Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
AN: Back again with another chapter. I liked the comment of Jaune turning into King Arthur, but I wasn't planning on that to happen at all. He wont be the only one going through some changes either.
Chapter 20: Major Changes
"You're giving up?" Ruby asked what they were all thinking.
It was hard to imagine Jaune without his sword. It was like imagining the little reaper without Crescent Rose. And the poor sword stuck in the stump – it was probably feeling abandoned by now. It was probably cold and scared waiting loyally for Jaune to come back and pull her out.
"I just think it's time for a change." The blonde tried to explain. "Crocea Mors was never really mine to begin with. When I got accepted to Beacon it was just put in my hands without anyone asking me if I really wanted it. My dad was so proud when he handed it over, I couldn't say no and tell him I saved enough for a new weapon."
Blake recalled Ozpin once saying Jaune's family must've been tight on money for him to go enter a combat school. Seeing how Crocea Mors was like some antique and how expensive mechashift weapons were nowadays, she could sort of sympathize with Jaune.
The cat faunus wasn't the only one. Weiss could empathize with having something given to him without any consent. Looking over the others, the only one who seemed really against Jaune getting a new weapon was her leader.
"So that's it? You're just going to abandon it in a stump?" Ruby said in disbelief. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned to see it belonged to her dad. She wondered if he was going to talk some sense into him.
"You sure about this Jaune?" Tai asked with a firm tone. Getting a nod with no sign of hesitation, he turned back to the trail. "It's your choice. I'll just have to teach you aura control differently then."
Ruby couldn't believe him! Her dad was siding with Jaune and everyone else was just letting him give up.
The blonde was going to ask his fellow leader if she wanted to help him choose a weapon, but seeing her opinion was against his he doubted it'd go smoothly. Turning to Pyrrha, he was glad at least she was supportive of him.
"I'd be a hypocrite if I told you to stick to your first weapon." She said, feeling his eyes on her. "Milo and Akuou weren't my first weapons starting out in tournaments."
"Would you help me pick out a good weapon?" He asked, placing his hand in hers. Feeling her hand squeeze his, he got his answer.
Gates of Patch
"Alright kids, we'll be splitting up to get things done fast." The older huntsman said, giving them free reign of who to go with. "Stock up on the things you need and meet up at the south gate before noon."
Before the group could go off though, he called over Ren and Yang. Telling Nora to go on without him, Ren followed the brawler and her dad to a secluded street area. Obviously it was going to be a talk of who hey encountered in the forest. As they moved and weaved through the streets and alleys, Taiyang would look overhead just to be sure no bird was close by. Once the father of Yang finally stopped, Ren readied the questions he wanted to ask.
"Yang tells me you ran into my ex-wife." The man started, leaning against a trash bin.
"What does she want with my team?" The ninja asked what was on his mind. Looking to Yang, he saw it was close to what she wanted to ask too.
Sucking in a breath, Tai scratched his head. It wasn't a nervous tick, but something he did whenever there was something he didn't like – hence, a bad itch.
"I'm not sure on the details. I just know she wants them for her tribe." He said all that he knew. Once upon a time he could have been a part of it, but now he wasn't even something worth to glance at.
"What tribe?" Ren asked, wanting a target to go after.
"Her tribe." The man said as if it was that simple. "Some sort of band of warriors she builds full of people she thinks are strong."
That was enough for Ren to go on for now. The way he saw it, Raven wanted her friends because they were strong. Pyrrha and Nora were obvious, and Jaune was strong even if he didn't know it. And speaking of his leader. "She was the one who threw Jaune down the cliff."
It wasn't a question. It was a conclusion – a conclusion he knew was right seeing the expression Yang made.
"It was a test." Tai admitted in a low tone. "I've known Raven since we were put on a team and she wasn't always like this. Sure she was a bitch, but after some bad choices and accidents she became – what's the word I'm looking for?"
"A monster bitch?" Yang muttered, not seeing any excuse for her mother.
"A psycho?" Ren added, feeling it described her exactly.
"Broken." He said, ignoring the two. "That's the word I'm looking for. Ever since the accident, she's never been the same."
Hearing something new about Raven got Yang curious. The whole time her dad talked of Summer, Raven was added in like some sort of controlling bitch who admitted to doing no mistake. Hearing she had an accident was making her wonder what it was.
"What was the accident?" She asked, feeling this was a time for everything to come out. "The accident that broke her."
Glancing at the two, Tai wondered if they'd be ready for this answer. Seeing them staring at him intently, he knew this was something he couldn't get out of. What he said next though rocked them – especially Ren – to their core.
"She killed a human in her first year."
With Jaune and Pyrrha
"How about this?" Pyrrha said, showing him a saber that shifted into a handgun.
After looking at so many mechashift weapons, Jaune still can't for the life of him figure out how they manage to bend into something so compact. It baffles him how they can take so much damage smacking into other weapons, and then shift on a whim with no problem to fire off bullets or dust. Sure his sheath can expand into a shield but it's not so complicated as the things his team has. The only other person with a not so complex weapon is Weiss. At least Myrtenaster is easy to understand.
"I'm not a fan of weapons with recoil." He said, reminding her of the rifle incident.
Stepping out of the handgun aisle, they moved on to where Nora was currently crouched. Currently, the ginger was holding a huge axe that had a hammer on the other side. Seeing as every other weapon in there was heavy, Jaune skipped it to see what laid on the others. So far he's rejected swords that change into handguns, rifles and whips and all variations of pole arms. Scanning over all the aisles, he sighed seeing something not close to what he was after.
"Do you have any bows lying around?" He asked the man behind the counter.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" The man replied, giving Jaune a raised brow. "Not that many people are into those nowadays."
"I'm vey sure." Jaune replied back, wanting to get his new weapon soon.
Shrugging, the man walked to a door behind the counter labeled storage. The sounds of boxes being moved and some rummaging could be heard for a couple of minutes. When the owner of the store came back out, he had three boxes in his arms. Two were about four feet long while the last one was only about two feet.
"These are the three I highly recommend." He said, opening each to showcase what Jaune had to choose from.
Glancing over them, Jaune saw the first two were mechashifts that turned into dual blades. He wasn't so keen on hitting people with the same thing he'd be firing at them with. Bows needed to have equal weight and balance on both arms, and he didn't want to risk the performance if the blades got damaged. Looking at the last one though, he raised a brow by how it looked.
"It's just the riser." He stated the obvious, picking up the item turning it over. Sure the limbs were sort of there – just really short like three inches. There was even the string running down too. It also had some weight to it. For a bow, it looked ridiculous.
"It's in compact mode." The owner said, taking it out of Jaune's hand and held it out horizontally.
Shing!
The limbs popped out and the string held strong as it stretched. It was now four feet long and showed it was a recurve bow.
"Just add aura to open it up – press the button on the pivot point to compact again."
Pressing the button, the bow went back to being travel size. As it was put back down, Jaune made his choice.
"How much for that one?" He asked, ready to take out the Lien he's had saved up.
"It's one-fifty just for the bow, two hundred for the added thirty-two arrows." The price seemed to shock the three since most of weapons were ranging from six to eight hundred.
Having been scammed before, it was Nora who voiced out her concerns. "What's the catch, pal? No way something like this comes cheap. Is it stolen? Cheap metal? Cursed?!"
Even Pyrrha nodded, taking the weapon to see how it was. Opening it back up and pulling on the string, she felt an approximate one hundred and twenty pounds from the pull and a perfect silent release when she let go. For something this good, there had to be a catch.
"I told you, bows aren't in high demand." The man said, ignoring Nora's critical eye. "These things have been in shop for so long, I've had to dock the price down to what you have now. If you think I'm scamming you, there's a firing range in the back for you to test out."
Nora was a still a bit skeptical about it, and the way she kept glaring at the storeowner wasn't subtle. As the three made it into the firing range, Jaune was given three arrows to test out. Remembering a trick his dad taught him when he was little, the blonde held the four arrows between each finger.
Pyrrha and Nora watched Jaune set the first arrow and pulled back. After he released, he was quick to set the second and fire and did the same with the third. After the last arrow was fired, the champion noted he did so in two seconds. Looking at his accuracy, she marveled on how he managed to hit two in the center and two on the outside. He was using a quick reload method forgotten by modern archers. She also noted he used both arms instead of just the draw arm to quicken his firing rate and lessen the strain from the pull.
"It works good." He said turning to them. "If I get a good deal on the armor, I might have enough for some dust."
"You're planning to get dust too?" Nora asked surprised. During their time in Beacon, Jaune was afraid to go near the stuff thinking his luck would have it blow up in his face.
"I had a talk with Weiss and she opened my mind to the idea." He said, putting the bow back in compact mode. "Normal arrows are good, but lightning arrows sound awesome."
The moment he said lightning arrows, Nora was by his side in full support. And if her leader was open to it, she might add her two cents to explosive arrows. Who was she kidding? Of course Jaune would be open to exploding arrows!
"Let's go, fearless leader." She cheered, dragging Jaune out of the firing range.
Following close behind, Pyrrha gazed at the target her leader hit one more time. It was nearly perfect. Stepping out, she nearly lost her composure seeing Jaune decked out in the most bulkiest armor she'd ever seen. She doubted he could even move with how much metal was covering him – not to mention how it was three times his size. Popping out of an aisle, Nora added another piece of armor to her leader's already heavy set.
Sometimes Pyrrha wondered why Jaune spoiled Nora like that. Sooner or later the moment he needed to say no to her, she doubted the bubbly girl would take him seriously.
"That's enough Nora." The redhead said, taking off most of the armor Jaune had on. Pulling the helmet she placed on his head, she giggled seeing the sweaty face of her leader staring back at her. "Why do you always indulge her so much?"
"There's no harm." He replied, wiggling out of the chest piece. "Give it a bit of time and she'll probably mellow out."
"Sooner or later, she's not going to listen when you do say no."
Shaking her head, Pyrrha helped put away most of the armor back to where it belonged. After that was done, she went on to help Jaune seriously pick out his armor while Nora sat as patiently as she could – which is not that much. By the time Pyrrha was able to find Jaune a pair of bracers, greaves, and boots, the bomber was out of her seat having a chat with the storeowner about a dream she had of wrestling an Ursa barehanded. From the looks of things, the owner was willing to listen to her tale too.
"How's this?" Jaune asked, posing for his partner after tons of rejections on both ends and compromising.
Since he'd be using a bow now, he decided to go with armor that gave less restriction. He forewent the chest armor and went with a segmented spaulder on his left shoulder and a tasset that covered the sides of his upper legs. For the clothes under the armor, he decided to wear a black sleeveless muscle shirt and orange arm sleeves with the left one going up to his shoulder. After he tried to stick with the jeans he was currently wearing, Pyrrha took it upon herself to use her own sense of style on him. Surprisingly, she was able to find pants that were baggy at the thighs but slimmed from the knees down – and they even came in blue. Jaune could understand the headband around his head to help keep his hair out of his eyes but he didn't know what was the point in having a choker. Pyrrha says it's just a fashion statement, but having something that has the word choke in it's name wasn't something he felt was a good fashion statement .
Looking her partner over, Pyrrha felt nodded in approval. "It's a whole new you, Jaune. It's good enough. You should try looking yourself in the changing room to see if you want to add something else."
Agreeing with her, Jaune walked into the room to look himself over. The whole time he'd been putting on clothes, he refused to stare at the mirror and just used his partner's opinion to gauge whether what he had on was good or not. Part of him wanted to just walk out and tell Pyrrha he looked, but then that'd mean he was lying to her – and he promised he wouldn't do that to her anymore.
Preparing for the worse, the blonde lifted his gaze slowly to the mirror. It's been so long he's looked at himself, he's forgotten how his face even looked like. Staring at his reflection, Jaune didn't know what to expect. At first he thought he'd still be seeing the same scrawny blonde back in Beacon, but now he was looking at a different person. There was still that faded image of a broken boy with blood on his face, but it was just a ghost now. Just like with Crocea Mors and the family expectations put on him by his father, he let it all go. And for once, Jaune was okay on who was staring back at him. He wasn't happy, but like his partner said – it was good enough.
"Hey there Jaune. It's finally great to see you." He said to his reflection. Chuckling at how crazy it was for him to be talking to himself, Jaune walked out of the changing room with a newfound confidence he's never felt before – the confidence to be himself.
Looking to his partner who was waiting for him, she held out his new quiver and weapon for him to strap on. Trying to concentrate some aura into his bow, he was glad to see it worked. Folding it up, he placed it on his left side while the red tanto was strapped to his right. Taking the quiver, he tied it to his waist and positioned it on his lower back. It was a good thing he was dressed in lighter armor because with the arrows, his shield, bow, and knife added extra weight – and he still needed to get some dust.
"So Nora, how do I look?" Jaune struck a pose for the bubbly girl to judge.
"Lookin' hot." She winked, pointing two fingers at him. Giggling when he returned the gesture, she grabbed his arm to get out of the store. "Now let's go get the dust!"
"Nora, no wait! I still have to pay for these." Her leader cried as he dug his heels into the floor. Trying to fight her was useless and she wasn't taking no for an answer.
Thankfully, Pyrrha was kind enough to take the money out of his hands and give it to the owner as they went out. As she caught up to her leader and their energetic teammate, she passed her partner a look that said 'I told you so.'
With Yang and Ren
The story Taiyang told them was informative. To summarize it all, Raven was always a bitch – sort of like Weiss but more outgoing. In their first year she was snarky and sarcastic, but she was still a sociable person. Then on a mission to find a criminal on the run sighted in a ghost town, Raven accidentally killed a teenager two years younger than them. It was the runaway's daughter who charged at Summer with a rusty knife. Raven didn't mean to kill the girl, but it happened. Later on, they found out the man was framed and he was just a regular civilian like the rest of his family. The rest of team STRQ tried to be there for Raven, but she pushed them away and justified her actions as self-defense and the girl being too weak.
It was a regret Tai and Qrow held on for so long up until Raven ran away. The woman always had some sort of reason to justify her actions after that and held onto the mentality of the strong surviving while the weak died. After his tale was done, he left the two alone to stew over the story. For Ren, he was worried for his leader's mental stability and hoped his friend wouldn't fall into the same boat or something similar. As for Yang, she couldn't stomach being related to such a person. It only drove her to not be anything like the woman who put her in this world.
"Hey." She nudged the ninja, seeing him deep in though. "You doing alright?"
"I'm fine." He muttered, trying to move on from dark thoughts. Ren wasn't always superstitious, but he didn't want to tempt things – dark thoughts had a bad habit of coming true if thought of too much. "Jaune's not going to turn into someone like Raven. I have complete faith in him."
'But what about me?' She wanted to ask, knowing Raven's blood flowed through her veins.
"I don't think you're going to end up like her either." The ninja said. Yang didn't know she'd asked her question out loud. "Our teams have spent so much time together, it's hard for me to see you becoming her at all. You love your team too much to turn into her."
'Goddammit.' Yang was not going to tear up from his belief in her. She was not going to sob and bawl her eyes out like some bitch.
"Thanks." She choked out, pushing the tears back. Those tears were meant for something more special than this. She'll be saving them for that time. "You're alright, Ren. People need to tell you that more often."
With Nora around, it was more like Ren needed others to push him down so his head didn't get big. Even he can get arrogant if he wasn't careful.
As the two proceeded to walk through the streets to find the others, the ninja noticed the brawler lagged behind to star at a window. Stepping back to not leave her behind, he saw what building she was standing in. As she looked at him, Ren saw her contemplating whether to go through with it or not.
"Are you sure you want to go through with it?" He asked.
"I'm not. But I know I want to." She said biting her lower lip. "Does that make sense?"
Living with Nora for so long, a lot of things made sense to Ren. Going into something when not sure was one of those things that began to make sense as he grew up. "Yes."
"…Can you hold my hand through this?"
Seeing Yang needed some support for this, he extended his hand out for her to hold. Walking into the building, he could tell she was nervous by how sweaty her palms felt in his grasp. Despite that though, she wasn't turning back.
Three Hours later
South Gate
Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were the first to arrive at the south gate. Weiss had her hands full with the two trying to sneak their preferred foods in, but she managed. After all, you'd have to be blind to not notice a basket full of cookies and tuna cans filled to the brim in the cart. While Blake was mature enough to let it go, it was her partner that proved stubborn as she tried to sneak her cookies into the cart.
After that, they ran into Jaune in the dust store with Nora shoving dust bottles into his hands. The Schnee took it upon herself to help the dunce in getting the proper containers and dust for him and his team. Luckily, his new quiver had five slots at the bottom for different dust types.
After the three member of RWBY finished with their dust supply, they separated from team JNPR to the ammunitions store. Since Ruby was a regular, it was easy to get what they needed quickly. Now all that left was to wait for the others.
"We're here." Nora announced her and her two teammates' arrival.
Hearing her leader humph at the appearance of Jaune, Blake didn't need mind reading powers to see she was still against him leaving his sword behind. Even when they met in the dust shop, she was set on ignoring the blonde leader. Luckily, living with her for some time gave the faunus an idea of how to get her to open up.
"So Jaune, what's your new weapon like?" The cat ninja asked, seeing Ruby's ears perk up at the mention of weapons.
"I was able to get this." Jaune held out the riser for them to see.
'Scammed' was the first thing that came to the three's minds. Before they said anything though, Jaune used his aura to open it up into its full form. Blake's plan worked as Ruby zipped in front of the blonde to see the bow's design.
Holding it in her hands, Ruby felt how light it was despite being made of pure metal. Pressing the button to compact it, Ruby 'ooh'ed at how simple it folded back to travel mode. Putting aura into it, she enjoyed how it sprung out in under a second. Her smile soon turned into a strained grit as she tried to pull the string back.
"Here." Jaune said, taking it out of her hands to pull. Once he had the maximum pull, he released and smiled on how silent it was. It was perfect in weight and noise. Even when he tested it in the firing range, the arrows flew straight with little to no arc.
"Do you have a name for it yet?" Ruby asked, finally willing to talk to him. Taking the bow back, she tried one more time to pull the string back but huffed after only getting sixty pounds in.
Thinking it over, Jaune forgot about giving it a name. This would the first weapon he gave a name to, so it had to be something special. Looking it over, he tried to think of a proper name for it. It was whitish silver and had black strings with an acid finish on the riser to show it was Damascus. He bet it'd even shine in the night.
"…Luminight." He decided, holding it out with a proud smile. It sounded catchy. Looking at the others, the only ones who didn't agree were Nora and Ruby. "I think it matches."
Letting him keep the name, Ruby went to his arrow supplies to see what he had so far. Pulling one out, she saw it was coated in lightning dust at the tip. Checking the others there was gravity, fire, and ice. Since Jaune had thirty-two arrows, that meant there were eight of each.
After finishing looking over her fellow leader's weapon, Ruby went back to waiting for Ren and Yang with the others. After just standing for a few minutes, she was getting bored. Looking at Nora, she wasn't the only one. The poor girl was counting the little specks of dirt on the ground to pass the time. How boring was that! Leaning in, Ruby gasped hearing the bomber was already counting over nine thousand – where was that patience back in Beacon?
Ruby needed something to do – someone to talk to. Turning to Weiss, she and Blake were having one of those mature conversations she didn't care about. With how they were, she wouldn't even get a word in. Turning to Jaune and Pyrrha, the champion was sharing her time in Mistral while asking Jaune of his life in Ansel. On the one hand she could go join in to hear what the other side of the world was like – on the other other hand, she'd be interrupting the two bonding. She could practically see Pyrrha glowing as she had her time with her crush, and Ruby was not going to be the third wheel that ruined that time.
Just as she was about to burst from boredom, she saw Ren step out of the corner and point to them. Seeing someone to talk to now, Ruby zoomed over with Nora following close behind. Both were wondering why he was just standing at the corner and not coming up to them though.
"-look fine." They heard the ninja say with a sigh.
"This was a mistake, Ren." They heard Yang on the other side of the corner. "Maybe I can go back and salvage what's left."
"What's going on Ren?" Nora and Ruby asked at the same time, hearing a small eep from Yang after.
As Nora and Ruby peeked to where Yang was, they saw the reaper's older sister covering her head with her brown jacket. She looked ridiculous just standing there casually like nothing was off.
"Hey guys." Her muffled voice said as she waved. They doubted she could even see them at all. "How's it hanging? You been waiting long?"
"Yang, you look fine." Ren said once more, pulling the jacket off her head.
"No, wait!" She begged, covering her face with her hands. It didn't do much though. Not hearing anything, she peeked an eye open to see the reactions of Nora and Ruby.
Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing. She never thought she'd ever see the day at all. Yang Xiao Long cut her hair!
With the others one walk later
The brawler was fidgeting in place as her friends complimented her on her new look. So she got a haircut! It's not like it meant anything, right? Apparently it was for Ruby, since she kept gaping at her and pinching her cheeks to see if she was dreaming.
She just cut it short so it was now shoulder length. It's not like she shaved the whole thing off or turned it into a Mohawk. For some reason though, she felt lighter. Maybe her hair added some extra weight that made her feel heavy. Or maybe now that she felt she looked nothing like Raven besides her face she felt better about herself. She's Yang beat yo' ass Xiao Long and she's her own gal. Getting used to the feeling of having the wind blow on her back was something she'd be getting used to. It was tingly.
"You look super cute with your hair short." Nora said, bouncing the brawler's hair in her hand. "Welcome to the short hair club."
Swatting the bomber's hand away, Yang reflexively went to pull her hair forward but only got a short grasp. That was another thing she'd have to get used to.
"Can we just go meet up with dad now?" She asked, looking to her sister. Seeing as she was still staring at her in shock, she looked to the next leader. "Jaune?"
"Let's head off then." The blonde announced for her sake. Sparing a glance at the brawler one more time, Jaune had to admit she looked really good with her hair short.
"Stop staring already!"
After one silent walk, they made it to Taiyang who was standing with three old civilians holding farming tools. The moment the dad saw his eldest with her hair cut short, he initially acted like Ruby and just gaped until Yang punched his arm with an embarrassed pout.
"So, uh, looks like you guys are ready." He said to the group. "For our mission, we'll be escorting these fine gentlemen out into the forests near where we were camping."
"These are the hunters that'll be protecting us?" One of the civilians said with a grunt. "They're no older than my own grandson."
When Taiyang said 'fine gentlemen,' he really meant assholes with how much they complained. Ignoring that one old coot, he continued to brief the kids. "The mayor wants to expand the village, and these guys need protection while they scope out the lands to see if it's possible for a new project."
Villages were always trying to expand. The larger the place, it meant more people. And the more people, the more income. And the more income, meant more security and surplus. If they played their cards right and made sure to keep the people happy, then they'd scrounge enough dough to have a good defense against Grimm and bandits.
"This'll be our mission for the remaining two weeks. With the eight of you plus me and Qrow, this mission should be easy."
"Where is Qrow?" Nora asked, not seeing the drinker in the group.
Hearing a burp, they looked a tree to see said drinker staring down at them in a lazy daze. At least Nora's question was answered.
Shaking his head at his teammate's bad habit, Tai turned to the civilians with a sheepish grin. "We'll be meeting you guys tomorrow at seven."
"Yeah." One of the old men grunted, walking off with the others following.
As they passed the others, one of them narrowed their eyes on Blake while the other's gaze slowed on Jaune. Blake noticed it but decided to pay him no mind.
"Are all clients like that?" Ruby asked with arms crossed.
"Not all of them." Her dad said, watching the old men walk away. "At least they're honest. It's the smiling ones you have to be careful of. You never know if they're lying or cheating you."
Weiss should know from experience. She practically lived with people who lied while smiling.
"So do we head back to camp, or …?" Ren asked after an awkward silence fell on them.
"May as well rent a room here." The man said with a shrug. "We're meeting those farmers here in the morning so best to be close by."
That got a few cheers from them. While Nora, Ren, and Jaune were fine roughing it and showering in a river; the others preferred running water that didn't have the usual bugs and dirt. Although Blake will miss the fish.
After finding a motel close to their meeting point, the group got to room assignments. With Taiyang and Qrow around, team JNPR's debauchery way of living was denied. The two knew what being hormonal teen boys was like and putting a healthy guy and a girl in a room together was just asking for possible noises in the night.
"It'll be a boys night in." Qrow said, pulling Jaune and Ren close to him. "Shake off that feminine stuff those girls put on you and bring out your inner man."
Rolling their eyes, they just went with it. The girls got to have a room next to them and from the sound of things, they were all fighting for the shower – except for Nora though. She was currently in the guys' room playing cards with her leader and Ren.
"I swear you two are ganging up on me." The ninja narrowed his eyes as he looked at the chips piling up on his leader and partner's side while he had only three left. "How am I the only one losing?"
"Maybe I just got better at lying." Jaune said with a smile. It was the kind that said 'I am totally against you.'
If Ren was to be honest, he missed these kinds of nights. Before the shit hit the fan, this was the stuff they did a lot when they weren't out trying to solve crime or panic about killers in the school. It was just him and his team bonding over a game and having laughs in between – a simpler life he missed.
"My turn~." Nora sang, taking a card out of Jaune's hand. Ren's eyes twitched seeing him lift a card for her to specifically take. "Woud you look at that. Looks like I win again, Ren!"
"I don't wanna play anymore." He pouted, putting his cards down.
Instead of whining about it though, Nora took his surrender in stride with a dance while throwing her chips in the air. Yup, this was definitely something he missed. Looking at Nora's smiling face as she jumped on the bed, he couldn't stop himself from cracking a small one himself.
Night time
Jaune could not for the life of him sleep at all. Turning to Ren, he saw the ninja was out like a log perfectly still. How was it the ninja could sleep through this?!
Back in the campsite, the place was so open sound didn't bounce off the walls. But now that they were in a closed room, the sound was trapped! Tai and Qrow were snoring so loud it was hard for Jaune to sleep a wink. Even plugging his ears did no good because they grunted every five seconds!
Getting up, he picked up his weapon and a few arrows to go outside. He'd take his chances with the cold than sleep through all that noise. Stepping out, he was surprised to see Pyrrha closing the door to her room.
"Oh." She whispered, surprised to see her partner up like her. "You couldn't sleep either?"
"Not with the two guys in there snoring." He said, thumbing to his door. "Ren must be a master at sleep since it doesn't even bother him. You?"
"Apparently, Yang also snored in her sleep." Pyrrha grumbled, wrapping her blanket around her. "Her team and Nora got used to it, but I haven't."
It looked like they were both sleeping outside tonight. Pyrrha was even hoping to enjoy sleeping on a soft bed again after the ground lost it's charm. Seeing Jaune holding his bow and a few arrows, she raised a brow. "Where are you going?"
"I thought I'd shoot a few arrows to clear my mind. Maybe I'd tire myself out I'd be able to sleep when I came back." He explained, twirling one of the arrows in his hand.
"Mind if I join you?"
Not minding at all, he let her tag along as they found a place for him to practice. Patch wasn't that industrialized so finding a grassy area with a lone tree wasn't so hard. As Jaune warmed up before firing at a tree twenty feet away, Pyrrha sat on the grass watching him. Staring at him, she'd felt he's changed a lot from the moment they first met. He was still the sweet kind boy she loved, but just a bit more mature. After he was done stretching and fired the first shot, she clapped when it hit the tree with no problem.
"Do you think I could try?" She asked before he fired his second.
"Sure Pyr." He replied, holding his bow out for her to take a shot.
She's never really used a bow before, but the basics weren't lost to her. One of her opponents in her second tournament fight was a bow user so she had to study up on them for weaknesses and ways of mobility. Pulling the string back, she felt it fight with her and made her hand tremble as she released. Despite that though, she managed to hit the tree with her arrow just beneath Jaune's.
"It's not as easy as you make it." She said, handing the bow back.
"It was still a nice shot." He complimented, firing another arrow just above her own.
Seeing him smirk, Pyrrha knew she was being challenged. Narrowing her eyes, she held her hand out for him to give her Luminight. On a side note, Jaune was right thinking the bow would shine at night – looks like the name was sticking.
Taking aim and firing, the champion gave a smirk of her own when her arrow managed to be a centimeter above his first arrow. She even flicked her ponytail in his face to taunt him. When he tried to outdo her shot and failed, he laughed in defeat.
"Ok. You win this round." He conceded, doing a mock bow. "You have bested this archer and have claimed the title of number one. What comes next to Pyrrha Nikos?"
"I'm going to Dustyland!" She mock cheered, waving a fist in the air.
Now that she thought about it, even she's changed since coming to Beacon and meeting Jaune. When was it that she'd ever joked with friends or confessed her feelings to someone? Back when she was a celebrity, she had to always be courteous and kind without showing she could get angry or scared. But lately, she could show if she was annoyed or worried, and make a quip or joke without worrying of offending someone.
Laughing at her own joke, the two collected the arrows in the tree and just sat on the soft dewy grass enjoying the cool air. Seeing Jaune rubbing his exposed arms, Pyrrha scooted closer and draped some of the blanket on him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she was surprised when he leaned into it and even held her hand.
'This is nice.' She thought, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling as she slept. Come the next morning, it was back into the fray.
END
AN: And that's another chapter done. If any of you are wondering on how short Yang's hair is, think young Nia from TTGL after Yoko cut her hair. I miss that anime. As for Jaune's new look, think of the Desert Voe outfit but with a sleeveless shirt and in his color palette.
I'm sensing two armies taking their sight on me. One is the Arkos who think something bad will happen, while the other is the Arkos haters. Well I got some bad news for you! I've got a whole bunch of incendiary arrows and other shippers ready to defend me (at least I hope.) I've burnt the white flag and there's no such thing as a surrender!
In other news, I had this idea of Cinder having Pyrrha's soul inside her. I might make a oneshot of it later so look forward to that.
This is Aloehisja hoping you enjoyed. Read and Review.