"Guys, did it seem like Professor Goodwitch was glaring at me extra hard in class today? More than usual, I mean…"
"Perhaps she just noticed the changes in your form during our match, Jaune. Your fighting style has evolved now that you have your semblance, after all…" Ren offered as he checked the time on his scroll, before adjusting his stance to account for Nora's added weight.
"Maybe," Jaune muttered, "Yeah. That's probably it."
"She was probably in awe of the fact that you set your sword on fire!" Nora cackled, "Ruby's eyes got so big when she saw that, I think a Nevermore could have flown into them. Now mush, Renney! I'm hungry!"
Pyrrha giggled, reaching out to give Jaune's hand a discreet squeeze of reassurance and pride before slipping behind him so that he could use his semblance to clear the way of snow now that they were alone on the walkway, "It was very funny to see her rush out after class, dragging the rest of her team with her so she could figure out how to add 'awesome fire powers' to Crescent Rose."
Jaune chuckled, "Yeah, the looks on everyone's faces helps make up for Ren sweeping my legs out from under me and making me hit my head on my own shield. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't exactly fun, or conductive to a positive image to impress the guest students."
"Sorry about that again, Jaune. You over extended and I took the opening. Admittedly, I expected you to let go of the shield, and catch yourself, but you still managed a decent recovery roll."
"It's no problem, Ren. And hey, I'll remember for next time. Now let's get some lunch, I'm really hungry."
With that, Team JNPR continued their trek to the lunchroom. At least until they noticed something very odd about the decorations. Nora, having the high ground, was the first to notice the pattern, "Uh, guys, have you noticed all the plushies?"
"Well of course there are, Nora. Jaune is the one that got this strange cultural fixation started, after all…" Pyrrha chimed in, as they entered the final corridor between them and the cafeteria.
"Yeah who would have thought delivering RWBY's plushies to them in the cafeteria while we were having lunch with CFVY would have led to this?" Jaune wondered.
"No! Guys, not that! I mean that there are a lot of plushies around us right now! US plushies!"
The rest of JNPR began to look around, finally taking notice of the fact that there were a lot of Team JNPR plushies scattered around the corridor, in sets, grouped together with their respective real-life partners
"Wow, it looks like someone is taking their shipping way too seriously," Jaune declared, as he took note of a plushie of himself and his partner leaning against each other like a snuggling, relaxed couple.
Whoever decided to put this together didn't stop at cuddling, though. JNPR passed several other plushie partner pairings engaging in much more risqué acts. Everything from a Ren with a Nora plushie straddling his lap, to a scene that caused Pyrrha to blush all the way down to her chest, and march over to scold her plushie like a misbehaving child before snatching her up. It featured a Pyrrha laying on her stomach, blindfolded with her sash, and restrained with ribbon, with a Jaune plushie standing behind her.
"We are not the kind of girl that would just do this out in the open for everyone to see! What would Mother say?! For shame, young lady!" Pyrrha exclaimed, as she untied her plushie counterpart and set her in her bag.
Pyrrha paused, glancing down at the Jaune plushie, before returning to her team. Was she imagining things, or did the plushie Jaune look disappointed?
"Just so we're clear," Jaune began as they resumed their awkward walk to lunch, "You only seemed to have a problem with the fact that plushie us were doing that out in public. Does that mean it's something you might want to try, um, in private? When we decide to take that step?"
Despite that they had been secretly dating for nearly two months now, Pyrrha still found herself caught off guard sometimes by Jaune's surprising willingness to communicate his feelings, and his attentiveness to her own wants. Ironically, he was much less oblivious and more confident mow that they were in a relationship.
"Um…yes?" Pyrrha squeaked, "I mean, I've given it some thought. I know we haven't exactly talked about it yet…"
Jaune smiled. "How about we each write a list for this stuff and talk about it later, okay?"
Pyrrha gave her boyfriend a coy smile, and a quick peck on the cheek for his thoughtfulness.
Progress came to an abrupt halt just before they opened the cafeteria doors, however, because Nora began to blush before clamping her hands over her steed's eyes, causing Ren to sigh and stop moving. "I need to see to be able to move, Nora."
"Ren, you can't right now until Jaune and Pyrrha move the plushies of the two of us that have been taped above the door. Some degenerate placed them there doing something…lewd." She whispered, "I…I'm not ready yet…"
"I must admit to being curious now. I mean, we just had what amounts to a family discussion about our sex lives that involved creative use of a sash, complete with visual aids. What else is there at this point?"
"Renny, they were..uh…hand holding." Nora whispered furtively, glancing up to see that Jaune and Pyrrha had removed the plushies from the doorway, and blushing madly.
"I see," Ren noted, fighting his own urge to blush, "In that case it's probably for the best."
With the plushies properly stowed away, JNPR finally entered the lunch room, getting their food, and sitting down at their usual table, just before they were joined by a rather preoccupied looking RWBY. Weiss was scowling while muttering about corsets and someone called the Queen of Leather. Blake was smiling softly, looking at everyone gathered at the table, and writing.
Yang looked simultaneously as though Winter Maiden's Day had come early and filled with sisterly protectiveness, one arm wrapped around Ruby's head, and the other pulling out her chair.
"Yang! Can you let me go now?! I can't eat my strawberries or cookies if I can't see!"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, sis!" Yang said, as she took her customary seat next to her partner, "Just had to make sure there weren't any more degenerate plushie scenes around."
"Degenerate plushies?" Jaune wondered, "Someone pranked you guys too, huh?"
"Yeah, I think so," Ruby confirmed, as she ushered a strawberry onto the start of its pilgrimage through her digestive system, " Wasn't a very good prank though. It was just a bunch of plushies of us with our partners, standing up or laying down on top of each other."
Everyone stopped for a moment, staring at Ruby before resuming their meals, "She is just too innocent for this world..." Yang said, voice thick with sisterly affection. Everyone nodded in agreement.
XXX
"Emerald, I want you to follow that boy we saw from combat class. He clearly wasn't using Dust in his fight earlier. That had to be his semblance." Cinder ordered as the team made their way back to the dorm, finally done with classes for the day.
"Yes, ma'am. Do you really think he could be that much of a threat, though? Based on his performance, he must have only unlocked his semblance recently. He seemed very unfamiliar with it."
"I gotta say, Boss," Mercury chimed in, "I doubt the kid would be much of a threat, especially if we closed the distance on him. Sure, he made his sword light up, but that's nothing special."
"I'm surprised at you two," Cinder declares, "I would think you of all people would know not to judge someone's potential based solely on appearances."
Emerald flushed in embarrassment, keenly aware of the irony. Mercury just looked bored.
"Now don't think, obey." Cinder firmly ordered, turning to regard her subordinates with a flame enhanced glare.
Mercury and Emerald exchanged a glance, "Yes Ma'am," they chorused. With a final nod to her leader, Emerald departed.
She soon found herself stalking her target through the halls watching him interact with his team and friends. He seemed painfully ordinary, awkward, and hopeless. She took Cinder's concerns seriously, but still could not fathom how anyone could be this talentless and still be alive in this profession.
For Oum's sake! The idiot almost choked to death trying to eat and laugh at the same time during lunch!' Emerald lamented. If it wasn't for the intervention of his redhaired teammate, her target may well have died.
Things continued to be uneventful for a time, until Emerald finally struck pay dirt from an overheard snippet of conversation between her target and his friends in the library, inviting them to the Emerald Forest to see a new technique he had been working on.
'This sounds promising. 'Let's see where it goes…'
With that Emerald found herself following the eight students as they made their way toward the edge of the forest. She was grateful for their large group size and inane chattering, it helped her mask the sound of her own footsteps. Her illusionary semblance worked best with eye contact and required more concentration and aura than she had to spare to work on a group of people.
Luckily for her, she didn't have to go far, taking cover behind a conveniently large tree once the group made it just past the tree line.
"Come on, Jaune! It's cold out here! If you're going to drag us out, could you at least do something about it?" the youngest of the group whined. Emerald thought it made her look like a kicked puppy. She'd seen that trick plenty on the streets.
Her target sighed, and the next thing she knew, she was shielding her eyes and ducking back behind her tree for cover when a bright light seemed to wash over the immediate area. When she could see again, Emerald poked her head around to see something incredible: All the snow around them was melted, leaving a perfect circle of visible forest floor.
The rest of the group around her target was suitably impressed. His partner was even trying to laugh maniacally as she gazed at the bare earth around her. Honestly it was adorable.
'That level of control is incredible! He didn't show any of that during his fight! I don't even know if Cinder could do that so easily!'
The green haired assassin was even further amazed when the blonde began speaking again, "Okay, okay. Now that that's taken care of, it's time for the reason I bought you all out here. You know how I'm not so great at ranged combat?"
"If by not so great, you mean 'non-existent,' then, yes." A girl dressed in a white skirt of all things replied.
The entire group laughed, even her target. "Yeah, you got me there, Weiss. However! I, Jaune Arc have developed a new and amazing technique with my semblance that will change all that forever!"
"Well go on! Don't keep us in suspense, Vomit Boy!" a blonde Huntress called out.
"Yes, Jaune. We're all very eager to see this new move you've been working on," the statuesque Pyrrha Nikos proclaimed.
With that the young man smiled before urging his audience to take a few steps back. Once he deemed them back far enough, the blonde held his arms down, away from his side, palms facing the ground and fingers spread.
Emerald watched him take a deep breath, before his hands began to glow, wreathed in flames. After a moment, the flames spread outward, striking the earth in a corona of heat.
It was unclear exactly what the point of this was until she noticed something else: The boy was floating!
Her target had figured out a way to use his flames as a form of propulsion! Granted, Cinder could also do the same thing, and over a much greater distance, but she had the magical abilities of a Maiden! She was a magical force of nature! What Emerald was currently seeing should be impossible for someone without the Maiden powers.
Emerald chanced a look at the information they had managed to gather from the few classes they had had today. Yes, Jaune Arc was indeed a boy. There was no way the Maiden powers had passed on.
The next moment shattered everything she thought she knew.
Her target rose higher and higher off the ground, before flames seemed to come pouring out of his entire body, wrapping him in a cocoon of fire. After a moment, the sphere solidified itself into a new shape: A large bird.
Emerald had to squint to make it out from this distance, but she could see the outline of the boy in the center of the bird construct, unharmed and smiling.
In that moment, Emerald felt her insides turn to liquid as she witnessed a feat of elemental manipulation she doubted even a Maiden could pull off. That fear only grew when she heard the boy proclaim, "Look guys! I'm a Nevermore!" He then began to perform a series of aerial acrobatics, much to the amazement and delight of his audience.
Emerald ducked back behind her tree, using her semblance to hide herself when she noticed her target pass close to her hiding place. Her naturally dark complexion had paled considerably, and she found herself shaking, 'Cinder was right,' she thought darkly, 'You really can't judge someone on appearances alone. Whatever this guy is, he could ruin our whole plan!'
She glanced up warily, praying to Oum that her target didn't somehow notice her as he flew around in circles overhead, to the amazement of his friends like some sort of ultimate cosmic, elemental force of existence…
Using her semblance and every ounce of her stealth skills, she made her way back to the dorm as quietly as she could, while behind her, her target's friends congratulated him on his amazing new ability.
Once she was back inside Beacon proper, and away from her target, she decided to abandon stealth entirely, making a mad dash back to the guest dorms and the safety of Cinder's presence.
Emerald took a few deep breaths to hopefully calm her nerves and collect her thoughts before opening the door to her room. She couldn't very well give an accurate report if her heart popped out of her chest.
Once she felt a heart attack wasn't immanent, she quickly entered the room, gaining the attention of her team quickly.
"What's wrong with you?" Mercury asked, "The shops run out of waxing kits, and now you're stuck with that unibrow?"
Emerald was too concerned with keeping her heart rate under control to even pay attention to her partner's insults. "Cinder, ma'am, we have a major problem."
Her team leader put down the scroll she was using, turning her chair to face her disciple, and arched an eyebrow, "Tell me everything…"
