HEEEEEEELLLLLLOOOOOOOO! Fanfiction has finally fixed itself and I can finally see the reviews you guys posted! They were mostly positive, which was very comforting, and there were no blatantly negative comments. There was one that said he/she didn't necessarily like the way the story was going, or rather the way I portrayed some of the characters, but honestly that's okay. I don't consider it negative because he/she did give good reasons, and didn't go off on a tangent insulting me or my story, so I categorize that as constructive criticism. gdvp111 said the last chapter felt a bit rushed, and I'm not gonna lie, it might have been. While cranking out two chapters in one weekend felt awesome I will be the first to admit that it doesn't always lead to the best pacing.

Special thanks to gdvp111 and zorro99 who sent reviews over PM when they realized I couldn't see their reviews. Your dedication to this story really does help.

And even more special thanks to gdvp111 who made the awesome cover art for this story!

In this chapter we get into the dance! People will be shinnin, people will be diggin, people will be shinnin and diggin! (get it? Cause it's a shin dig? HAHAHAHAHAHA I'm so sorry) Jaune and Nathaniel will be rockin their prom outfits, Nathaniel's got himself the hot teacher date, and Jaune? Well...

Wait and see.

Jaune had to admit that while at first he hadn't exactly been excited for the dance for obvious reasons, when he saw the outfits that Glynda's tailor had made for him and Nathaniel they were almost enough to make him excited. He couldn't help the proud grin on his face as he examined in the mirror, and could think only one thing.

"Damn I look good."

Indeed he did. The outfit was reminiscent of the dress uniforms of Vale's army, with a few distinct changes. In place of the green with white trim that was the color scheme of Vale's army, the blouse of Jaune's uniform was white with gold trim with a waist length cape attached to the shoulders, which was also white with gold trim. Around his waist was a gold belt with a silver buckle shaped like a Gryphon's head. The trousers were blue with gold trim on the seams. For footwear Jaune had on a pair of knee high black leather boots. Over it all was a large blue cloak that went down to his knees, called an officer's boat cloak, according to Nathaniel. The cloak was pinned in place around his neck by a silver pendant fashioned as a sword with Gryphon wings extending from it. Jaune's normally messy and untamed hair was slicked back thanks to more than a little hair gel.

"I still can't believe Mrs. Goodwitch's tailor got two of those outfits ready with only a week to work on them," said Nora as Ren brushed her hair.

"According to Nathaniel she just really loves her job," replied Jaune as he turned away from the mirror to inspect his friends' outfits for the dance. "Add that to a Semblance that allows her to stay awake for weeks with no negative consequences, and you've got the most productive tailor in all of Vale." She had also been on the highway the night Jaune and Talon had driven the Paladin off of the bridge. She had said that they had saved both her life and that of her child, so she considered herself in Jaune's debt and made the outfits for free. However Jaune hadn't told anyone about that. He didn't want anyone to think he was taking advantage of the people he was protecting.

The other members of team JNPR looked great too, if a bit more subtle. Ren was in a simple tux with green trim, while Nora was wearing a pink and white dress, the top part being pink, the bottom being white. The top was cut to resemble a heart in appearance, and while perhaps not the fanciest outfit that would be seen at the dance, it was just so utterly Nora that Jaune couldn't see her in anything else. Pyrrha wore an absolutely stunning scarlet dress that matched the color of her hair perfectly, along with her ever present circlet. A slit ran up the right side of the dress all the way to her thigh which showed more than a bit skin, and Jaune had to admit to himself that his eye had been drawn to it more than once. Partner she may be, but Jaune was well aware she was a beautiful woman. However he'd be keeping an eye any other guys that got too close to her. Champion fighter or no, she was still his teammate, and as leader he'd make sure no one ruined this night for her, including himself. Which meant no moping, no feeling sorry for himself, and making sure he was smiling while around them.

He grinned at them, "I think it's safe to say we'll be best dressed team there."

Nora snorted with laughter. "Yeah, cause you stole all the fashion from everyone else."

"Nah," Jaune said as he patted her and Pyrrha on the head. "You girls look good. I'm gonna have to beat the guys off of you two with a stick." He grinned at Ren and patted him on the shoulder. "And Nora's gonna have to beat the girls off you with Magnhild." Ren rolled his eyes and didn't respond, but he was smiling. "All according to plan," he thought to himself, "keep them smiling and happy. Make it clear that you're here for them."

When Jaune had returned to JNPR's dorm the day after he had slept in the forest with Talon he had been bombarded with questions about why Neptune had asked Weiss to the dance, and how he had gotten the Angel's Rose. He had answered the questions calmly, letting them know that he had chosen to help Neptune take Weiss to the dance, and give the boy dance lessons. He had tried to hide the disappointment and pain he felt behind a veil of humor and smiles, but he could tell his teammates could see through it, as could the other three members of RWBY at breakfast when JNPR had joined them. Weiss either hadn't been able to tell or hadn't cared, being too distracted by Neptune. When he'd realized that his friends could tell he was faking it he did the only thing he could think of: he laid it on even thicker.

For the next week he smiled and laughed more, he had mini food fights with Yang, Nora, and Ruby, and he'd helped the nutty ginger fling pancake frisbees at team CRDL. He joked with Pyrrha and discussed ways they could utilize her semblance combined with his armor and weapon. He and Ren discussed meditative techniques and health drinks, the former of which sounded relaxing while the latter sounded like suicide in a glass. He had in depth discussions with Ruby about weapons, strawberries, and occasionally cookies. He joked with Yang about everything under the sun until they had left the rest of the table groaning in punny agony while the two of them were howling in laughter. He discussed books with Blake, and adamantly tried to drive home the point that "Ninjas of Love" was in fact porn while she vehemently defended her favorite book series. Weiss showed no interest in talking to him whatsoever, which worked out just fine for Jaune, as it helped him avoid calling her Snow Angel out of habit.

So who cared if there was still plenty of pain buried deep inside of him, or that he was still finding it hard to sleep, or that when he did sleep his mind was plagued with nightmares? He could deal with that on his own time. Right now he was going to be there for his friends, no matter what. This was their night, and he was going to make it the best night ever. He grinned at his teammates, "ladies, gentleman. Are we ready to go?"

Pyrrha smiled back at him and pushed herself to her feet. "I believe we are."

Nora leaped up and threw her hands into the air. "Let's party!"

Ren smiled and put the hairbrush on the vanity. "Let's."

"Alright then," Jaune said and took the doorknob in his hand. "Let's go turn some heads."

Jaune opened the door and team JNPR stepped out into the hall, just as team RWBY did the same on the opposite end of the hall. First came Weiss and Neptune with arms interlocked, then Blake and Sun, and finally little Ruby, who was stumbling about in a pair of high heels. Immediately Jaune clamped down on the jealously he felt for Neptune and shoved it into a dark little hole, locked it away, and tossed the key. He grinned at the five of them. "Hey guys, you're all looking good." He frowned as he realized an integral part of the team was missing. "Where's Yang?"

The girls of RWBY and the boys of SSSN had dressed well for the occasion, barring Sun of course. Weiss was wearing a white dress that went half way down her upper legs with slits cut in it over her waist with mesh covering her upper chest, shoulders, and back. Blake was wearing a purple dress with a black belt around the waist, with a slit up the side similar to Pyrrha's. Neptune was wearing a simple tux with blue trim, but still had his goggles on. Sun was... Sun. He had swapped his white shirt for a black one and buttoned it up somewhat, and donned a white tie, though he looked ready to rip it off. Ruby was wearing a sleeveless red dress that went down to cover half of her upper leg with a black sash around the waist. The dress split down the middle of her chest, the split covered by criss crossing black ribbon. Her upper chest, shoulders, and upper back were covered only by black mesh, and the poor girl was stumbling around in a set of heels. Jaune had to suppress his big brother instincts and the urge to remove his cloak and drape it over her.

While Ruby awkwardly stumbled around so she could shut the door to her dorm the other four stared at him open mouthed. Jaune frowned in confusion. "Something wrong guys?" He looked at his uniform, but nothing seemed to be off or out of place. Was there a stain he couldn't see?

Ruby finally managed to shut the door and turned back to the front. "Yang's greeting people as they come in, so we'll see her th-" her eyes widened when they fell upon him and her back straightened. "Hot," she squeaked.

Jaune frowned in confusion. "Are you trying to say you're hot Ruby?" Her dress didn't really look like something that would retain much heat...

"Hot," she squeaked again, still staring at him. By this point Sun and Neptune seemed to have gotten over whatever had made them freeze up and were trying not to laugh at Ruby, but Weiss and Blake were still staring. Judging by the muffled giggles coming from beside him Nora seemed to be in the same situation as the two boys.

Jaune still didn't understand what Ruby was trying to say. "Ruby, I don't understand. Are you saying you're hot? Are you asking if I'm hot? I mean the cloak's a bit thick, but it's not that bad..." Sun, Neptune, and Nora burst into full out laughter.

"She's saying you look good bro," said Sun.

"Ooooh," Jaune said as he finally understood. He grinned at the little reaper. "Thanks Ruby, you look good too." Once again he quashed the big brother urge to drape his cloak over her.

"Thanks," she squeaked, then cleared her throat and looked away from him, her cheeks a good deal redder than they had been earlier.

Jaune fist bumped the two guys. "You two look good. Neptune, you ready for the dance?" What Jaune was really asking him was whether or not he remembered what Jaune had taught him about dancing.

Neptune grinned and nodded. "You know it man." Good, then he remembered what Jaune had taught him. It wasn't nearly enough to make Neptune a 'good' dancer per se, but he would be able to hold his own on the dance floor, even on slow dance songs.

"Man, we may look good," Sun laughed, "but you take the entire cake. Where'd you get that?"

Jaune shrugged bashfully and looked away, resisting the urge to scratch his head and mess up his hair. "Believe it or not Mrs. Goodwitch's personal tailor made it. My mentor Nathaniel has an outfit just like mine. We figure that we could probably make this the dress uniform of the Gryphon Knights, when we eventually start recruiting after a few years."

The nine of them started walking down the hallway. "So what are the Gryphon Knights?" asked Sun as they walked, "All I've ever heard about them is people talking about you on the news, and it's really just about how you're one of them. No one's really said what they are." They reached the door and exited the building, walking out into the light of the shattered moon.

"That's because almost no one knows," responded Jaune. "The Order is ten thousand years old. They lived during the time of the old kingdoms, back when Remnant was dotted with hundreds of small kingdoms. These kingdoms were eventually razed by the Grimm after the Order's fall, which is why there's very, very few people know anything about us. The remnants of these kingdoms managed to band together to survive, and at some point the four kingdoms we know today were formed." "

Essentially the Knights were men who dedicated their lives to battling the Grimm and rode Gryphons, like Talon. My ancestor, a man named Cailan, was the one who formed the order and led it until it's eventual destruction a few decades later. However he laid the foundations for its survival. Nathaniel's ancestor and Talon were sent away to hide Talon from the Grimm as he was put into a deep sleep. He slept for ten thousand years, awaiting... well, me. When I found him and Nathaniel I learned about my ancestor Cailan, and my duty to reform the Order."

"Wait," said Neptune, "you mean to tell me that your Gryphon is ten thousand years old? How is he alive?"

Jaune smiled and shrugged, "that requires an explanation that's far too long for tonight. Let's all just focus on having fun, enjoying ourselves, and praying that Yang hasn't spiked the punch yet."

"She better not have," muttered Ruby, then tripped over her own two feet.

Jaune caught her before she hit the ground and helped her back up. He stuck out an arm and offered it to her. "Here, why not hold onto me until you've got the hang of walking in those? It'll be better than you falling flat on your face before you even reach the dance."

Ruby stared at the proffered arm as though she couldn't believe her luck, and wrapped her own slender ones around it. "Thanks," she squeaked.

For a few minutes they walked like that until Pyrrha stumbled on Jaune's other side, and he barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground too. "You too Pyrrha? You're usually pretty coordinated. Would you like my help too, or will you be okay?"

Pyrrha stared at him with a look similar to the one Ruby had given his arm, then wrapped her own arms around his free one with a smile and a blush. "I think I'll take your help, just in case."

She muttered something to Nora that Jaune didn't catch, but to which Nora replied, "anytime Pyrrha."

With a woman on each arm Jaune walked and talked with his friends, laughing at a story Sun was telling them about the time one of his other teammates, a boy named Scarlet, had accidentally gone to class without his pants. Sun had just finished his story when Jaune looked up and saw two people he recognized walking arm in arm ahead of them. "Nathaniel! Mrs. Goodwitch!"

The teacher and knight turned around, and Jaune swore he heard others' jaws drop when they saw Glynda. He wasn't afraid to admit that his dropped too.

She was wearing a flowing white dress with long sleeves, gold trim, a keyhole neckline like the one on her normal outfit, and a small blue cape similar to the one on her work outfit. The dress went down to her ankles and fluttered about in the breeze, giving her an angelic appearance. Her foot wear was a pair of white high heels. Her blonde hair was down and ran down to the middle of her back, though the curl in the front was still there. The moonlight made her hair shine as though it were spun gold. Beside her Nathaniel stood with her arm wrapped around his. The knight, who's outfit was identical to Jaune's, was trying not to look too overjoyed by the fact that he was going to a dance with Glynda Friggin Goodwitch and failing miserably, if the proud grin on his face was any indicator. Jaune smiled and nodded to his mentor, who returned it. The two walked towards their students and stopped a few feet away, their arms still interlocked. "Students, Jaune," Mrs. Goodwitch said with an actual smile, "are you excited for the dance?"

"Yes ma'am," Jaune said as the other simply nodded, still trying to process the sight before them.

"Holy dust," muttered Neptune. Jaune pondered shooting the bluenette a warning glare, but decided against it as he was pretty sure everyone was thinking something along those lines, including the squire.

Glynda smiled again and tightened her grip around Nathaniel's arm ever so slightly, which was enough to make the knight's grin wider. "Well I'm glad. These events are always times for people to get together and forget their troubles. It's nice to have a night that I don't have to worry about grading papers. Shall we all walk inside together?"

Jaune looked at his friends for confirmation. They didn't seem to mind walking in with what was probably going to quickly become the hottest couple in Beacon, so he smiled at the both of them and nodded. "I think we'd all like that ma'am."

"Sir Nathaniel! Mr. Arc! Oh thank goodness I caught up to you two! I have something for the both of you!"

They all turned around at the familiar voice of the hyperactive Doctor Oobleck, who was running towards them at a full sprint and carrying a cloth wrapped bundle in his arms. He skidded to a halt before them and pushed his glasses up. "What is it Bart?" asked Nathaniel. The two had formed a close friendship over a mutual love of history, and on occasion Nathaniel had been asked to teach a class on the ancient kingdoms of Remnant, of which he knew more than Oobleck.

Oobleck held out the cloth wrapped bundles to Jaune and Nathaniel. "These are for the two of you. They are relics of the Order, though I hadn't realized that until fairly recently. I decided to wait until tonight to give them to you, as a surprise."

Nathaniel reached forward and pulled the cloth aside, exposing the items beneath. Two long swords in black leather scabbards rested in Oobleck's arms. One had a diamond on the pommel with blue leather wrapped around the grip, and what looked to be a gold or at least gold plated cross-guard. The other had a sapphire set on the pommel with black leather wrapped around the grip with a silver cross-guard.

Nathaniel gasped and began visibly shaking when he saw the weapons. His hands inched towards them, but stopped just before touching them, as though doing so would make them disappear. "Bartholomew," he whispered, "where did you find these?"

"I found them when I was scouring an old ruined fortress three years ago deep in the swamps of Mistral. You see I had gone there on Ozpin's orders to find anything of value belonging to the ancient kingdoms. These two swords were all I found. They had been sealed carefully away in a secret room deep within the fortress, and I would have not even found them had I not accidentally tripped, and I do mean that literally, over the mechanism that opened the room. Unfortunately the original scabbards the weapons had been in had rotted away with time, but the weapons were in amazingly good shape. I brought them back with me, cleaned them, and had the two scabbards you see on them now custom made for them. At the time Ozpin and I both thought these belonged to some long dead king of one of the ancient kingdoms, and Ozpin allowed me to keep them in my personal collection, where I ensured they were well maintained. It was not until a month ago that I started comparing them to yours and Mr. Arc's halberds. I compared the way they had been forged and realized that the technique was almost exactly the same, which is why the blades were in such good condition after ten thousand years. I believe these weapons might have belonged to two commanders of the Order."

"Not just any commanders," Nathaniel whispered. He took both weapons from Oobleck reverently, and held them in the crook of his arm. He looked at them, then up at Jaune, and he was shocked to see tears in the eyes of his mentor. "Where is Talon?" the knight asked, "he needs to be here."

Jaune concentrated his thoughts on the Gryphon, and a few seconds later a winged beast eclipsed the moon and Talon landed next to them. "What is it Jaune?" he asked as his gaze passed over the squire, then to Nathaniel, whose gaze had gone back to the swords. Immediately Jaune felt disbelief, hope, joy, and sorrow flowing in a tidal wave from his mount. "It cannot be," the Gryphon said to itself, and slowly walked towards Nathaniel, the others stepping out of his path. He stopped in front of the knight and stared at the sword with the diamond pommel and golden cross-guard. "It is. I never thought I would see this blade again." With a gentleness that no one who didn't know the war beast would have thought he was capable of possessing, Talon took the weapon by the scabbard in his beak, and turned to Jaune. He held the sword out in his beak to the squire. "This is Crocea Mors, Yellow Death. Forged by Cailan's hands, this was his ceremonial blade he wore to any formal occasion. Though designed for ceremonies this weapon is capable of being used in combat, should the need ever arise. Take it Jaune. As Cailan's ancestor and the future Knight-Lord, it is now yours." With shock Jaune realized that he could see tears in the eyes of the Gryphon.

Reverently Jaune took the ancient weapon in his hand, and Talon released it and stepped back. Nathaniel held the other sword in his own hands, his eyes still upon it. "This is Argentum Mors, Silver Death. Forged by Cailan's hands for my ancestor, Knight-Commander Marusus, to be used as a ceremonial sword. Though meant for ceremonies this weapon can be used in combat, should the need arise." He looked up from the weapon at Jaune and smiled. "Before the end came for the Gryphon Knights Cailan ordered that his and Marusus's ceremonial blades be hidden away in one of our many fortresses. He must have seen that we would have need of them one day."

Standing before each other Jaune and Nathaniel drew the ancient blades from their scabbards as Talon bowed his head in reverence. The weapons gleamed in the light of the moon, their edges sparkling like they had been cut from gems. Jaune could almost feel the history of Crocea Mors as he held it in his hand. In his mind he imagined Cailan wearing this weapon on his side as he talked with kings and queens as an equal. Smiling at one another Jaune and Nathaniel sheathed their blades and attached the scabbards to their belts. Jaune turned to his friends and Mrs. Goodwitch, who had stared in awe at the spectacle. He placed a hand on Talon's flank and patted the war beast, who was holding his head high out of pride. "Let's go have some fun guys."

"Welcome to the par- OH MY GOSH RUBY YOU LOOK SO CUTE!" Yang rushed over and scooped her little sister up into her arms, and Jaune silently mourned his lost friend as Yang did her best to lovingly strangle her sister.

"Yang," gasped Ruby, "can't. Breathe. Need. Air."

Yang released her little sister. "Sorry little sis, but I just couldn't help myself! You look so cute! I'll crush any boy who lays a hand on you!" She sent a pointed glance at Jaune.

"What did I do?" he asked defensively.

"Besides walk in here with her on your arm?"

"She just needed help getting here," he replied, angling himself so that Pyrrha, who was still on his other arm, would be between him and the brawler should she choose to attack, "she's not used to walking in heels."

Yang smirked, "did Pyrrha need help to?"

"As a matter of fact I did," said Pyrrha as she unwound her arm from Jaune's, "so if you could do us all a favor and not kill Jaune that would be wonderful."

Yang seemed to ponder this, then grinned and shrugged. "Okay!" She turned to Blake, Weiss, Sun, and Neptune. "You girls look good too. Not as good as me, or as cute as Rubes, but good." She pointed at the two boys, "now if either of you try anything nasty I'll break you in half myself, okay?" she said far too sweetly.

The two boys straightened up like they had metal poles in their backs and saluted. "Yes ma'am!" they shouted fearfully.

Her gaze went past them to Glynda and Nathaniel. The blonde brawler strutted over to them and winked at Mrs. Goodwitch. "I see you bagged the hot teacher date. Good on ya prof, but I get him on at the next dance, alright?" Jaune and the others stepped back from Yang, sure the girl was about to be introduced to Mrs. Goodwitch's wrath.

Instead the teacher smiled and looked at the knight. "Nathaniel, would you like to accompany me to the next dance the school holds?"

"I would love to."

Glynda looked back to Yang with what Jaune could honestly say was the smuggest grin he had ever seen on anyone's face. "I'm afraid he's been spoken for Mrs. Xiao Long. Now come along Nathaniel. I need to be sure no one has spiked the punch early."

Yang's mouth dropped as she watched the two teachers walk off, still arm in arm. "So not fair..." she muttered.

Jaune patted her on the shoulder. "There there Goldilocks. Don't let the fact that Glynda is way hotter than you'll ever be bother you too much."

"Jerk," she laughed as she playfully shoved him. She gave his outfit a quick once over. "I gotta say though, you and Nathaniel look good. I'm feeling a bit under dressed right now."

He smirked. "Jealous much?" he teased.

"As if," she snorted, "I have boobs, which is way cooler."

He shrugged, "fair point. We're going to go ahead and join the party. How much longer do you need to watch the front?"

She glanced at the clock over the door. "Technically I'm supposed to stay here for at least another five minutes, but I don't think anyone will mind if I cut and run early."

The ten of them made their way into the party laughing and smiling. Naturally Jaune was a constant center of attention whenever he tried to leave the fringes of the party, and quickly made his way back to the edges to escape the crowds of people. He stood in the corner nursing a glass of punch that he was fairly certain hadn't been spiked yet as he watched all of his friends laugh and smile. It was good to see them enjoying themselves and having fun. Weiss and Neptune were enjoying each other's company and occasionally hit the dance floor with Blake, Sun, and Yang. He tried to keep his heart from hurting too much as he watched the heiress and the bluenette laugh and dance, with limited success. His teammates, all of whom loved to dance just as much as he did, spent their time either on the dance floor or taking a break for their next dance. Normally Jaune would have joined them, but every time he tried people would crowd him, mainly girls asking for a dance. Even Ruby, who almost tripped every other step, was enjoying herself, though she tried to stay as far away from the dance floor as humanly possible. He smiled and took a sip of punch as he watched Nathaniel and Glynda talking and laughing with one another. It really was nice to see the two of them together.

Someone stepped next to Jaune, and he had to bite back a groan as he turned to face them. "Whoever you are, I'm not interested in dancing with- oh. General Ironwood?"

The general smiled and extended a hand to Jaune, which the squire took and shook. "Mr. Arc. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Are you enjoying yourself tonight?"

He smiled as he watched Sun and Neptune slow dance together while the girls watched and laughed. "I believe I am, though I wish I could actually go dance without being crowded by people."

Ironwood nodded in agreement and took a sip from his glass. "Such is the price of fame. If you want my advice then find one of your female friends who came alone and dance with them. Most of the girls should leave you alone when they see you're with someone."

"Thank you for the advice." The squire took a sip of punch, "but I assume you came here for reasons beyond giving me advice on avoiding fan girls?"

"I did," the general took a sip from his own glass. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened on the highway the other night."

Jaune glanced at Ironwood. "I assume you mean the night one of your Paladins terrorized the city of Vale?"

"I... yes. I wanted to talk about the role you played in bringing an end to Torchwick's rampage."

Jaune shrugged, taking another sip of punch. His glass was getting dangerously light, and he was beginning to wish someone had spiked the punch. "What about it? I assume you've seen it from multiple angles. The battle was caught on video by three different traffic cameras, and last I heard they were the most watched videos on Dust Tube, unless of course someone already leaked the new Spruce Willis movie."

"Well yes, I have seen the fight, but you have to admit that its remarkable. A beast so ancient that even the legends of it had been lost to the sands of time taking on the most advanced piece of hardware available to the Atlas Military, and holding it's own. It's a remarkable-"

"His," corrected Jaune.

"Pardon?" asked a startled Ironwood.

"You meant holding his own. You said its. Talon is not some mindless beast. He's as smart as you and I."

"I... see," Ironwood said in a way that clearly indicated he did not, "well either way, it's impressive. However you and your Gryphon were not able to defeat it on your own."

"We weren't," Jaune said mildly as he finished his punch. "Instead all it took to do that was a few first year huntsmen in training. Makes you wonder just how effective that machine would have really been against the Grimm, doesn't it?"

Jaune didn't need to look to know that the General was gritting his teeth. "Yes, well we're still working out some bugs in the design, but I was thinking-"

"Don't hurt yourself," Jaune muttered just loud enough for the General to hear.

"I was thinking," the General said with a bit more force, "what would the might of a Gryphon Knight and a Paladin be if both fought side by side? How many could Grimm could they defeat? Imagine an army of Gryphon Knights united with the Atlas military, the greatest fighting force Remnant has ever seen-"

"Second greatest," corrected Jaune again. "Behind the Order."

That seemed to stoke the General's ire just enough. "Well perhaps you haven't noticed Mr. Arc, but there are only two of you left, while the Atlesian Army numbers in the hundreds of thousands. We keep the four kingdoms safe from the Grimm threat. It is Atleasian weapons that every military and police force on the planet utilizes. Without us the four kingdoms would have fallen long ago."

"Yes, and meanwhile how many little villages a day are slaughtered by the Grimm beyond the four cities' walls? Do you even know? Does anyone? You're right that it is the Atlas military that has defended the four kingdoms, but ten thousand years ago the Gryphon Knights defended hundreds of kingdoms. We drove the Grimm back, We held the line, and though there are only two of us left we have endured for ten thousand years, and when the walls of the four kingdoms crumble under the Grimm it will be the Gryphon Knights that stem the tide again and save the people who once relied on those walls, not the horde of machine men that your 'army of hundreds of thousands' consists of."

Talking had parched Jaune's throat. With a dismissive wave he walked away from the good general towards the punch bowl. "Enjoy the party General Ironwood."

"Hey Ruby. You hiding out at the punch bowl too?" She jumped when she heard Jaune talk, not realizing that he had approached.

"Yeah," she admitted. "You hiding from your fans?"

He glanced at someone on the other end of the room, but being the shortest person at the dance she couldn't see who. "Among others, yeah." He refilled his cup and held it out to Ruby. "To the socially awkward."

She giggled and clinked her glass against his. It felt good to talk with him like this, just as friends with no annoying sister to tease her about her crush and turn her into a blushing mess. "You danced any yet?" she asked, knowing how much the members of team JNPR liked to dance.

He scowled, "no, though it's not for lack of trying. Every time I get close to the dance floor I get mobbed by girls who want to dance with me. I just want dance with my team, but I can't even get close to them. Ge- well, someone suggested that I could find one of my female friends and dance with them, which should hopefully make most of the girls back off."

Her cheeks flushed a bit. On one hand she didn't even want to think about trying to dance in her heels, but on the other hand if Jaune was asking... "are you saying you'd like to dance with me?" she asked hopefully.

He shrugged and glanced at her heels. "Are you sure you want to? I mean it doesn't look like those shoes would be very comfortable to dance in."

In a sudden stroke of genius Ruby kicked off her shoes and stuck them under the punch table. "Problem solved!"

"I guess so," he laughed. He held his hand out to her, "would you like to dance Miss Rose?"

She smiled and took his hand. "I would love to Mr. Arc."

Hand in hand the two walked to the dance floor, where they started dancing their way over to the other members of JNPR. No girls came to bother Jaune, as they all turned around when they saw Ruby with him. "Yeah that's right," she thought victoriously to herself as he took one of her hands in his and placed the other on her waist, "I got the hot popular guy to dance with me, and you didn't!"

Slowly but surely they made their way to JNPR, and finally they reached them. "Hey guys!" Jaune said over the music, "I was finally managed to get out on the dance floor!"

Ruby silently unwound her hand from his and stepped back, taking his hand off her side. "He's all yours," she mouthed to Pyrrha.

"Thank you," the champion replied as he took her hand in his and placed his other hand on her hip. The squire and the champion began to dance together as Nora shouted to Ren about something happening.

Ruby felt the familiar arm of her sister wrap around her shoulders, "you enjoy your dance with lover boy? He didn't try anything naughty did he?"

Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. "No Yang he was perfectly fine. He just needed someone to dance with so he could reach his teammates."

"Yeah," laughed Yang, "and I'm sure you didn't do this for your own reasons too." Ruby huffed and rolled her eyes. "Hey, wait a minute," said Yang, "where are your shoes?"

Pyrrha smiled at Jaune as he led his team in a dance. This past week he had done so much to make them all happy. It was like he was back to his old self, if not better.

But Pyrrha knew the truth. He was still hurting inside, even if he didn't show it to the others. No one could get over feelings for someone that quickly if they were real, and Pyrrha knew that his feelings for Weiss were very real, just as real as the ones she felt for him. But how could she help him? She could try to talk to him about it, but she knew that he was nothing if not stubborn. If she tried to pry it out of him when he didn't want to talk about it she could potentially make it worse. She would of course be there for him as his friend and partner, but that wouldn't be enough.

Ultimately she decided the best way to help him was to talk to Weiss. The heiress needed to know just how far Jaune had gone for her to make her happy at the cost of his own happiness, and he deserved at the very least her thanks, if not her friendship. She wouldn't talk to the heiress tonight. Tonight was a night to party and relax, not to cause any drama in their group of friends, but at some point Weiss needed to know how Neptune had really gotten the Angel's Rose.

"May I cut into this dance?"

The four of them turned towards the new voice, and Pyrrha tried to keep a scowl off of her face, with little success.

Cinder stood before them in a dress very similar to Pyrrha, except for the fact that it was black with gloves that went up to her elbows, and Cinder wore it better than Pyrrha did. The Haven student's dress sparkled under the light of the party as though she had taken a piece of the night sky and sewn it into a dress. She smirked at the champion and stepped towards Jaune, and Pyrrha was torn between stepping in between them and letting Jaune choose for himself.

She was saved from having to choose by Jaune's arm wrapping around her shoulder. When she looked over she saw that Jaune had his other arm around Ren and Nora. He smirked at the seductress. "Sorry Cinder, but I'm spending tonight with my team."

Pyrrha smiled victoriously and placed a hand on Jaune's chest possessively. "Yes," she said, "with his team."

Cinder's face was neutral, but Pyrrha could see the frustration in those amber eyes. "I see," she said evenly, "well, enjoy the party." Without another word she walked away, and Pyrrha had to resist the childish urge to stick her tongue at the retreating form of the raven haired girl. Nora had no such qualms however, and stuck her tongue out at Cinder.

Jaune smiled and pulled his teammates in closer in a group hug. "I love you guys," he said.

Pyrrha smiled and wrapped an arm around him, hugging him back as the others did the same. She smiled softly and rested her head on his chest. "We love you too Jaune."

I'll be the first to admit that I don't think this was my best chapter. For whatever reason the dance was just so hard for me to write properly, and get all the proper emotions across. I do hope y'all enjoyed it of course, and I do promise that the next chapters will be better.

It seems Jaune has more than a bit of contempt for the General and his machine men. Not surprising when you take into account Nathaniel's influence, and the fact that he and Talon effectively got shot in the face by one. Will this damage future relations with Atlas? *shrugs* I dunno (okay I do, but I ain't sayin anything).

Cinder's infiltration of the CCTS tower went off without a hitch, and this time Ruby didn't intervene because she was distracted by Jaune and didn't realize what was going on. Naturally Ironwood and the others still know there was a break in, but this time she got off even more scott free.

Crocea Mors makes a return! Bet y'all didn't see that coming, did ya? Me and gdvp111 were discussing what the outfits for Nathaniel and Jaune should look like, and I said I thought they should have dress swords to kind of tie the whole thing together. He agreed, and suggested that I could do something like having them scrounge up a set from Beacon's armory or stores. Originally I was going to go through with that, but then I thought to myself "wait a minute. This would be a perfect chance to reintroduce Crocea Mors, but how?" So going off of that line of thought I came up with the solution of Oobleck finding them in some old ruins. I figured that it was a reasonable story as old ruins are kind of his thing, and I figured he would be the kind of guy who would have a little collection of artifacts he's found that he takes care of.

I hope y'all thought Jaune and Nathaniel's outfits sounded snazzy and awesome, and that the way they got them wasn't too much bull. Does a semblance that allows you to stay awake for weeks sound far fetched? Maybe, but Yang get stronger every time she gets hit like a hot version of the hulk, Nora eats lightning, and Qrow can turn into an actual freaking crow. In my defense, Semblances be hax yo.

If you haven't already then please follow and favorite this story. If you have a friend who likes RWBY and RWBY fanfiction then feel free to tell them about this story! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to tell me what you think of the story so far then feel free to leave a review or PM me! I love you all. BBBYYYEEEEEEEE!

P.S... VOLUME 4 AIRS THIS SATURDAY YO. HYYYYYYYYYYYPE!