A/N: I'm back with the obligatory Forever Fall chapter. Let's see how this goes!
NexusBladeguard: I wouldn't say he drugged Ruby. Rather, he more or less sprayed her with super glue... will all of you perverts please stop smiling? Also, yes, I do them pretty well, if I say so myself. Now, I just need to work on polishing my character interactions, and I'll be more solid than a Metal Gear.
foxchick1: Ask, and ye shall receive!
With those two taken care of, let's go.
"And then I was like…" The two teams RWBY and JNPR were currently walking throughout Beacon's halls. It was a Wednesday, and as such the eight of them were heading towards their first class of the day, Grimm Studies with Professor Port. At the back of the group, Jaune and Blake were conversing about some mythological books Professor Joestar recommended for them to read. In Jaune's hand were some of these books. As the group entered Professor Port's class, Jaune letting everyone go before him, he sensed someone walk behind him, a person he knew very well.
Oh, it's just Cardin. Nothing to worry about, he's just taking his usual route to class. But he was wrong, as he felt Cardin's body move closer than necessary. With speed he did not expect from the bullying teen, he felt his books fly from his grasp, and heard retreating snickers behind him. With a small, silent sigh, he started to pick up his books.
"Hey." He didn't have to look up from the ground to know Blake was the one looking down on him with concern. "Is something wrong? You seem a little worried." Books in his arms, he got up, and he looked at her with a grin that he knew would look fake.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. My fingers just slipped."
After his turn in combat class, Jaune was passing through the door to the boy's locker room to put away his gear. At the same time, Cardin, who was fighting in the next match, was walking out of the room. As the two passed each other, Jaune could practically feel the grin forming on Cardin's face. Without warning, he felt Cardin's hand move quickly behind him. His body, tired after his recent bout with a raging gold brawler, couldn't move fast enough to intercept him. As such, his shield was unfurled in the middle of the doorway, with Jaune connected to it. Unamused, he his head towards Cardin, one eyebrow raised.
"Really? Really, Cardin?" The bully just chuckled.
"What, are you gonna cry about it?" Jaune shook his head.
"No, I'm just surprised you didn't do something worse than this." Reaching with one hand, Jaune was able to fold the shield back up again while Cardin just walked away, sniggering. Rolling his eyes, Jaune walked into the locker room and went to his locker, only to discover a black burn mark where it used to be. Again, he raised his eyebrows.
"Really Cardin?" With another gloomy sigh, the blonde teen whipped out his scroll, and began typing the coordinates to Beacon Academy's locker rooms into it.
As Team RWBY sat at theirs and JNPR's lunch table, waiting for the other team, they heard a loud bang outside the cafeteria alongside a few scream. Then, a putrid smell started to enter the lunch room. As the stench intensified, the door opened, revealing an irritated JNPR. Slowly and agitatedly, the four team members got their lunch, and sat across from their sister team. Ruby slowly opened her mouth to say something, but Jaune quickly raised his hand.
"Not. A. Word." The irritated older sister slammed her fist down on the table.
"Look, since the first day of school, Cardin and his cronies have been an annoying pain in the ass. But ever since a few weeks ago, he's raised the playing field in his favor!" Blake, nose clenched, nodded her head.
"His so-called 'pranks' have gotten more intense, especially to you and your team. Can't you do anything about it? We do have faculty here." Ren shook his head.
"Can't. The rulebook states that we have to somehow find a way to solve our problems without violence or staff intervention." At this point, Nora started bawling.
"BUT I WANNA BREAK HIS LEEEGSS!" A tentative Weiss put her hand on top of Nora's as a show of comfort.
"Exactly what happened to you guys?"
"In case you didn't notice, it seems that someone left a stink bomb right outside the cafeteria doors. It was remote detonation, and went off the moment it sensed our Aura wavelength." As Pyrrha said this, she unconsciously bent her spoon, fork, and knife in half.
"Couldn't you just use your semblance to remove the smell?" A tired Jaune started to join in on Nora's lamenting.
"Been there, tried that. The smell's too strong to get rid of completely. We'd need a tub full of tomato juice to get rid of this." Weiss pulled out her scroll and began typing into it.
"Don't worry, Team JNPR, I've already placed an order for 30 gallons of it. You're welcome!" Both Ren and Pyrrha had to stop their partners from glomping Weiss.
"HAHA! Hoo boy, you guys smell worse than Mephitels!" With a hateful glare, the members of both teams turned to face Team CRDL. Two of them were laughing at them, Dove and Russel if Jaune remembered correctly (as if he bothered to remember). Sky, the nicest one in the group, was shamefully looking away from the table into his plate of food. Meanwhile, the ringleader of this circus was giving them an equally cruel glare.
Keep a cool head, Jaune. You don't want to disappoint dad. Just settle down, eat your food, and come up with a way to end this cold war…
"Son of a BITCH!" It was currently Tuesday, and Team JNPR was currently relaxing in their dorm room. Actually, that was false- they were in their dorm, yes, but none of them were relaxed. Pyrrha did her homework with her pencil in a chokehold, Nora was busy destroying things in her videogame while shouting angry expletives and Ren was agitatedly brewing his tea. The only one not currently blowing off steam was Jaune, who was sitting on his bed.
"I'm going to go fly for a bit." Putting on some basketball shorts and a white tanktop, Jaune rushed out from the windowsill, breaking the glass on progress for the third time that week. As he soared among the clouds high over vale, he worked his brain for an answer to his current problem.
Should I?... No, that wouldn't work… How about… No, that's too unlikely… Frustrated, the Faunus prince perched on top of a stone Griffon on top of a Valean skyscraper. Trying his best to purge thoughts like that out of his head, he instead watched the nightlife of the city, finding solace in the beautiful lights and the interactions among the people he was watching. As he watched, his eyes caught a person about to be mugged in a back alley.
His muscles were clenched, his body was ready to swoop down on the thugs. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw two people running over to the alley, and started to beat the thugs off of the weaker person. As the goons ran away, the person who was being mugged backed away from his rescuers, but was coaxed into staying and standing alongside them with a simple offer: a helping hand. This was a sight he commonly saw in Falconia, where former tormentors turned into great friends with a simple, thoughtful, gesture of kindness. It was a thought that came to his mind as a potential solution… before he removed it from his psyche.
There's absolutely no way that would work! Ah, great, now my feathers are all ruffled up again. Better see if I can't clear my mind with some high speed… And he took off, leaving a trail of shining white feathers behind him.
Oh hey, stress is making you start to molt a little.
Oh come on!
"Now, students…" Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and others were following their substitute teacher Professor Daisy as they hiked through woods of crimson wonder, Forever Fall. As it turns out, the sweet, gentle, Professor Peach was sick with the flu, and part of her lesson plan included this hike into nature to gather a unique sap for a quick chemical assignment.
"Forever Fall may look nice and beautiful, but be warned tha' critters o' Grimm populate these here woods. Now, the red sap y'all're s'pposed to gather is mighty attractive to Grimm, so try to not git it on ya. With that said, y'all can begin!" The students split into groups, with Teams RWBY and JNPR joining into one group. Conversing among themselves, they came across a clearing, with crystal clear water and trees. Lying on the wood was a brittle, dry substance- sap.
Here, away from the troubles of school (and CRDL), the group was able to relax. They played in a nearby stream, they lay down on the grass, and Nora was able to consume as much sugary sweets as she wanted. Actually, that was a lie- she was only able to drain one tree dry before Ren was able to restrain her by holding her in his arms.
If the blush on Nora's face means anything, then the ship must be getting ready for departure. Either that heartwarming thought, or she's just suffering from the high amount of sugar she consumed. Is that possible?... Whatever, I'm no doctor.
Then suddenly, he felt it. He could sense some movement near them. Focusing his senses, he pinpointed the source- it was on a hill right behind them. From the information he gathered, there were four individuals- one was light, two were not that heavy, while another one had heavy footfalls with a familiar stride. Goddammit, CRDL. Whatever, I just hope they'll leave us alone.
They didn't. The group of four kept on creeping nearer and nearer to the eight teens. Those assholes… are they up to something?
*CRASH* "Sonuvabitch! Dove, the hell?"
"Hey! It's not my fault I got tripped and spilled the sap all over you!"
"THEN OPEN YOUR EYES!"
Wouldn't that be racist? Whatever, their problems aren't mine. As he continued to listen to their bickering, he sensed something else appear. It was something big. It was something… dangerous. It was something major. Well, I'm pretty sure that a team of qualified hunters in training can beat a single Ursa Major.
"THAT'S A BIG URSA! RUN!"
Or not. He was literally shaken out of his musing by his red-haired teammate.
"Jaune, you can hear them, right? We should help them!"
"And do what? Make them feel more pissy about Faunus by having their admittedly low amount of pride being shattered by a knight in shining armor flying in to save them from what they could've killed on their own? I'll save CRDL, sure, but only if they actually are in a life-threatening situation. Besides, an entire team can take on an Ursa Major, no sweat!" He was proven wrong when three out of the four members of CRDL ran out from the trees next to them.
Wait, when did they get from there to there?
"URSA! URSA!" Yang, feeling a small amount of excitement building up, caught one of the running men and held him up by his collar.
"Where?" Shakily, he pointed in a direction near the hill above them.
"There! Its got Cardin on the ropes!" After her eyes bugged out, Pyrrha turned to look at Jaune, who quickly face-palmed.
"Fine, I'll go and save the big lug. Pyrrha and Ruby, I ask that you guys wait in the trees, and help me on my signal. The rest of you can go get Professor Daisy. Agreed?" With a collective nod of their heads, Jaune unfolded his mighty wings, and ascended into the air.
"HAH!" With a sickening sound, Cardin was barely able to smash the Ursa Major's skull, turning it into mush. "Damn… the next time I see those assholes… they're so gonna get it…" Opening up his scroll, he grimaced when he saw how low he was on Aura. "I better haul ass, I can't fight another one like this!" As soon as he put his scroll away and sheathed his weapon, Cardin Winchester was tackled from behind, and was launched right into a tree.
With a groan, the bully turned himself around, only to come face-to-face with three more Majors, with one standing right above him. With a snarl, it raised its massive paw into the air. Guessing what was about to come next, the student of Beacon closed his eyes. The pain he anticipated never came. Instead, it was replaced with a familiar-sounding battle cry…
"Well, this is a crappy mess, ain't it, Cardin?" Opening his eyes, he looked up to see alabaster wings, messy blonde mop of hair, and a smiling face. "Can't let a face like that get messed up now."
"… What?"
"Nothing. The cavalry's here to save you!" With that, Jaune turned around, and jumped in to do battle with the beasts. Looking past his savior, Cardin noticed that both Ruby and Pyrrha were there too. Soon enough, they dispatched the giant bears, and were currently waiting for the rest of their class to come and pick them up. Dragging himself up the tree he was lying down on, Cardin hobbled over to the log Jaune was sitting on.
"Why… why'd you save me?" With a smirk, Jaune stood up, and looked him in the eye.
"Deux raisons, ami. One: there were Grimm in the area, and as a hunter it's my job to fix that. Two: you looked like you needed help." As Cardin stared into Jaune's eyes, he could see the honesty in his response.
"But, all the things-" Jaune put his hand over Cardin's mouth and shushed him.
"What's past is past, no amending that. All we can do is try and tidy things up for the future. I can't let past transgressions or prejudices weigh me down when I fly, after all. I could crash and drop." C'mon, you big oaf, get the message, GET THE MESSAGE! Looking down on the ground in shame, Cardin cleared his voice.
"I… I… I'm sorry for all that I did… to you and your team. Really, I am." Jaune stared into Cardin's moist eyes, and saw that he was honest. He also noted what sounded like a group of people getting closer and closer to their location.
"Need some help walking buddy?" Without waiting for an answer, Jaune draped Cardin's arm around his shoulders, and supported him like a crutch. "As for your apology Cardin, it's accepted. Right, gals?" The two red-haired huntresses looked at the two boys, one supporting the other, and smiled.
"Right!"
A/N: Well, there's that ending.
And with that, Season 1 of this fic is slowly coming to a close, with some actual plot totally not copy and pasted from the show. I know several of you who are going to not be happy about that, especially those that have read my other two works- you'll understand if you consistently read the author's notes for them. And look at their dates. Anyways, keep on waiting for October 22! #RWBYVol4
Please leave me a review or a PM, so that this story can continue to get better and better.
Paalam na!