Q&A: None for today (suprisingly).

Author's Note: Alright, I've gathered all the votes from both my PMs and the all reviews pertaining or on the subject of pairings:

Here we go, the polls you've been waiting for are out on this chapter now (with ship names!), sorry if it's not a legitimate poll, I still am a little new to this:

Shay and Ruby: 2, (one of you guys decided to call this one "Rogue Roses").

Shay and Yang: 6, (I don't have any names, nor have I found a name for this one, sorry).

Shay and Weiss: 7, (Snowstorm).

Shay and Blake: 4, (Cloak and Dagger).

Shay and... um, alright... Harem (though I think this was only a joke, I still have to count it anyway): 1, (I... got nothing.)

If you guys can come up with anything better, be my guest.

If you guys have ideas for this story, PM me.

I do not own Assassin's Creed or RWBY

"Now what are you going on about?"

"Stay out of this, you fool!"

"Well I was going to, but... now you've made things personal..."

The 'Grimm':

Beowolf.

That is what the Huntsmen call it's species. Labeling and classifying each individual species according to it's appearance and structure; Beowolves, Ursai, Goliaths, these were some of the few that have been discovered, and ultimately killed by their prey.

Though it knew all this information, all this new wisdom given by just mere contact with the Hunter, it was pointless in what it was currently doing.

This... Awoken Beowolf... was now challenging the leadership of the Alpha. Even though the Grimm were in no way related to their less volatile cousins, they still contained the traits of these common animals.

The Beowolf growled in pain as it was thrown back by the larger of the two. The Alpha pawed at the ground, trying to goad the smaller, injured challenger into another attack.

It snarled as it eyed the rest of the pack that surrounded them, watching in silence as the two continued to tear at one another, trying to see who is the superior.

The Alpha was, naturally, the largest and strongest in this group of Grimm, bulging muscle that looked as though it was going to burst from it's black hide, along with sharp and thin spines that ran across it's back and arms, the claws were sharpened to needle-tipped points. The Alpha's bone, white face looked decorative, as though representing an influence of power, despite the ceremonial look, the mask-like face was filled with scratches and slashes, battle wounds from the amount of Huntsmen that had caused these scars in the first place.

Before the Beowolf could recover from it's wounds, it felt a large, sharp hand grasp the back of it's neck, it looked up to see the Alpha growling deeply into it's ear, declaring victory over the smaller of the two.

The larger tossed it's head back and roared an ear-piercing howl before picking up the smaller Beowolf and throwing it out of the ring of black, soulless wolves.

It felt the impact, pain spreading across the side of it's body as it felt several bones in it's body fracture from the throw. After several seconds, it managed to pick itself back up from the ground.

The Awoken Beowolf looked in shock as the rest of the Grimm growled and screeched at it. This only meant one thing:

Exile.

It had challenged the authority of it's superior and was punished accordingly: forced to live the rest of it's life in isolation.

With one final growl, it turned it's head in shame and stalked away in the opposite direction, not even bothering to look back at it's former brethren.

At the same time, apart from it's humiliation, it felt something different. Not in the sense of something related to it's humiliation, it was... surprisingly positive.

Freedom, was the word.

He felt a sense of freedom.

The Beowolf now began his journey into the Emerald Forest, unknowing of the discovery he would make that would change his life.

-Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted-

Beacon Academy
10:02 PM
Day 29, Monday (Month 9, Year 0)

Pyrrha continued to lead Shay towards the roof of the building. The same rooftop where Jaune refused the help of both a trained Assassin Hunter and a world-renowned fighter, sparking Shay's bitterness towards Jaune.

Shay on the other hand, was following behind this red-haired gladiator of a girl, unknowing of what was to happen as soon as they arrived at their destination. All he knew was that they were in a hurry, with the only things that Shay was wearing was the pants of his Beacon uniform and his Templar overcoat, even the ribbon that kept his hair back was missing, giving him a disheveled, messy, and more or less drunken appearance.

"Here we are," Pyrrha finally said as she opened the door and let the man pass through the door in front of him. Shay slowly walked to the center of the roof, taking in the familiar surroundings once again as he heard Pyrrha approaching him from behind.

When she asked that she was to speak to him, he was suspicious as first. He thought that Pyrrha would either scold him for being too brutal to Jaune, pummel him with her bare hands for the same reasons, or other things relating to the exact same subject.

But he was then caught off-guard by her next response.

"I wanted to say thank you, for not being too hard on Jaune during the match," she said, contradicting everything Shay thought she was going to say.

"You mean all that punishment that I inflicted to him was not harsh?" Shay asked, attempting to hide the incredulity in his voice.

"I meant when you let Jaune win. I saw Cardin too, I know that you denied him the privilege of watching this fight play out according to how he thought it would end," she answered with an almost unnoticeable smile.

Although he had held the thought in his head back during the aftermath of the match, he had to say it to the girl in front of him now.

Shay crossed his arms over his chest, while raising an eyebrow at the same time.

"Nice try, Pyrrha," the Templar said in a voice that bordered the edge of a sardonic statement, watching in amusement as the Invincible Girl's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks as soon as the words left his mouth.

"W-what do you mean?" she stuttered, trying to maintain her usual formal composure, but to no avail, unfortunately.

The Templar merely lifted his hand to his chin in thought.

"I actually thought that it was suspicious, a little funny even, that I was pitted against Jaune just three days after our meeting with Jaune as you were concerned with his training. I thought it was mere coincidence at first, until you glanced at me with that strange look in your eyes," Shay continued to deduce, watching as a single drop of sweat formed on the right side of Pyrrha's forehead, she then started to give him a painfully forced smile and began to rub the back of her neck with her hand, as though she was found guilty of a crime and was doing her best to act as nonchalant as possible.

"I don't know what-" she managed to say in a deceptively calm voice before being interrupted.

"I know you asked Professor Goodwitch the day before if she could have me spar against Jaune, this explains why she did not give any sort of lectures after the fight, yet she gave a rather detailed speech on why Ren lost to Ruby after their fight. I also saw you speaking with her yesterday, yet I decided not to pay attention in detail to what you were discussing until after today's match. Besides that, this was all just assumption on my part until you asked to speak with me, that was when my suspicions were cleared of doubt," he finished with a small wave of his hand as though pushing the 'doubt' aside.

Pyrrha was speechless as to how he knew, yet his own explanation seemed too surreal to even be possible. Finding out her motive just from a few expressions, small talk, and what should've been subtle actions that seemed irrelevant.

"You told me you would've been fine if I decided not to train him with you."

"I know," Pyrrha responded irritably, lowering her head in guilt.

"These actions of yours today seemed most unlike you as well, Miss Nikos."

"I know," she repeated.

"So why try to trick me into playing along in this little game rather than just ask me to help-"

"Because Jaune wasn't accepted into Beacon!" she almost screamed at him before covering her mouth in shock at both what she had just said and for mistaking what the Templar had said for something else entirely.

Shay watched as the red-haired girl before him slumped down on the ground with a guilty look on her face.

"You mean I could've just asked you?" Pyrrha whispered

"With convincing by a rather (literally) very close associate of mine, I had a change of heart, yes. But do tell me, what do you mean, 'he wasn't accepted here'?" Shay sat down beside Pyrrha, concern playing about his face.

"Jaune got his hands on fake transcripts and lied his way into Beacon. When he told me this, I now knew that he would need all the help he could get, so I needed your help as well, given your experience without a semblance and both possessing weapons that don't contain alternate forms. I knew that you would be the appropriate person to help Jaune," Pyrrha answered, looking down at her hands, which were resting in her lap.

This new information caught the Templar off-guard, it explained why Jaune was, in his opinion, one of the worst fighters he had ever seen, though Shay had no right to mock the boy, he himself had little experience on a majority of the things that were not of his own world. Dust, Aura (though he now had one, which was average at best), and Semblance being the foremost important subjects of this world.

"...So, will you help?" she asked.

"Yes I will, but on two conditions," Shay said as he stood back up onto his feet.

"And what are they?" Pyrrha asked as she stood up with him, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow in concern.

Shay took notice of her wary attitude now and slightly raised his hands to reassure the girl, "No need to be alarmed, Miss Nikos. My conditions hold no ill will."

Pyrrha calmed down slightly at his statement, but still held suspicion over what exactly he would ask.

"First, Jaune will get one last chance for my help, so if he tries to put himself down again and refuses my help one last time, then no more. Finally, he must deal with his own personal issue," Shay said.

"What do you mean, 'personal issue'?" the 'Invincible Girl' air quoted.

"Cardin Winchester. The bastard has Jaune under a very short leash, I've eavesdropped on several of their conversations. It... doesn't look good," he shook his head in disappointment.

"I did tell Jaune that I could break his legs," she joked, though sadness was still clear in her voice.

"That does sound very tempting, but he must solve that problem on his own. Do we have a deal?" Shay offered his hand toward Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was conflicted by this dilemma, either wait and leave Jaune until he is able to handle his problem or help him and risk losing support from the man before her.

After a mere minute of contemplating her choice and weighing the possible outcomes and risks, she made her decision.

She only hoped that it was the right one.

Once the choice was made, Shay only turned around and headed to the door with Pyrrha following behind him.

After minutes of walking through the halls, they made their way to their dorms.

Both Hunters-in-training undid the locks on their doors with their Scrolls, the two looked back at each other one last time simultaneously.

"Have a good night, Miss Nikos," Shay said with a neutral expression.

"And you too, Shay," Pyrrha nodded and closed the door behind her.

-Never compromise the Assassin Brotherhood-

Forever Fall
2: 30 PM
Day 3, Thursday (Month 10, Year 0)

The forest that was called Forever Fall was quite literal in it's name. The trees that made up these woods were covered in bright red leaves, as though in a constant state of autumn. Shay whistled, impressed by the sights that he was now witnessing. It was beautiful, simply beautiful.

What surprised him even more was that this was now his second month in Beacon, it seemed like yesterday when the Headmaster of this Academy invited him to his school.

"Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful," Professor Goodwitch began, holding her riding crop behind her back with both hands, a group of students following behind her as she continued to lecture them on their current assignment.

The Templar and the rest of Team RWBY was one of the few among these students that was partaking in this assignment. Coincidentally, Teams JNPR and CRDL were also part of this 'mission'.

"But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach's asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside the forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so," she explained rather bluntly before stopping to face the students behind her, prompting the group to stop with her.

Shay heard a faint clinking noise behind him, he turned to see Jaune holding a set of cases with several glass jars resting on top of them. He decided to ignore this scene before him and looked to see Pyrrha doing everything in her power not to look back at him, but the only thing she could do was keep her head facing the Professor while her eyes moved to the direction of the sound, looking to the right as she frowned at the scene that she was currently hearing.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap-" the Professor continued to explain, pulling out a jar already filled with such sap, "However, this forest is full of creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous here at four o' clock. Have fun," Goodwitch finished as she turned and walked farther into the woods.

"C'mon buddy, let's go," Cardin said to Jaune as he began to lead him to another part of the forest.

-Uphold the Principles of our Order, and all that for which we stand-

Jaune finally returned to Team CRDL with his hands filled with jars of red sap, bringing the large amount of glassware before collapsing onto the ground with an audible thud.

First he had the guilt of lying his way into Beacon, then he was bullied by Cardin ever since he had entered into this Academy. Now to make matters worse, Cardin was now aware of his little secret and was not afraid to use it against him.

Why does this have to happen to me? he groaned inwardly as he continued to lay there, surrounded by Team CRDL, who were only just lounging around, waiting for him to do all their work.

"Hey, great work there, Jaune-y boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked mockingly.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." Jaune slurred, this being his only answer to Cardin's question, lifting his head up, his vision blurred and strange before realizing he was currently cross-eyed.

"Great, great, great. So Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions that I have asked myself today, yes," the blonde-haired boy responded as he lifted himself up and sat down onto the ground.

"Well, come with me and you'll find out," Cardin sneered, earning a groan and a gulp from the smaller boy.

Jaune finally got up and began to follow the four team members.

As he was walking, Jaune began thinking of the conversation he had with both Pyrrha and Shay when they were on the rooftop.

He felt stupid for refusing help from Shay, he felt like a complete and total idiot for refusing to train with the strongest person on his team. Jaune had made many mistakes when it came to things such as these.

And for refusing help and blurting out the truth to Pyrrha just as an excuse to get her to leave him be, he was now Cardin's lapdog, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Unless... no, he couldn't. Could he? But he was outmatched four-to-one...

No... he couldn't.

Jaune finally reached the hill, sitting between Cardin and Russel. What he was seeing was the rest of the group getting their own respective shares of the sap into their jars before taking their time to take a break.

Ruby was having trouble trying to close the lid on the jar, pouting in irritation as she tried her best to position the lid right over the top of the jar and having to use all her strength just to open the jar again and repeat the process in futility. Blake, who was right beside Ruby, was only kneeling down in boredom as she already finished her task. Yang was standing beside a tree, observing the jar she had filled before tossing it up a few inches into the air before catching it and sitting beside her younger sister. He then turned his sights to Weiss, who was already trying to engage in a conversation with Shay, who was still trying to figure out a way of getting the sap out of the tree before finally finding a way past the skin, though Jaune swore he saw a blade come out of Shay's wrist and stab the tree before it immediately retracted, causing red sap to ooze out of the tree, almost like bright red blood.

That could've been his imagination, though.

He almost chuckled as he watched Ruby storm up to Shay and hold out the jar before her, explaining the situation to him until he took the jar from her hands and properly sealed the jar in only a second, causing Ruby to stare at the jar, then to the young man in shock. Shay grinned mischievously as he messily ruffled her hair, laughing lightly when he watched her turn red in embarrassment and as Yang laughed rather loudly at the sight. Shay turned back to the alabaster Heiress beside him and continued to converse with her.

Ren was filling up another jar for Nora, as she had already eaten her way through another helping of the sap, at this point, Ren was doing everything in his willpower not to give up with the assignment at this girl's shenanigans. Finally, there was Pyrrha holding a jar of sap with a small, victorious grin on her face.

"Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked suspiciously.

"Payback," Cardin answered, Jaune finally understood what he meant.

Or at least he thought he did.

"Pyrrha?"

"No. Him," Cardin growled as he pointed at the man talking with Weiss, who was laughing at what appeared to be a joke that Shay had probably told, maybe even a funny personal story that he was sharing with her.

"Shay?" Jaune asked incredulously, but it did make sense, with what happened at both the ballroom before their initiation, where Cardin was punished with a bloody nose; the arena, where he was defeated along with a heavy blow to his pride; and at the mess hall, where he and the rest of his team was brutally beaten single-handedly by one man: Shay Patrick Cormac.

"That's him. That pony-tailed idiot thinks he's all tough and mighty," Cardin answered before pulling out a small box.

"All right, boys. Last night, ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put 'em to work," Cardin explained. Jaune laughed nervously at both the sound of the angry insect sounds that were echoing from withing the cardboard box, and that fact that Russel was roughly shaking his shoulder.

"Now according to one of the essays that he wrote for me last week, these nasty things love sweets. I'm thinking we teach him a thing or two-" he said as he pulled Jaune up by the hand and shoved a jar filled with sap into his arms.

"-And you're gonna do it."

"Do what?" Jaune asked, though he was afraid of what the answer might be.

"Hit him with the sap! Either that or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon," he threatened as he shoved a finger into Jaune's shoulder.

Jaune looked down at the jar in his hands, then up at Cardin, who was sporting a victorious sneer on his face.

With no choice, he raised the jar high up and aimed for the man sporting his trademark ponytail. Unfortunately, Shay glanced up to see Jaune holding the jar above his head.

With a hand on Weiss' shoulder, Jaune watched as he said something to her, watching as she frowned slightly before walking back to the rest of her team. This now left a singular stare-down between the two.

Shay glared at the boy's intentions as he lifted his hand to the handle of his blade, as though he was prepared to cut the jar in mid-air.

This was a test. A trial to see if Jaune would either be forced to submit and obey one who held power him with just a few simple words, or to rebel and stand up for himself against this bully.

Then something snapped inside the boy, "No."

"What did you say?" Cardin demanded.

"I said, no!" Jaune's instincts screamed for him to throw the jar at the man who was controlling and threatening him. And for once, he obeyed this instinct.

Oh how he would immediately regret it...

He watched in slow motion as the jar crashed against the bully before him, the jar shattered into pieces, covering Cardin's chestplate with red goop.

And behind Jaune, from several metres away, stood Shay with a victorious smile on his face, mentally applauding the boy within his own mind.

But that was only the first of Jaune's problems.

"oh-ho-ho, you've done it now," Cardin said in a menacing voice.

Jaune only laughed nervously as he was grabbed by the shoulders by two of the team members before being dragged away into the woods.

-Always hide in plain sight-

Shay explained to the rest of his teammates that he had something to take care of for the moment, having to ignore an inappropriate joke from Yang, something about 'taking care of his business'; and earning an annoyed look from Weiss and warning not to take too long with what he was going to do.

The Templar followed after Jaune and Cardin's team, should Cardin ever be sadistic enough to actually be rid of the boy. He kept himself lower to the ground and hid behind the trees to reduce his visibility as the boys continued to drag Jaune deeper into the scarlet forest.

The former Assassin continued his pursuit on the team of delinquents until they stopped, picking up the leader of JNPR by the collar of his jacket and beating him into the ground, they continued this process for the next minute.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jaune-y boy," he heard from Winchester.

Jaune's clothes were tattered and messy, his face was covered in an collection of bruises and cuts inflicted by Cardin Winchester and his lackeys.

"I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces," Cardin growled, although Shay could've easily walked up to them and easily dispatch them with his Blades, he was morbidly curious as to how this could develop, especially with what Jaune would then say next.

"I don't care what you do to me, but you are not messing with my friends," Jaune responded to the larger man's threat, earning some respect from the Templar as he nodded his head to himself in approval.

"What, you think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big, strong man now?" Winchester demanded in irritation, his only answer being a pained grin from Jaune, now ready for what was to come.

At that instant, Shay decided that it was time to test out the latest addition to his assortment of weaponry. The Templar climbed up the tree that he was currently hiding behind before lifting his hand towards Cardin, revealing the bracer that contained two small rods along with his hidden blade in between; with the press of a button at the bottom of the bracer, the two rods surrounding the blade extended in opposite ninety-degree angles, resembling a crossbow. And like a crossbow, a small bolt with a light green fluid arrowhead rested on top of the wire that held it in place.

Pluto explained to Shay that this peculiar device was called a 'Phantom Blade', the final result of a prototype made by the famous artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci. The new addition acted similarly to his air rifle or his blow gun, silently firing projectiles that could either kill or incapacitate.

Fortunately, Beacon Academy, as far as he knew, had nothing against using sleep bolts to disarm opponents. But before Shay could put his weapon to the test, he was temporarily blinded by a sudden flash of bright light, forcing him to avert his eyes from this blinding light.

When Shay opened his eyes, he saw Cardin clutching his fist in pain and Jaune with his wounds seemingly disappearing as his body was covered in a glowing white tint before he was kicked down onto the ground by one of Cardin's teammates.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are," he sneered sardonically before everyone in the area heard a loud, bestial roar that seemed frighteningly close.

They watched as a large Ursa, which was covered in white spines that ran down it's back, emerged from the woods. It's red soulless eyes bore deep into students before before standing up on it's hind legs and sniffing in the air, it's red soulless eyes then bore into one specific Huntsman-in-training.

Who was this student? Cardin Winchester, the only man covered in red sap that was thrown by the courageous moron known as Jaune.

The Ursa immediately got down on it's hind legs and roared at him in rage.

Shay watched as the rest of Cardin's team turned tail and began running away from the creature of Grimm.

"That's a big Ursa!" the one with the green mohawk yelled as he continued sprinting from the monster in terror. The Ursa then swiped at Cardin with one of it's claws, knocking him to the side like a ragdoll.

The Ursa looked at Jaune for only a second before turning and making it's way to Cardin, who was desperately trying to crawl away from the monster.

Cardin pulled out his weapon, the same explosive mace that had the ability to put holes into metal, but it was knocked away by the Ursa. The mace flew threw the air and fell in front of Jaune. Shay looked at Jaune, wondering just what the boy was going to do.

-May the Father of Understanding guide us-

The rest of group continued to fill up more of the red sap until they heard a roar in the distance. Ruby looked up at the sound of the roar.

"Did anyone hear that?" she asked.

Pyrrha turned to see several of Cardin's teammates frantically running from whatever was the source of the noise.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel screamed before he then accidentally slammed into Yang, who then picked him up by the collar of his outfit.

"What? Where?" she demanded.

"Back there, it's got Cardin!" he yelled, pointing in the direction of the Ursa.

Both Weiss and Pyrrha dropped their jars of sap, both knowing what this meant.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha realized, Jaune had been with Team CRDL for the entirety of the trip, this meant that he was in trouble as well.

"Shay!" Weiss yelled, aware of the fact that Shay had walked in the same direction in which the rest of Cardin's team came running.

"Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby ordered as she unsheathed her scythe.

"You two, go with them! There could be more," Pyrrha commanded as she grasped at her sword and shield.

Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha broke into a sprint towards the direction of Ursa before watching as Cardin was knocked down by the creature when it leaped over him and swiped at him with a large claw.

Where is he?! Weiss thought in panic as she scanned the area, but the place was devoid of the man. She then looked at the Ursa in horror, assuming the worst of Shay's fate: eaten by a Grimm.

"Oh no," Pyrrha whispered, witnessing as the Grimm stalked towards the injured boy and swung it's claws again, only to be blocked by another force: Jaune's shield.

They watched as Jaune continued to block and force back the Ursa's claw.

In anger, Weiss unsheathed Myrtenaster, preparing to skewer the monster at a moment's notice.

"Wait!" Pyrrha told the white-haired Heiress, but she continued to keep her blade at hand in case worst comes to worst.

The trio, as well as Cardin, watched as Jaune continued to land a strike against the large black bear, causing it to stumble back. The Ursa slashed as Jaune again, only for the boy to roll to the right and leap over another attack, only to be punched in midair by it. Jaune picked himself off the ground and ran at it once again, only to be tossed aside again by another attack from the Grimm's oversized paws.

The Ursa ran on all four legs before stopping to face the boy once more, Jaune steeled himself and ran towards the monster with a loud battle-cry, his shield raised above his head and his sword preparing to form an arc, his intention was to behead the beast.

Time seemed to slow down to everyone else, though the fight was bound to end in only a matter of seconds. The small group watched as Pyrrha raised her arm, a dim grey glow seemed to emanate from her hand.

Jaune's shield automatically raised higher to parry the blow. With his foot firmly planted into the ground, he succeeded in beheading the beast with one swift strike,

Ruby turned to face Pyrrha with a perplexed look, "Uhh, what?"

"How did you...-"

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, my semblance is Polarity," she answered.

"You can control poles?" Ruby wondered.

"No, you dunce. It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss corrected, though the correction was rather harsh.

"Magnets are cool too," the leader of Team RWBY whispered.

"Wait, where are you going? What about Shay?" Weiss demanded.

"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened."

"We could, or perhaps we could just keep it our little secret. As for Shay..." she looked up at one of the trees, Weiss mirrored her action only to see Shay jump down from said tree and landed in front of the three.

"Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha," the man greeted with a small bow.

"Shay!" Ruby yelled in excitement and surprise from his sudden appearance.

Weiss only stared at him for only a few seconds before going off on him in frustration.

"You idiot! We thought you were dead!" she screamed at the man, who only gave her a puzzled look.

"...Actually, I knew he was still alive..." Ruby tried to make the situation better.

"What!?"

"Pyrrha told me," Ruby answered, pointing to Pyrrha, who was trying to get out of this new argument.

"WHAT?!" Weiss screamed, before she felt a pair of hands grab her by the shoulders, causing her to freeze immediately.

"Weiss, calm down. You should already know that I am not that easy to kill," Shay reassured with a raised eyebrow in concern.

"But I thought... the Ursa- you- argh!" she threw her hands up in defeat before looking at him one last time.

"Just don't scare me like that again. Okay?" she pointed a finger at him in accusation.

"Alright, I won't," Shay sighed as she turned and walked away.

"Are you coming?" Weiss asked as she continued walking away, noticing the lack of footsteps she was hearing.

"Give me a second, I have something to take care of, I'll catch up with you soon," Shay said.

"Again? Fine, just don't keep us waiting," she huffed as she left his line of sight.

Shay looked back at her previous location with a small grin before turning back to face Cardin and Jaune, who was now leaving the area.

Cardin scowled at the sight of the Templar in front of him.

"What do you want?" he growled, only to stop as he felt a blade press against his throat.

"That was quite an act you tried to pull, Winchester. But try to have someone else do your dirty work rather than facing me directly, and I will make no hesitation of getting rid of you permanently. Are we clear?" Shay demanded in a dark, malevolent voice as his Hidden Blade pressed further into his throat.

Cardin looked at the man's expression, seeing that he was dead serious, and that he would be seriously dead if he ever did something like this again if Shay catches him once more.

"C-crystal," he stuttered before he heard the blade retract, Shay then smiled at him, though he saw traces of mischief beneath that grin.

"Good man, now I believe we must catch up with Miss Goodwitch. Shall we?" Shay asked as he turned and walked away. Cardin gulped at the thought of this man's previous intentions, now knowing full well that Shay can and will murder him without a moment's notice.

Shay now knew he would not be bothering Jaune, or anyone else for that matter, for a long time.

The two continued to walk in silence; one in fear, the other in boredom, as they made their way to the airship and back to the Academy.

-Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent-

That night...

"So I guess, you're not helping?" Pyrrha asked in worry, waiting for the Templar's inevitable answer. She knew she had messed up, using her semblance to help Jaune against the Ursa

The two stood behind the door to the rooftops once more, knowing full well that Jaune was behind the door. Pyrrha invited Shay to speak with her once more on the rooftops, hoping that he would grant her his attention for the moment, luckily she was right.

"Our deal did not involve helping against a creature of Grimm, just Cardin; and it seems that that issue has been solved," Shay raised an eyebrow in amusement, watching as Pyrrha opened her mouth to apologize until she heard the last of his sentence, then she stood up straight with a large smile on her face.

"Thank you, Shay... just wait here, this'll only take a second," she responded as she walked through the door, leaving Shay to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"No Cardin tonight?" he heard Pyrrha ask as she walked over to Jaune.

Shay grinned in a mockingly evil look.

She has me to thank for that...

"I thought you two were best buds?"

"Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I was a jerk, you were only trying to be nice and... I-I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head-"

"Jaune. It's okay," Pyrrha reassured, accepting Jaune's apology.

"Your team really misses their leader, you know," she then turned to walk away, "~Ren made pancakes, no syrup though, you can thank Nora for that."

"Wait!" they heard Jaune call out, prompting Shay to freeze in thought.

Is he now considering it? he thought. But seriously, would he?

Pyrrha turned to face Jaune once more with a small trace of a smile on her lips.

"I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but... would you still be willing to help me?" Jaune asked.

He does, Shay confirmed his thoughts.

"I would, but you have one more person you have to apologize to as well," she crossed her arms with an amused grin.

"Alright, who?" he asked.

Pyrrha then turned around with a smile on her face, "Shay, you can come out now."

"Um... Shay?" Jaune whimpered as Shay emerged from the door and stood beside Pyrrha.

Then Jaune watched in horror as Shay began to approach him.

"Alright, alright. Look, I'm sorry that Cardin was about to-"

Another step.

"-make me cover you with jar full of sap, but I had no-"

Another step.

"-choice. But it's okay now, I retaliated and then helped him when he was in trouble, though he was going to pound my face into the ground-"

Shay was now directly in front of Jaune, making him cover his face instinctively.

"-sonowallisgood,pleasedon'thurtme!" Jaune panicked as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Apology accepted," he heard before he was forcefully shoved to the ground, making the smallest of the three groan in pain.

"You're stance is wrong, Jaune. You need to be wider and lower to the ground," Shay instructed.

Like you are right now, only more useful, he mentally added.

Jaune was then helped up by Pyrrha.

"Let's try that again," Pyrrha said.

"It'll only be a matter of time before we move onto one-on-one combat, Jaune. So enjoy this while you can," Shay shrugged his shoulder before giving him a small glare.

Jaune gulped in fear, perhaps a simple apology wasn't going to cut it.

Oh, this was going to be a long night...

Disclaimer: Aaaand done! Sorry if I was a little late, but I finally made it!

My tenth chapter!

I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter and keep an eye out for any updates.

And once again, stay beautiful, ladies and gents. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!