes, the low moonlight lit up all sorts of feelings and emotions within her. They were so close together that their breathing could be felt by both parties. A part of Jaune wanted to go, but his body wouldn't let him, he wanted to stay with her. As he stared into her eyes once more, they begged him to not leave, like they would shatter without his presence.

"Gee, it's been awhile since we've been this close." Stella giggled softly.

"You didn't have to bring that up." Jaune rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut up already." She said before pulling him in to seal the deal.


The morning sun seeped in through the gaps of the curtain and the sounds of birds vigorously chirping away in the background gave way to a new morning. As he lay on the hard sturdy ground, Jaune let out a tired groan before hauling himself up. Running a hand through his untidy hair, gazed around the near empty room in hopes of remembering where he was. Hearing the sounds of a softer feminine yawn, he turned to the source only to be surprised. Recognizing Stella rising from the bed, her hair was a dead mess but what was more concerning were the 'questionable' pyjamas she wore to bed.

"Sleep well?" Jaune asked the tired girl.

"Like a baby? And you?" She returned the question.

"Well, as you can I see I ended up on the floor. That already tells you enough." He stretched his arms out to emphasize his situation.

"Seems you forgot to tell Pyrrha you weren't going to return to your dorm." Stella smirked.

"Ah shit!" Jaune frantically said as he ran around the room in nothing but his shorts.


And that concludes that. See y'all next chapter!.

Yours faithfully

ZafkielRagnarov~