Chapter 3: Two in a Week

Inside his hovercraft of horror, Caius obtained a single suitcase and a jar of Twizzlers. A jar of Twizzlers. Fascinating.

Ozpin told me that he would be a temporary member of Team JNPR until he found suitable teammates. But that would last until he found three more students for Beacon.

The Team leaders dispersed, all whispering to each other and giving me glares and looks of envy. I caught things like '…rich kid with the loser…' '…turned down the best…' '…smiled at blondie…'

The only one not looking at me like I was some freak was Ruby, who was giving me a smile. I felt my stomach churn.

"Well, congrats, Jaune," she said. "I'm glad you got yourself a teammate."

I know what she meant. Neither of us expected to get him for being socially awkward dorks.

"Erm… thanks, Ruby," I replied in kind.

Caius came up to me and asked, "We going?"

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Caius bit off both ends of a Twizzler and stuck it in his mouth like a smoke. I hope he actually didn't smoke. Those people always got killed by Grimms, as the beasts found the smell interesting.

"Team JNPR, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "It might be a bit early to ask the question, but what is your weapon?"

Caius smiled. It was sick but humorous at the same time.

"A staff," he told me. "Expecting something different?"

On one side, I had guessed it was a staff. On the other hand, he was right. I was expecting something more… vicious.

"Admittedly, yes," I replied.

His smile grew wider. I wish Ruby hadn't needed to use the bathroom.

I opened to door to our dorm. Ren was talking to Nora (who was still trying to imitate a sloth) and Pyrrha was texting on her uScreen.

"Hey, Jaune," Pyrrha greeted. "What just…"

Her eyes widened, staring at Caius.

"Who is this?" she asked.

Ren and Nora looked up at their conversation, looking at Caius.

"This? This is…" I started.

"Caius Dagis," Caius finished with a flourish.

"He's a temporary member of JNPR."

Pyrrha put a hand up in greeting and said, "I'm Pyrrha. Pleasure to meet you." She went back to her uScreen.

Nora smiled at Caius and made some strange buzzing sound and went back to her bunk.

Ren gave Caius a nervous smile and said, "I'm Ren. That was Nora, saying hello in 'sloth.'"

Ren shot me a look and went back to his conversation.

Caius opened his suitcase and let out a bedroll near the window. There was not much else: a stockade of sniper ammo, something like a nail clipper, and spare SWAT visors.

I went on to my bed and did my assignment on Ursa anatomy.

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During breakfast, Nora suddenly asked with her mouth full of pancakes, "Whff ff ih strft ur fdd ffgt?"

"Nora, chew," Pyrrha told her.

Nora swallowed and asked, "What if I start a food fight?"

I gulped. Food fights went a bit further than just throwing around table scraps, almost like an actual fight.

Caius nodded with his smile and agreed, "I approve. I haven't been able to show you all my skills yet, so this ought to be good."

Ren shrugged. Pyrrha nodded assent. Unable to argue, I gestured an okay.

However, I knew things would go wrong when Nora threw her apple at Yang.

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"There's another food fight happening right no-"

"Glynda, calm yourself. We have a student here."

"So, Professor, what can I do to get in?"

"Hmm… Glynda, who is in the fight?"

"Teams RWBY and JNPR."

"Lloyd, do you know who's in RWBY?"

"I'm pretty sure I can tell."

"Point is, join with them in the fight. If you manage to defeat JNPR, I'll let you join our academy."

"This won't take long."

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I rubbed my head, dazed. I vaguely remembered getting hit in the head by a turkey…

Right. Yang hit me in the head with the punch of a turkey.

I surveyed the lunch room. Weiss was knocked out near a fallen marble column. Blake looked as dazed as I was near the remains of a table. Yang was nowhere to be seen, but the hole in the ceiling explained it. The rest of JNPR were up and ready to do a beating on Ruby, who stood alone and unarmed. Caius was nowhere to be seen.

Ruby started running towards us, and I knew how this would end.

A whirlwind of petals enveloped me with a lot of junk from the food. I couldn't see.

I felt another current as the wind slowed and eventually stopped. I fell down.

From blurry eyes, I saw Ruby on the ground, unable to get up. Caius stood over her, holding a staff from Nora's 'hammer.'

It came to mind that he spun it so fast he stopped Ruby's famous rose petal swirl. It was impossible… right?

Caius tried to swing down, and someone stopped it.

Someone different, dressed in black like Death himself. Holding a breadstick.

The two clashed, and the newcomer fought with impossible good 'sword' skills. Caius was disarmed, and the guy slashed down, causing Caius to fall.

I crawled up, grabbing a breadstick and a tray. I charged at him.

I couldn't see his face, which was covered by his hood. He opened a soda can on me, and the world was filled with carbonation. I caught violet eyes glaring at me before I was struck.

Who was this?

I fell again, not knowing what happened. I looked for him, but he was gone.

Ren gave me a hand, and I let him pull me up. What a leader I am.

"Where did he go?" Ren asked.

"I don't know. I only remember a bunch of soda…" I managed, exhausted.

I heard another pop. From above me.

He was there, opening a bunch of soda cans on us. Before I could react, I was swamped by the fizzing bubbles.

I saw the violet eyes inside the swamp of darkness and caffeine. It kept on flashing around as I stared. They were in my face before I fell… again.

The soda wore off, and he stared down at me.

And I hardly heard clapping.

My eyes and ears adjusted and I saw Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch entering. Glynda cleaned everything up as Ozpin clapped with a smile on his face.

"Excellent job, Lloyd," he congratulated.

What?

Lloyd, the guy who kicked our butts, looked back. His skin was pale, his hair long, black, and shaggy, and his eyes a terrifying violet.

Ozpin turned to Ruby, who was still recovering from the sudden turn of her whirlwind being beatable. He said, "Team RWBY, meet your own new member, Lloyd Sissorn. He will be a part of your group until we find two more students."

Yang fell from the ceiling as Weiss asked annoyed, "Wait a second… we're getting this weirdo as a fifth member?!"

"This weirdo saved your sorry hides," Lloyd growled.

I climbed back up. Lloyd was getting some mixed response of his appearance.

"You did?" Yang asked, who clearly had no idea what had just happened.

Lloyd snorted. It was hard to tell if he was amused or annoyed.

"What about his initiation?!" Weiss pressed.

"That was his initiation," Ozpin replied calmly. "He had just defeated Team JNPR, their temporary teammate included."

"You have a problem?" Lloyd asked, who had taken a small sketchbook and pencil out of his pants pocket.

Weiss's mouth opened, but was unable to comment.

"Now, I would suggest you go back to your dorms," Ozpin said. "You all ought to take a rest. It is the weekend, after all."