Chapter 11 – Boundless Pool of Energy

I mention Velvet's team in this chapter, I just want everyone to know that I did not make OC's, they almost always ruin the worth of a story, and I hate them. I just describe what we can see from her team based on the silhouette that Monty showed, and the brief glimpse we saw in the Volume 2 intro. That is all.

Some people enjoy life by taking it slow, and getting close to the little things. Nora went through life in Maximum Overdrive, and spent her time around big things, preferably ones she can smash under her hammer.

But one is forced to take things slow when dating Lie Ren; he is the epitome of chill. Nora knows that his calm hides a storm, but even when storming, he's always so calm! Nora wants excitement; she wants to see the look in his eyes when he gets into a fierce fight.

So that is why she is currently firing grenades into a cave, said to be filled with Nevermore. Don't try to question her logic; it's like dividing by zero. You'll only cause a paradox somewhere.

"Come on out, birdie! I only want to clip your wings!" Again, don't try to understand her, Ren's known her for years and still doesn't get the girl.

A loud screech fills the air as two giant ravens fly from the cave and directly towards Nora. "Finally…"

'Today was a good day…' Ren thought, as he waked throughout the courtyards of Beacon. 'I got to sleep in, and when I woke up, Jaune was happily chatting with team RWBY in the cafeteria. Nora said that she had some work to do for an assignment, so I haven't seen her since this morning. Pyrrha and Velvet are also toning down their advances on Jaune, so everything just seems so peaceful now.'

As Ren paced the grounds of Beacon, his thoughts were interrupted by a soft beeping sound coming from his pocket. He pulled out his Scroll and found one new message. 'Oh, it's from Nora, I was wondering where she was.'

He nearly dropped the device when he read the message she sent for him. He was sprinting for Beacon Cliffs in no time. While he ran, he decided to check the message one more time, just to make sure. 'How did she even…?' "Damnit Nora!" He screamed as he ran for the propulsion devices left for initiation.

"Only you could think that going into the forest alone is a good idea!" When he reached the same place he stood for initiation all those months ago, Ren jumped onto the first pad that he saw, and was launched into the forest immediately.

He needed to help Nora.

"Hmm, what's taking him so long? I'm a damsel in distress here!" Nora was getting bored, it had been a full thirty seconds since she sent that message. THIRTY SECONDS.

Gone, wasted, never again will she see that time of her life. As she looked around the tree that she was hiding in, she could see two Nevermore circling the area above her, some King Taijitu coming her way as well. She took Magnhild off her back.

'Well, I guess that distress might be overdoing it a bit…' Laughing, she fired a few pop shots in the direction of the snakes, blowing the head off one, and burning the other. As she did so, she could hear a small flinging sound off in the distance; she could swear that she heard the aggravated sigh that would follow suit.

'Took him long enough…' Nora smiled, knowing that her knight in baggy green clothes was coming to 'rescue' her, she couldn't wait.

'I knew it.' Ren thought as he glided through the air. 'She set this up; she purposely annoyed a group of Grimm, so that I would come here.' Despite the wind rushing in his ears, Ren could here explosions and laughter off in the distance, a sure sign that Nora was around.

Or an insane pyromaniac, it's hard to tell the difference sometimes.

Retrieving Stormflower from his sleeves, Ren utilized the same landing strategy he used the first time he came here. Spinning around the trunk of a large tree, Ren landed gracefully and took off in a sprint.

'I don't know why she's doing this, but it better be worth it.'

It took him a mere two minutes to make it to her; Ren trains hard using his aura, and knows how to activate it to his advantage. In this case, pooling all of it into his legs to increase his speed. It was a skill that Nora never looked over during an encounter, just imagine what havoc would ensue if she could increase her speed like that…

Ren shuddered at the thought.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr Slowpoke, glad you could make it in time, I was afraid I'd need to play all by myself." Ren looked at her with his usual stoic expression.

"Nora, I counted four King Taijitu's and two Nevermore on my way in here, what are you doing?" As Nora transformed her weapon into its hammer form, she smiled in glee. "An experiment."

She was on the two headed snakes back in an instant. Ren could only sigh as he jumped out of the tree after her. Nora snuck a peek at his face as he did so, and she saw it, that look of fierce determination he would have when getting serious.

It was very hot.

The King Taijitu's were child's play for the two Hunters, but two Nevermore? That's a whole lotta nope. Not even Nora could figure out how Ruby and Weiss managed to get a hold of one during initiation, and if Nora's imagination couldn't think of it, Ren didn't want to know the reality.

So they ran. The two of them ran right for Beacon Cliffs, and directly away from the flying obelisks of death. Nora called it a 'Tactical Temporary Retreat', Ren called it living for another day.

As the two made it to the top of the dead drop Ozpin calls a cliff, Ren decided now wouldn't be a terrible time for some answers.

"Alright Nora, what happened back there? I know you brought those things to you on purpose." Nora looked taken aback, or at least tried to.

"Why my dear Renny, whatever do you mean? Why would I possibly think to do something that awesome on purpose?" Ren looked at her flatly. "Because you wouldn't have done it by accident, and I don't know why you would do it on purpose, that's why I know you did."

She grinned sheepishly. "Well, I guess you could say that I wanted to see the birdies…" She stopped herself when she saw the look in his eyes, the same one as before.

Fierce determination.

She had never seen him look at her with those eyes though, he looked scary, mad even, and if there was anything she hated, it was Ren being mad. She fed up. "I just… wanted to see you in a fight, Ren. You always look so cool and exciting. It feels like I don't see that side of you enough…"

Ren relaxed at her words, and so did his eyes. "I suppose we have been taking things a bit slow, things were starting to get a little too dull around here as well." He stopped to think for a moment, unsure if what he was planning to say would be the right move.

"Why don't we take this relationship to the next level? Add a little excitement."

Nora blushed heavily, but smiled as well, happy that he was thinking the same thing as her. "Alright, I'll message Pyrrha and tell her to stay out of the dorm tonight; she'll take Jaune as well."

Ren nodded, and offered her his rare smile; he then took her hands, lent down and kissed her. That was the least tame the night would get for the couple.

Pyrrha was confused when she got a message from Nora stating that she and Jaune were to stay out of the room all night, but she was also lucky enough that Ruby called for a sleepover in her room across the hall.

When she asked if Jaune could come, Ruby looked mortified. "A boy at an all-girl's-sleepover? Are you insane?!" Pyrrha didn't see the problem with it, but was unable to protest against the small girl's judgement.

When she informed Jaune that he would need to find other sleeping arrangements, he didn't seem too fazed by it. That is, until she told him that he couldn't stay in team RWBY's room, and that Velvet would be there too.

Then he looked horrified.

None of the group had ever met the rest of Velvet's team, they had seen them on the occasion, but none have ever actually spoken to them.

Including Velvet, there are two girls and two guys, the other girl besides Velvet, wore an odd hat, with large goggles, she appears to be the leader, probably uses heavy artillery like Nora.

One of the guys was a big one; he was very tall and had quite a large weapon on his back at all times. He seemed nice enough.

But the other guy was a bit of a mystery, no one had ever seen him directly, all that they knew was that he had very large gauntlets with very pointy ends on them. There was a running joke throughout the group that he had some dark, mysterious past, but no one knew for sure.

Pyrrha was worried about where her leader may sleep for the night, but her thoughts soon turned towards the night of her own, and what she may be doing with her friends.

Jaune was mildly worried. Scratch that, he was very worried. For some reason, Ren and Nora needed the room for themselves tonight, for what? Jaune didn't want to know.

The problem was that Ren is the only male friend he has, and all of team RWBY wouldn't let him sleep in their room. Velvet wouldn't be in her own dorm either and he's never met her team so it would be awkward to ask them for sleeping arrangements.

As Jaune thought over anywhere else he may be able to stay for the night, a depressing thought dawned on him.

'I have such a small amount of friends…'

He was certain that he had more than whoever he hung out with in his group though, there wasn't a doubt in his mind. Jaune remembered that he had a friends list installed on his Scroll, so he could message them easier.

He pulled up the device and checked his list of contacts. 'Eight contacts… that's the whole group.'

Sighing as he put the device back into his pocket, Jaune decided to re-think his list of options. 'Alright, let's see here… RWBY is out, Velvet is out, Ren and Nora are the reason I can't stay in the room, and Pyrrha is in the same boat as I am, except she's got a place to sleep tonight.'

He continued to brainstorm. '...Is that really all of the people I know? Wow.'

As Jaune continued to think about the mistakes he made in his life to lead him to this point, he failed to notice someone walk in front of him.

When the two collided, a calm voice spoke to him. "We should stop meeting like this Mr Arc, people might start saying things." Looking up, Jaune saw Professor Ozpin looking at him, a ghost of a smile playing across his features.

"O-oh, Headmaster, I'm sorry. I wasn't-" "Watching were you were going, yes we've been through this song and dance before Mr Arc, although last time we did, you had a small problem on your hands, I can only imagine that this is the case today, hmm?"

Despite the fact that Jaune was interrupted (rather rudely, he might add), he couldn't help but tell the Professor his problem, he just seems so trustworthy.

"Well, to cut things short, I don't have anywhere to sleep tonight, I'm afraid that I'll have to sleep up on the roof or on a bench outside or something." Ozpin nodded his head in understanding.

"Yes, I saw this day coming soon, I imagine it was Mr Ren and Miss Valkyrie that kicked you out." Before Jaune could answer what he thought was a question, the Professor continued.

"The two of them have been growing rather close recently, but I thought you would just stay with your friends across the hall, with team RWBY."

When Jaune noticed that the Headmaster had stopped talking for more than three seconds, he realized that it was now his turn to speak. "I was planning to, but they're having a sleepover tonight, and apparently 'No boys aloud'."

Ozpin hummed in agreement as he took a sip of coffee. "I see, that does seem to be quite the predicament that you've found yourself in." He brought the mug down and looked Jaune in the eye.

"Now what kind of Headmaster would I be if I had my students sleeping outside? Tell you what, there's a rather comfy couch in my office that's empty tonight, you can stay there while your friends enjoy themselves."

Jaunes eyes lit up in pure bliss at the thought, but another thought found him slightly weirded out. "You do mean while RWBY and the other girls enjoy themselves, right?"

Ozpins mind seemed elsewhere. "Hm? Oh yes of course, right. Ahem, now then! No point in wasting any more time, let's be off." As Jaune was ushered towards the Headmasters office, he couldn't help but think that the night had only just begun for him.

Pyrrha was nervous, she had never been to a sleepover before, and she had no idea what goes down at one. If social media held any merit, she should expect snacks, games, some truth or dare, and in some rare cases a pillow fight in her underwear.

She's not entirely sure about that last one.

All that she really could expect was that she'd be hanging out with her friends, at night time, and she'd be sleeping in relatively close proximity to them.

That was all.

So that was all that she thought about doing as she knocked on their door that night, hoping for a good time, she could tell Nora was having one from the noise she could hear behind her.

Pyrrha decided not to think about those two for the rest of the night, it was for the best.

Weiss was the one to open the door for her, and she was as pleasant as always. "What took you so long? Everyone is already here." Pyrrha was going to answer, but Yang interrupted.

"Come on 'Snow Angel', don't be mean, we're all here to enjoy ourselves after all." She looked Pyrrha up and down the same way Ruby would look at a plate of cookies. "Some more than others…" She purred.

'Is she… drunk?'

As Pyrrha entered the room, she could indeed smell liquor, she was about to ask why, but Ruby was already answering the question. Velvet asked when she entered too after all.

"We don't actually have any of that stuff with us; Yang just stole some off of some upperclassmen and had the whole bottle. She's the only one like that, I swear."

As Pyrrha pondered the possibilities of what the night may hold with Yang in her current position, she decided to just roll with it, there was no point in getting mad about something she had no control over.

Besides, Yang looked pretty funny when she was trying to grope everyone.

Velvet was glad that Pyrrha could make it tonight; they may be rivals when it came to Jaune, but while he wasn't around, the two tried to keep some semblance of friendship.

There was no point in fighting over what wasn't there after all.

So she gave a soft smile to the redhead when she greeted her, and Pyrrha responded in kind. It was as if the two weren't glaring daggers at each other all of yesterday.

It wasn't easy, but they tried to be nice. The two of them knew that Jaune wanted all of his friends to be happy, and if they were fighting with each other all the time, he wouldn't pick either of them.

So they chatted amicably throughout the night, playing games and eating way more junk food than the body would allow. They were the best of friends for as long as possible.

But they both know that it won't last. When Jaune finally chooses a girl, the other one will be left behind, Jaune will obviously try to cheer them up and make them happy, but they'll be as crushed as team RWBY was and they know it.

So for as long as they possibly could, they stayed as friends, never really knowing if that day would be the last that they could.

Because reality is a harsh mistress, and Jaune is nothing, if not realistic.

"Are you sure it's alright for me to sleep here tonight sir?" Jaune asked, holding a pillow and blanket in his arms. "This doesn't seem like something that happens often…"

Ozpin looked up from his desk, cluttered with paperwork. "There's always time to try new things Mr Arc, I suppose letting a student sleep in my office is one of them." He looked back at his work and took a sip of his mug; it'd be a long night.

"If you're sure sir…" He placed the sleeping necessities on the hard leather couch and lied down. As Jaune closed his eyes, his thoughts found themselves drifting towards the infatuated of his group of friends.

He knew that team RWBY still had small residue left over from when they continuously made passes at him, particularly Yang.

She made jokes about doing everyone at the table all the time, but when she made them about him, he could tell that she was actually serious sometimes.

He shuddered at the thought.

Ruby was still less energetic than she used to be, she rarely uses her semblance anymore and the classic bounce to her step seems to have faded to a slow trudge, as if just getting out of bed was a chore.

If Weiss acted cold to him before, she was pretty much frozen by now. She used to be short with him, and would occasionally whack him upside the head, but now…

She barely speaks to him anymore, always saying that she's far too busy to play, or waste her time acknowledging his existence. It hurt far more than any of her attacks, but he knew she'd be better off for it.

Blake was… well, Blake. There really wasn't any way to describe her. She was still as distant and uninterested as ever, but she seems to show the same amount of concern that she used to whenever he had a problem.

He was glad that she cared enough to put up such a façade, it meant a lot to see that she still worries, without constantly trying to scream her teammates ears off.

Jaune soon found his thoughts return to reality when he began to inspect the room he was in, there were a lot of bookshelves lining the walls, each one had plenty of thick uninteresting books in them, and they were even starting to get dusty by the looks of things.

His eyes drifted to the window, it was too dark to see outside, but you could definitely tell you were high up, even at this time of night.

Ozpins office was situated in the main spire that gave Beacon its name; it was fairly close to the top. If Jaune listened closely, he could almost hear gears turning up above him.

He soon turned his gaze towards the tired Professor himself, his desk was still packed with paperwork, and the two of them had been in the room for hours based on his clock.

Jaune decided to speak up because of it. "Hey Professor, why do you have so much paperwork? Don't you have an assistant to deal with that sort of stuff?" Ozpin looked up with tired eyes to the boy he saw so much potential in.

"Indeed I do Mr Arc, and she has even more to deal with than I do. Miss Goodwitch is an avid worker; I couldn't do my job without her." Ozpin smiled at the thought.

"However, there is some paperwork that must be handled by the head of the school, and no one else." Jaune was slightly confused. "What's so important that it can only be done by the Headmaster?" He asked.

Ozpin grinned in reply. "These things are only meant for the eyes of the Headmaster, Mr Arc. Telling you what they are would make that fact void." Jaune blushed at the comment.

"But." Ozpin started, his tone growing more serious. "I suppose there is one thing that is only meant for me to see that I know you'll keep a secret. You already have been after all." Jaune stood up, and walked over to his desk tentatively. "W-what is that?" He asked.

"Faulty transcripts."

Jaune paled in horror when he realized what Ozpin meant. 'Oh no…' He attempted to speak up, but the words turned to ash in his mouth.

"There is no need to worry Mr Arc, if I was going to get rid of you, you would have been gone before you even got to Beacon." He stated, his eyes never leaving Jaunes.

"I imagine that you would've told the rest of your team about this by now, yes." Jaune didn't reply. "I knew that you were lying your way in from the start Mr Arc, but there was a reason I didn't throw you out like all the others who attempted to do so."

Jaune honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Ozpin continued. "It isn't because of your heritage, if that's what you're thinking. I let you in because you had no prior combat training."

Jaune was beginning to get confused.

"All of the other applicants that had forged transcripts didn't get accepted into the school of their choice, so they tried to get in here. They had all trained to reach where they were. But you didn't." He stopped to take a sip from his mug, still as calm and collected as ever.

"You hadn't applied to any other schools, only Beacon, the toughest Hunting academy in Vytal. I knew that you were destined to come here when I saw that, you had enough confidence in your abilities to come here with no training, there was no way I was passing you up."

Jaune still hadn't said a word, he couldn't. No words could do him justice at the moment. He merely nodded to the professor and returned to the couch. His curiosity was raised enough to ask one last question though.

"But why do you have to continue to handle my transcripts sir? I thought they were supposed to go into some kind of vault." Ozpin smiled again.

"They are, Jaune. But I handle them personally, so that no one can figure out that they're fake and kick you out themselves."

Jaune asked no more questions that night, and simply went to sleep.

Ren lay in bed comfortably that night, usually when Nora was with him, he'd find it hard to sleep because of all her kicking and shoving.

But for once, after much deliberation of course, his boundless pool of energy was sleeping peacefully. He had a single thought before he joined her.

'I was right after all… today was a good day.'