Hello!
Sorry for the slight delay, but I got a drilling headache thanks to a mrriage procession outside my house
So much honking.
I also started pondering if I should be jumping on the band wagon and write a react fic myself.
Now, before you either try to dissuade me for this or lambast me for being unoriginal, please read my reason for this.
1. Most react fics are either stillborn (only 1 chapter that updated ages ago), were abandoned somewhere along the way or are featuring obvious Mary Sues, which are fun to write but usually not fun to read about.
2. I kinda want to and have so many ideas for this! Like reacting to 'Arc of the revolution' (even if it is dead, unfortunately) or a certain smut series by Azure Gigacyber from AO3 (tastefully censored to cater to FFnet's policies.
Let me know what you think of this and react fics in general.
Oh, and my work here, of course! With each follow, favorite and review I grow stronger.
Enjoy!
For Want Of A Knight
Chapter 4: Evasive Maneuvers!
Jaune Arc was walking through the school, mulling over a recent meeting.
Sky Lark had intercepted the knight on his way to Professor Peach's class to inform him of an imminent threat to his health. Apparently the class today was scheduled to experiment on the Red Tree Sap from Forever Fall, something the knight was rather allergic to. Sky had offered, in all his helpfulness, to hang out in the CRDL dorm room instead, since the Halberdier was the only one of his team to attend the non-mandatory class.
Jaune declined politely, instead declaring that he had something to do in Vale. The fact that he wanted to visit his friend Roman for help in fashion was left unsaid. The knight could also go to Coco for advice there, as she had offered him to a while ago.
The problem here was that something seemed … off about Beacon today.
Jaune felt the urgent need to leave to Vale. Call it a gut feeling, but he felt that something big would be going down today, and he didn't want to be caught in the blast radius.
Sure, he could be getting his teammates with him. However, he, on a whim, decided on some 'me-time'.
The blonde dork was quite happy with his life right now. Lots of friends, a caring partner and a great team at his side. The him from three years ago would have never dared to imagine this. Heck, the him from the beginning of his life at Beacon did not imagine that he would amass a veritable army of friends.
Jaune felt like losing himself in thought as he strutted through Beacon. Thus, the secretly admired did not notice Ruby threatening Weiss with her beloved weapon.
"Do you smell this, Weiss?" The young Rose took a theatrical sniff of the air. "That is the smell of your defeat!" She took some more sniffs, noticing a smell. "Is that a new perfume? Aw, Weiss! You thought that would be enough to win him over?"
"Excuse me?!" Weiss was indignant. "This is just complementary! Just one of many weapons in my arsenal!" She readied the Dust in her rapier.
The blonde knight walked by an unused classroom. Well at least one not used for lessons anyway.
"He is MY partner," declared Pyrrha in front of the entire Team NDGO. "I have every right to be with him!"
"But obviously not the ovaries," taunted Octavia Ember, pointing her Kris at the champion. "Or else you would be with him already, no?"
"Well lucky us for your cowardice," Dew Gayl added. "We'll be with him for good before the day is over."
Pyrrha squinted at Dew. "Excuse me. Did you just say 'we'?"
"Damn right," Nebula confirmed, all to gleefully. "After all, we girls have to stick together. Besides, that way our chances are higher than anyone's!"
Oh really? Well, well, well…
"Bring it."
The spartan charged.
On his way to the Bullhead docks, Pyrrha's beloved partner briefly saw Arslan running somewhere. Whereever she wanted to be, it had to be urgent. Jaune would rather not stop her.
Unbeknownst to him, Arslan was actually looking for her fellow blonde. Tunnel vision, however, was more hindering than helpful most of the time.
It was how she barreled full tilt into Yang.
"Ow! HEY!"
"YOU! Don't stop me, I've got somewhere to be!"
"Over my dead body!"
"That can be arranged."
The buxom brawler and the Mistrali beauty got into fighting stances. Then Yang stiffened.
"You know, we should take this outside. Don't wanna piss off Goodwitch like Saturday."
Arslan could not help but concur. She would rather not incur the deputy's wrath.
/-/
Reese Chloris was currently trying to phase through a locked door. After some angry pushing against the wood, she ultimately conceded and opted to do the second best thing.
Eavesdropping.
"I believe you owe me an explanation, Emerald."
"I am afraid I don't know what you are talking about."
The hoverboarder heard a scoff. "Please. You know very well what I want."
A pause.
"What did you see that made you so interested in Arc?"
Reese concentrated on her hearing. Uncertain sounds were heard. Emerald seemed to be stalling.
Then she talked.
"I … was training and wanted to take a shower. I took the wrong door."
Reese tried phasing through the door again to listen in better while being as inconspicuous as possible.
"He has quite a nice butt."
Really? Shame he hides it in his baggy jeans.
Wait.
"Anything else?"
'Yes! I want to know, too!'
"Well..."
Then silence. Now Reese really wished for a phasing semblance so she could see Emerald gesticulating.
No success. Again.
"Well now."
What?
"That explains his need for those atrocious jeans."
Did she just insinuate that…
…
SCORE!
Reese ran off, her search for the knight redoubled. He was supposed to have Botanics, but never showed up to class for some reason. This lead to an all-out brawl between Nora, who ran out of patience, and Blake, who stormed into the room despite not having this class in her schedule in the first place.
Meanwhile, the conversation took to a new topic. One that would, much to Cinder's convenience, be quite damning to the now absent eavesdropper.
"By the by, what is happening with the Amity Colosseum?"
"According to our contacts, the maintenance is taking longer than anticipated."
/-/
In Atlas, a few technicians were doing anything but fixing the electronics of the floating stadium.
"Say, Archie," one of the newer workers piped up. "Why aren't we doing our jobs right now?"
The head technician turned to him, expression shocked. His eyes widened, as if he had just witnessed an atrocity, as if his entire family was endangered. His whole expression forming one of horror, one that had peered into the abyss itself and saw it blink.
And he spoke, his voice a whisper, perchance to avoid the attention of whatever otherworldly entity he seemed to be fearing.
"'Cause we can't be arsed, that's why," he answered.
/-/
The boys of Team BRNZ looked upon their honorary sister and sole female teammate in increasing worry. May Zedong was checking her weapon, loading it with what looked like tranquilizer darts. A rope laid ready nearby alongside a knife, some wire and what seemed to be a counterweight.
"Erm, May?" Roy finally spoke up. "What are you planning?"
The sniper turned around, sole visible eye sharp and judging, the mind behind it focused on a singular goal.
"I plan to hunt."
BRN looked at each other in worry.
"I will let you know if I was successful. If – when – I am, I suggest finding another room to sleep in." With that, May walked out of the door, appliances stuffed in a bag and weapon in her hands.
Brawnz swallowed hard. "Let's hope that Sky was successful, yeah?"
/-/
Vale was waiting.
Jaune walked up to the bullheads, still somewhat lost in his thoughts, pondering his luck now…
And his misfortune back then.
Jaune's expression fell, as he remembered darker days. During his time at a public school, he was always the odd one out. The negative example for everyone, for no discernible reason other than that they felt they could.
"This garbage smells like Jaune!"
"On a scale from Jaune to the Achieve Men, how would you rate that guy there?"
The sole son of the Arcs endured the taunts without complaint. Always hiding his tears from his family.
Until that one day three years ago.
The most popular girl at his school back then decided it would be fun to break his spirit. She whipped a pocket knife out of nowhere, declared that "no one would miss Jaune" and 'playfully' stabbed him.
It was not enough to break skin, but more than enough for him to flee right then and there, followed by the sneering laughter of the others, all the way back home, crying all the time.
His parents had decided that it was reason enough to pull him out of the school and sue the girl as a juvenile felon. How the case ended he did not know and, frankly, did not want to know.
Those darker days would remain a secret from his new friends for an indefinite amount of time. He would rather not feel their looks of pity, making them feel like they had to spend time with the unfortunate Arc son.
Jaune did not want that.
His past treatment was, ironically, the reason why he had been so stubborn in trying to win over Weiss. If she wasn't as callous as the others with him, that means he had a chance, right? Sure, it was a slim one, but it was there!
That changed at the dance. Jaune realized how immature he had been, not taking her 'no' for an answer. He was lucky enough to patch things up with Weiss to the point that they could be called 'kinda-sorta friends'.
Good enough.
It had also been a bit of a harsh wake-up call for him. If the girls didn't want a guy like him to be their boyfriend, then a friend was enough. It was painful to admit to himself that he just wasn't boyfriend material to anyone. But if he could be the goofy friend to everyone…
That would be okay.
And hey, in regards to his mother's wishes for grandbabies, he could always adopt!
After all, what woman would want him in a romantic sense?
What happened last Saturday was answer enough.
The knight snapped out of his self-depreciating musings as he noticed an all too familiar figure boarding the bullhead to Vale.
"Good day, Miss Goodwitch!" Jaune cordially greeted the feared combat instructor. "What leads you to Vale?"
The strict teacher regarded her student with a raised eyebrow. "Mister Arc, could you explain to me as to why you are not in class right now?"
"Ah, well." The young blonde scratched the back of his head. "I asked to be excused, because Professor Peach wanted us to experiment with Red Tree Sap."
Goodwitch raised her head in understanding. "I see." She lowered it again for a level gaze at him. "I have requested for a day off from my duties."
"Oh, cool. Well, you did earn a vacation and then some, Miss Goodwitch."
Glynda cocked her head. "Oh?"
Jaune scratched the back of his again. "Well, you always clean up our messes and destruction. I don't think that Beacon would be standing without you. Most of us don't show it, but we are thankful for that." He chuckled. "Well, at least I am."
The deputy headmistress allowed herself a small smile at that. "Why, thank you, Mister Arc. Say, would you like to accompany me to Vale? I could use the company. Shopping by myself seems rather dull."
The swordsman's eyes lightened up. "That's great! I actually wanted to go shopping for clothes. I have a friend who knows something about fashion, Well, male fashion actually."
Glynda looked at her student questioningly, who grimaced. "Sorry. I always draw a distinction there thanks to my sister."
Ah, one of the rumored seven sisters, then. How Mrs Arc had managed to birth eight kids without calling it quits halfway through had always been an enigma to anyone who knew.
"I do believe that I could offer valuable insight anyways. So what say you, Mister Arc?"
Jaune smiled at her, the sight managing to warm her heart.
"It would be my pleasure."
/-/
Glynda was slightly worried during the trip. Her student's motion sickness had acted up and he nearly defenestrated his breakfast from his stomach. Thankfully, the teacher knew of a technique to alleviate his illness.
A simple demonstration of Aura control later, and Jaune had almost cried from joy.
For the first time in forever, he was free of his curse!
To think that all it took was to focus the aura on his stomach and then letting it circulate through his body! The blonde knight nearly hugged his teacher from joy, even if she restrained him from doing so.
The professor squashed the feeling of reluctance to hold him back.
The student-teacher pair made their way through the streets of Vale. The sun was shining, only a few clouds were in sight and the streets were hustling and bustling with life and motion.
Their first stop, the obvious choice.
A clothing store.
Glynda was frowning in front of a rack for brassieres. The were either ugly or simply not her size.
Her student, meanwhile, had disappeared into one of the changing rooms already, having taken fashionable brown pants and a dark blue dress shirt with him.
The stern professor pondered over whether or not to choose a more conservative blouse in light blue or a very stylish white blouse which sported a large cleavage window, to her dismay.
She would rather not be ogled like a piece of meat, thank you very much!
"Erm, Miss Goodwitch?" the uncertain voice of her student tore Glynda out of her thoughts.
"Yes, Mister Arc?"
"Could you give me your opinion on this?"
She turned around to see her fellow blonde now fully clothed, his posture clearly showing his uncertainty.
"And what do you, yourself, think?"
Jaune hesitated. "It's a bit tight in … places."
Glynda took note of this and let her critical gaze wander over the clothing.
She noticed a bulge.
"Don't stare!" The Arc let out a rather unmanly squeak, hiding his clothed crotch with his hands.
Glynda blinked. Jaune turned a deep crimson red.
"It's … grotesque, isnt't it?"
"Pardon?"
"Nevermind!" And with that, he disappeared back in the fitting room.
/-/
Glynda Goodwitch, feared disciplinarian of Beacon, did her damnedest to chase away the thoughts of her student's … sizable bulge. Yet, the image always returned.
Taunting her, a single woman approaching her thirties.
Glynda, as stern and adult as she seemed, was twenty-seven years of age, had a reputation of being no-nonsense, being feared and yet admired by her Hunter colleagues.
And she couldn't stop thinking about…
'ENOUGH!'
The deputy silently collected herself. Ultimately, the search for new apparel was a bust for both her and her companion for the late morning; the Arc being unable to buy anything after being embarrassed.
To add to the now somewhat fouled mood, her Scroll started ringing.
Ozpin's number.
Miss Goodwitch almost blew a gasket. It was her day off! He should not be pestering her with -
"Is that the headmaster calling you?"
Apparently, her exasperation had been visible on her face. "Yes," she admitted. "I wonder what he wants."
"What he wants is not important right now," insisted what proved to be the perhaps most compassionate of her students. "What matters is you right now. It is your day off, Miss Goodwitch. Make that clear to him. Beacon should be able to last a day without you."
Glynda blinked at that. Putting her wishes first, while selfish, could be allowed now and again, right? After all, if the student that was somewhat lacking behind everyone else, the one she had been harshest to, even if it was more out of worry for him…
If he wanted her to think about herself for once …
She could do it, right?
Glynda held her scroll up, her arm outstretched, display facing her.
She answered the call…
And unleashed all of her frustration and resentment.
"SOLVE YOUR OWN DAMN PROBLEMS, YOU ASSHOLE!"
The scroll, throw with might, shattered against the ground.
"Um," Jaune finally spoke up after a brief silence. "You didn't have to wreck your scroll for that."
He was right. She didn't.
Glynda started giggling.
"My," she gasped between giggles. "How unbecoming of me."
The dork knight, floored by his teacher's shift in behavior, now joined her surprisingly cute giggles.
"Well, that seemed like a long time coming, Miss Goodwitch."
The teacher laughed at that. "Oh you have no idea, Mister Arc. And please, during my time off, call me Glynda."
/-/
Ozpin stared at his scroll.
For the first time in a long while, the immortal wizard was at a loss for words.
Then again, she was right, he supposed. It was high time that he started to prove to her that Beacon would stand even without her.
That way, he would not need to give her a raise. The budget was already allocated mostly for the procurance of coffee.
Another explosion shook the tower.
"Say that you give up on him!"
"Never!"
The war for the knight's heart had a turbulent first day, it seemed. The headmaster could only hope that it would calm down somewhat come tomorrow.
For now though…
Ozpin grabbed his cane and rose from his seat.
"I suppose it is time for the headmaster to make his rounds."
/-/
Jaune and Glynda found that they had a great time together.
"And when he returned to his dorm, poor James had to see his teammate dressed in nothing but a jar of peanut butter!"
The Arc doubled over laughing. "Oh my Oum! Poor guy!"
"Quite," she giggled, her newly carefree attitude endearing to her student, who felt the beginning of an amazing friendship. "They couldn't look each other in the eye for weeks!"
The two had spent some time idly walking around Vale, making conversation. The two, much to each others surprise, fit together well.
Jaune had expressed envy at her semblance and lamented his lack of one of his own. To which she responded with the playful warning that he should be careful of his wishes, lest he spend hours daily fixing other people's messes.
Jaune laughed at that and could not help but agree. Besides, not every Hunter had one. It didn't stop them from being the best they could be.
It was when they talked about the fancy cartoons from Mistral – Glynda's guilty pleasure – when disaster struck.
The knight kicked a can down the street.
It rolled in front of a skater, who tripped over it.
They took someone carrying coffee with them to the ground, in the futile hope of having someone slow the descent.
The plastic cup sailed through the air, landing on someone's face.
Screaming and flailing, they tore down a tablecloth from a restaurant and flung it someplace.
Someplace being the face of another skater.
Who drove next to a fancy torch, which lit the cloth on fire.
The now burning skater careened, screaming, into a Dust store specialized on fire dust.
It exploded.
Glynda and Jaune beheld the massacre before them with concern on their faces. Both their hands held in front of their lips, the palms meeting each other.
"Let's pretend we didn't see a thing and go somewhere else, yeah?"
The strict teacher could not agree fast enough.
/-/
May Zedong was strutting to a particular corner of Beacon, humming the wedding march.
When she had been forced to sign the armistice, she had memorized every single line of the contract, particularly the last paragraph.
It was why, when 'The Punishment' came to pass, she started formulating a plan to nab herself a certain blonde.
And it had worked, it seems. Jaune Arc had Botanics class at this hour, which had ended exactly 10 minutes ago. On his way to meet with his team for history classes, he would round a certain corner, where no one else was traversing at that time.
Her planning worked out like a charm. A remote alarm had informed her that her elaborate snare, connected to a trip wire, had caught her prey.
A good thing, too. Time was of the essence, now that all of Beacon knew that the armistice was over.
May rounded the corner, expecting a bewildered blonde knight hanging upside down, looking all cute and ready to be claimed.
The huntress stilled at what she saw.
With an unnatural calm, Headmaster Ozpin dangled in the snare, cane and glasses lying on the ground.
"Miss Zedong, I presume?" the man greeted casually. "Could you help me down?"
