After fixing his sweatshirt and saying goodbye to Octavia and Roy, Jaune had an hour to prepare whatever team BRNZ was going to do with him. Again, he was nervous, and excited at the same time. Jaune was not a party boy, but he does like going out every now and then. After everything he's been through, he needed to do something to relax. You know, besides just lay in his bed and watch shows. He isn't that much of an introvert
Now that Jaune thought about it, if they were going clubbing, when was the last time he had actually danced? Was it really only during the Beacon dance? I mean yeah he sometimes had a fun random dance party for no reason with his friends, but to actually go out and dance in front of people? It really was at the Beacon dance. He smiles at the memory of him wearing a dress there, all because of a stupid offhanded promise. Still, he couldn't help but smile at it.
He looked around the decoration free room and sighed. He figured it was about time to make this room less… depressing. He tried to think of everything he had, which was nothing. He looked over to the backpack he was carrying around and took out the now fixed sweatshirt. He gets an idea, but he needs tools to do it. He could probably grab some from the workshop to help him hang it up. He looked over to where his scroll was charging, and that was when he remembered something.
He went over to his scroll and unplugged it from the charger, as it was fully charged, and went through his list of contacts. He found who he was looking for and heard the ringing of the line trying to connect. About ten seconds pass before someone picks up at the other end.
"You're speaking to Hei," the voice said. "How can I help you?"
"Hey boss," Jaune greeted. "It's Jaune." there was a beat and then Jaune could hear the sound of a chuckle.
"Hey kid, I was wondering when you'd call me." He could picture the smile on Hei's face. It was more of a halfcocked smirk more than anything. "So to what do I owe to receive this call?"
"I need a favor."
"Shoot."
Jaune took a deep breath. "I need some furniture shipped to where I'm staying."
Hei is silent for a second. He then lets out another laugh. "What, they don't give you enough furniture at Shade?" Jaune tensed up. He didn't tell anyone that he was at Shade. Granted, Hei always had ways to gain information, but still. That was when he realized that being carried by huntsmen students into Shade probably made it onto the news. Adding fuel to that fire was also the fact that he was the fraud of Beacon.
That meant his friends knew where he was.
Fuck.
The reason he didn't want his friends and old team to know was to not worry them. He thought that maybe he could get past all the news and just try to learn. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he was a fool. Why would they let him be when he was still infamous?
That was when Jaune started to doubt himself. What if he actually changed his scroll number because he was running away from the problem? Was he really just being selfish?
"Hey kid, you still there?"
Jaune was shaken from his thoughts by Hei's voice. "Yeah I am. Sorry I was just… thinking. I was actually surprised that you knew where I was."
Hei gave a short laugh that was really just him breathing air out of his mouth. "I have my sources. You know that kid," he said. "So what do you need?"
"I think I still left my stuff in the storage locker I bought before heading out here. Would you mind sending some guys over here to help me set up? Or at the very least sending the stuff in the storage here?"
"No problem kid. That all?"
"Yeah, that's all." Jaune heard voices on the other side of the phone and heard Hei say something. Hei then talked to Jaune.
"The twins say hi by the way." Jaune smiled remembering working with the twins. The two of them were horrifying, but at the same time when they liked you, they were nice and fun to be around.
"Tell them I said hi back."
"No problem kid. Good luck at Shade."
"Thanks boss. For everything."
He didn't have to see Hei to know he was smiling. Despite being an underground informant, Hei treated all of his employees with respect. He was a little skeptical to hire Jaune, what with the controversy surrounding him, but still gave him a chance. Jaune was grateful for that, and Hei was glad he gave Jaune a shot. When Jaune worked there he did anything Hei told him to, from mixing drinks to being bouncer. Jaune more or less did the jobs, but still Hei kept him around. "Don't mention it kid, my door's always open." Jaune and him said goodbye to each other and hung up. With that out of the way, Jaune took the rest of the time to prepare himself for tonight.
Jaune had finished putting on a new shirt when he heard the knock on his door. He went over and opened it to see team BRNZ, and they looked ready. All of them had some kind of smirk or smile on their face that just screamed "Party night!" All of them except Nolan were wearing somewhat different clothes than they normally wore.
Brawnz ditched his usual gradient shirt for a purple t-shirt and a grey sweatshirt. He kept the purple scarf and black jeans but replaced his combat boots with normal tennis shoes.
Roy was wearing his regular black t-shirt but instead of a green over-shirt it was replaced with a green unbuttoned vest. His white pants were rolled all the way down and he had his regular tennis shoes on.
May had a completely different look. Instead of the jacket and track pants she had a red t-shirt that said "Fight me! See what happens!" in white text. She also had black leggings on and blue tennis shoes. Her beanie was gone so she was showing both of her greyish-blue eyes
"What's up Jaune?" Brawnz said. He looked at Jaune's attire and was glad he was going out prepared. Jaune had a white t-shirt on with an unbuttoned grey plaid shirt with his regular jeans and shoes. "Ready to head out?"
"I guess," Jaune said with an unsure smile. That was good enough for team BRNZ as they began to head out with Jaune tailing behind them. "So, where are we heading?" Jaune at least wanted to get a headstart on what they were doing.
"Depends," Roy said. "The first thing we'd thought we'd do was head to a bar and get a couple of drinks in you." Jaune gulped. He was hoping they would save that for last. Luckily May came to his rescue.
"I however said that you're too much of a wimp to go drinking right away," She said. Eh, he'll take the help despite the insult. "So we decided to take you somewhere where you would feel a little more comfortable." Jaune raised his eyebrow at this. He was actually interested to see where they would go.
Thirty minutes later:
When they arrived at the city, Jaune was surprised. Since Vacuo was mostly shack homes and tents, he expected the city to be the same. He was wrong. While it did have its fair share of those, it also had a couple of more modern buildings as well. Granted they weren't skyscrapers like in Vale, but they still had a couple of stories to them. He took in the sights and he won't lie, he was impressed.
Now if only he didn't feel like he would be mugged by every corner they took. Seriously, the city was pretty nice. Nothing too flashy, at the same time it wasn't too simple either. The only problem was how the citizens carried themselves and their homes. Most of them didn't seem to care for personal hygiene and some homes just looked unkempt. Some of them also looked like they'd gut you if you so much as looked in their general direction.
Much like the school, he also saw a couple of people get into fights and people betting on the petty squabbles. After working with Hei though, and the days he spent in Vacuo, he learned to keep his mouth shut and not question these things.
When they finally reached their destination, Jaune's eyes lit up. The sign outside the two story building said "Arcade" and had the flash of many video screens inside. The poster outside the door had said something about a new game, and the neon red sign said it was open. Jaune was so happy that this place was their first stop.
Team BRNZ saw the smile on his face and knew they made the right choice in coming here first. "Well what are you waiting for?" Brawnz said as he slapped his friend's back. "Let's go get your ass kicked in some games."
A few hours later:
Brawnz was wrong when he said Jaune would get his ass kicked. The truth was, Jaune was actually winning a little more than half of the games they played. However, Jaune had lost to May in a shooting game every time she challenged him. He also lost to Roy when they did the hoops game. Brawnz beat him in a couple of fighting games, and Nolan was able to beat him and Brawnz at air hockey. Still though, it didn't matter who won or lost. It was all in good fun, and boy, were they all having some fun. After enough time has passed, Brawnz gathered everyone up.
"All right," He said. "Now that's we've been here long enough, how about we do something else? I'm taking suggestions."
"Let's take him to The Pit!" Nolan suggested.
"No way!" Roy and May said at the same time. Jaune looked at them with a confused look. Roy cleared his throat.
"We don't think you'd uh... like it," Roy said.
"Why not?" Jaune asked. Everyone kind of looked a little uncomfortable. Well, except Nolan.
"Thing is we won't know until we try right?" Nolan argued. The two of them continued to argue so Jaune looked over to Brawnz.
"What's The Pit?"
"It's basically a fighting arena," Brawnz said. "Thing is they get a little too…"
"Excessive?" Jaune finished his sentence for him. Brawnz nodded his head.
"I would have said brutal but that works too," May commented. Jaune shuddered at the thought of the pits being more brutal than the regular fights he gets into.
"Yeah let's not go there. At least not tonight." Everyone gave Jaune a confused look. "What?"
"You mean you'd be willing to check it out?" Roy asked.
"Just not tonight?" Nolan clarified. Jaune thought about it. Was he prepared right now? Probably not, but he gets the feeling he'd have to go there eventually, so he nodded at Nolan. All of them get smiles on their faces and let out small laughs. Jaune gains a small blush of embarrassment.
"What's so funny?" he asked. Nolan was the first to recover.
"Nothing," Nolan said. "We just didn't expect you to answer that you'd be willing to go."
"Then why'd you ask in the first place?!" Jaune said.
"Must we have a reason to ask you?"
"I'm just asking because if you thought I wouldn't like it why would you bring it up."
"Well we wanted to make sure if you really were too much of a wimp to actually try them." Nolan's tone was that of a joking one, and Jaune followed along.
"You really want to start this now?"
"Yeah I want to start this now!" Jaune and Nolan glared at each other as they continued to get "hostile" towards each other.
"Forget The Pit," Brawz joked. "We can make one here with you two."
"Dibs on referee!" May said.
"Dibs on referee!" Roy said a second behind her. "Dammit!" May laughed at her victory.
"Don't worry Roy, you can be the ring girl," Brawnz said. The three of them laugh and Jaune and Nolan looked at them, then at each other, and just laughed with them.
"Seriously though, what should we do next?" Jaune asked. Everyone took a minute to think. The silence in the air went on for a while as they tried to think of something that not only Jaune would like, but also something they found fun. That was Roy came up with an idea.
"Let's take him Grimm shooting!" Roy said.
"Hey that's sounds like a great plan!" May agreed.
"Yeah let's do it," Nolan said.
"All right," Brawnz said. "Let's start heading to the wall." The wall, Jaune assumed, was the giant wall that surrounded the city to keep the grimm at bay. Still though, he had to ask.
"We're going to train?" Jaune asked. He wasn't against it, but still training as a day out seemed a little ironic in his eyes.
"Kind of, just follow us!" Brawnz said. All of them leave the Arcade and head to their next destination.
Fifteen minutes Later:
When they first got to the wall, Jaune was impressed. When he first originally got there it was by bullhead and saw the walls from the sky. The second time he got here he was passed out. Now that he actually got to see them first hand and on the ground, he was in shock. The walls had to be as big as a mountain! Then again, with behemoth like grimm like goliaths and geists that can take over giant rocks, they had to be tall to defend against them.
Jaune could only stare in awe at the tall walls. Despite seeing them from Shade, they seemed kind of small since the school itself was big. Still, the walls were impressive. He is shaken from his awe by May nudging him in the ribs.
"Keep your mouth open like that a geist will possess ya," She said. Jaune closed his mouth and gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head. The funny thing is, he swore he heard that phrase somewhere before, probably from one of his older sisters or parents.
"Come on, let's get to the top!" Nolan said. Everyone agreed and began walking around to find stairs or hopefully, an elevator. As they walked Jaune took a closer look at the wall to notice that the material was made of stone. As he walked he placed his hand on the wall and let it drag across the stone.
"So is anyone going to tell me what grimm shooting is?" As he said that he heard the sound of a couple of gunshots overhead. Brawnz points up toward the top of the wall.
"That's grimm shooting," He said. "You see grimm like to sometime come a little too close to the wall so we often have guards or huntsmen at the top shooting any that get too close."
"Or sometime they shoot for shits and giggle," May said. "Which is what we're going to do." They reached an elevator and Jaune silently thanked the gods that he didn't have to climb a ladder or stairs. Brawnz presses the button and they wait for it to come down.
"Are we even allowed to do this?" Jaune questioned.
"Only Huntsmen and students of the academy are allowed to shoot," Roy states. "It doesn't stop everyone though as they sometime bribe the huntsmen up there."
The elevator door reached them and opens up. Jaune hummed at Roy's response. "Why do I get the feeling they shot something more than grimm?" He asked.
All of them walk in as Roy answered his question. "To be fair it was the huntsmen fault since he was the one who gave them the gun in the first place." May was the last to enter and she presses the button to send them up. "The good thing was they stopped the ones who did cause trouble before they hurt too many people."
"Oh yeah um… I am going to say this before we get there," Jaune said. Everyone looked at him and he gulped out of nervousness. "I've… never shot a sniper before." There is a beat and then a sigh from May.
"Guess I'm teaching you then," She said. Her tone had that of slight annoyance but Jaune also heard a somewhat friendly undertone as well. Jaune gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head.
"So, even though Jaune's learning, are we placing bets today?" Roy asked everyone.
"I'd say let's just have a bet between the three of us," Nolan said motioning to all of the guys sans Jaune. "That way May can show Jaune the ropes."
"Nah I'm getting in on this," May said. She looked at Jaune and made a smug smile. "Tell you what, once I'm done showing greenie here the ropes, I bet he can bag five grimm before you three nuts."
"How much money we talking here?" Roy said with piqued interest. May put her finger to her chin and gave it a thought. They reached the top of the wall and exit the elevator and May snaps her fingers.
"If Jaune wins, you guys owe both of us thirty lien, so ten lien each from you three. If you win, we owe all of you ten dollars each."
"Sounds fine to me," Nolan said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Hey!" a voice yelled out. The students turn to see a man with a loose white shirt and black pants walking over. On his chest was what looked to be leather armor as well as a right shoulder leather plate. He had a dark scarf around his neck but it didn't cover is face like Mr. Jetts did.
"Why are you kids up here?" The man asked. His voice was clear but also had signs of gruffness in it.
"We're students from Shade," Brawnz said walking up to the man. "We were hoping to do some grimm shooting." He dug in his pocket and took out a wallet. He opened the wallet and showed it to the guy who nodded his head.
"All right, you guys got your guns?"
"No sir we actually left them," Roy said. "We were hoping you all had some spares." The man laughed.
"Of course we do. Question is do you have enough Lien to cover for all of you?" Brawnz dug around in his wallet and handed the man what looked to be quite a lot of lien. The man counted it and then counted everyone present. "All right looks like you all have enough to shoot for a while." He motioned his head toward the opposite direction. "Follow me I'll lead you to the stash." The man turns and the group follows along. As they did, May and Jaune fell behind to talk.
"Are you sure you want to risk losing your money?" Jaune asked the sniper. She quirked an eyebrow, titled her head, and placed a hand on her hip as a response. "All I'm saying, is I don't want to be the reason you have to give up thirty lien." May lets out a little chuckle.
"Then don't miss," May said as she put her hands behind her back.
"May seriously this is a bad idea, I've never shot a sniper before!"
May sighs. "You said that already. You make it sound like you haven't shot a gun at all!" Jaune is silent for a moment which causes May to turn towards him. "Is it?"
Jaune put his hands up in defense. "No no! I just…" he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "I've never shot a rifle before okay? The only gun training I ever got was from my sister, and it was only with a pistol! Can't you just cancel the bet? I won't be able to hit anything."
May had heard enough of Jaunes complaining. She grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him down to her eye level. The glare she gave him was intense and had a fire behind them. "Listen to me Jaune Arc," She said. "You are a lot stronger than you like to think. You got accepted to two different Huntsmen academies. Stop doubting yourself." She said those last three words with heavy emphasis on them. "Got it?" Her voice was filled with determination. Jaune gulped and nodded his head.
"Got it." May smiles and let's go of him.
"Good, now let's win us some money." With that May walked up to the rest of the group, with Jaune close behind.
"So Jaune, you really think you can kill five grimm before the three of us?" Nolan asked. Jaune was going to say he doubted it but remembered what May told him not even thirty seconds ago.
"Well I may not know a lot about shooting," He started. "But I'm sure that May can teach me everything that needs to be taught."
"Well, how much do you know about shooting?" Roy asked. Jaune hummed at the question.
"I'd say the basics really. You know, don't point the gun at someone, always aim down range, always check the chamber and see if it's loaded, you know stuff like that."
"What about actual shooting?" May asked. "How much of that do you know?"
"My sister always told me to just aim in the general directions and pull the trigger."
"Oh, so point shooting basically."
"Yeah I think that's what she called it," Jaune recalled. "What's the difference here?"
"I'm teaching you sighted shooting. It's where you use the thing on your gun called a sight."
They finally reach the storage/armory of snipers. The huntsman pointed his thumb into the shack. "Here you all go," he said. "Have fun." Jaune thanked the man as they entered the armory. He saw a bunch of snipers on stands and saw that the four of them were already grabbing ammo and guns. Jaune took a deep breath and decided to look around for a gun.
"So Jaune," Roy started as he checked the sights of his gun. "You said your sister taught you how to shoot before?"
"Yeah, it was my oldest one Erica," Jaune answered. "Why?"
"What was she like?"
Jaune reminisced about everything Erica was a smiled. "She was a great sister. She knew when to scold you and when to praise you. She was the one who made me want to learn how to fight."
A five year old Jaune stares in awe as he watches his two oldest sisters spar with each other. Erica and Samantha Arc, who were thirteen and twelve respectively, were moving at a fast pace to keep the five year old's attention, while at the same time moving slow enough for him to keep up and see what was going on.
They were fighting with their wooden swords that their father had made. Each sword had a girl's name engraved on it. The differences were minor but still noticeable however. Erica was using a longsword, as the blade itself stood almost as tall as her, but short enough that she is able to swing with it one handed. Samantha, on the other hand, had a short sword as the blade part was only as long as her arm.
Each swing one of the girls took would collide with the other sisters causing a loud klunk sound. Erica's blonde shoulder length hair would wave through the air every time she swung. Samantha's short dark blonde hair wouldn't move but Jaune could see drips of sweat from her. The strikes continue until the both hit each other's sword at the same time and push into it, causing a power struggle. Erica starts to scan around for something to help her and lays an eye on Samantha's leg. She grins and increase pressure, causing Samantha to increase her own. Once Samantha put more pressure, Erica swiftly moved out of the way causing Samantha to fall forward.
The second eldest sister's eyes widen as she felt her sister's foot catch her leg forcing her to fall flat on the floor. Erica lets out a big cheer, and Jaune claps for her too.
"Looks like I win again, eh Sammy?" Erica said as she offered her a hand. Sam sighs and takes her sisters hand. Erica helps up Sam and Sam points at Erica.
"I'll beat you someday sis, just you wait!" Samantha said with a determined voice.
"Erica!" a young high pitched and childish voice said from the sidelines. The two sisters turn and see their only brother run up to them, a big smile on his face. Seeing that big goofy innocent smile would always make them feel happy. Erica turns to Jaune and he goes up and hugs her legs. "That was so cool! You were all like―" Jaune made a whooshing sound and mimicked swinging a sword in his hand. "And then Sammy was like 'no not the face!'"
"Hey I wasn't like that!" Sam retorted. Erica laughed.
"I don't know Sam, you did look pretty scared," Erica said as she crossed her arms. Samantha rolls her eyes and goes to put her sword away. As she does Jaune tugs at Erica's pant leg.
"Erica," he said. "Can you teach me how to fight?"
"Of course I can little brother!" Erica said with excitement in her eyes. Samantha had placed her sword back on the rack and walked back up to the two.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Samantha said. Jaune whined and turned to his second eldest sister.
"Why not?!" he complained.
"Jaune I just don't want you to get hurt."
Erica rolls her eyes. "Sheesh," She said. "It's not like I'm going to make him do our training Sammy. It'll be the simple stuff." The two sisters glared at each other. Sammy knew that Erica's been wanting to teach one of the younger siblings to fight as she herself loved fighting. Jaune was the first of them to ask Erica for help.
"Fine," Samantha glares harder at Erica. "If Jaune gets hurt though, I'm telling dad." Erica put her hands up and gave a nervous smile. Samantha relaxes, knowing her message was clear. She looks down at Jaune with a smile and rubs his messy blond hair.
"Be safe okay?" She said.
"I will!" Jaune said. With that Sam leaves them to their first training session. Erica kneels to be a little more eye level with Jaune. Jaune does the same a smile on his face.
"So my adorable little brother," Erica said pinching his cheek. Jaune blush and pushes the hand away playfully. "Why do you want to learn how to fight?" Jaune didn't hesitate to answer. He raised his fist in the air proudly.
"Because I want to be tough and strong like my big sisters!" Erica laughed.
"That's what I like to hear!" she grips his shoulders and turns her fun tone into a slightly more serious tone. "But why do you want to be strong?"
Jaune wasn't expecting this question and was silent for a moment trying to rack his brain for the answers. "I guess, because I want to be like the heroes in the stories mom reads us." Erica tilts her head a little bit in confusion. "All of the heroes in those stories are so strong and powerful and I want to be like them some day."
"Again, why?" Jaune tilts head this time in confusion this time.
"Because I like helping people I guess?" Jaune eyes widen. "Why i-is it that a bad thing?" Erica laughed at her brother's answer as she pulled him in a hug.
"Of course not!" She said. "I just want to know that you won't do the stuff I teach you to pick on anyone else."
"I won't." Jaune extended his pinky to his sister. "I pinky promise." Erica smiles and hooks her pinky around Jaune's.
"All right then, let's start with stances."
"Ever since then Erica would occasionally teach me how to fight when she wasn't busy," Jaune said to the team. "I learned how to hold a sword and shield and learned a couple of different fighting techniques from her like shooting and a little bit of hand to hand." Jaune sighed. "Shame I couldn't remember everything she taught me when I was at Beacon."
Everyone could tell Jaune was torn about that. Nolan set his gun to the side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look man, so you forgot a few things," he started. "Even so, what you learned from her and from anyone else will eventually stick right?"
Jaune smiled. "I guess so. Thanks." He smiled at Nolan who gave a smile and nod back.
While what Jaune said was part of the reason he was feeling down, it was also what happened when he returned home after the big reveal. His eldest sister, the one who made him want to become a huntsman, the one who taught him how to fight, called him an embaressment to the family and then acted like he didn't exist. The fact that his own blood would say that to him made Jaune angry, sad, and just all around upset.
"All right, you pick out a gun yet Jaune?" Brawnz said trying to change the topic since it was obviously a touchy subject. Jaune took one last look at his choice. It wasn't as long as the others and it wasn't as heavy. For some reason though, it seemed to be the right choice for Jaune, at least in his mind. He picks it up and nods his head. "All right, let's hit the range!" Brawnz nearly shouted.
Roy Nolan and May raised their fists in the air. "Yeah!" they yelled in unison. They kept their hands raised in the air and looked toward Jaune. At first he was confused at what they were doing. It was when Nolan looked up at his hand with his eyes that Jaune got the message. He removed his hand from underneath the fore stock of the rifle and looked at it. He let out a tiny chuckle, made it into a fist, and raised it into the air with them. The party let out a couple of hoots and hollers and left the shack, each of them grabbing a box of ammo while they did.
Fifty minutes later.
The sound of gunfire was constant as the party was there. While Jaune was learning from May, the other three hunted the grimm. Apparently the arrival of Jaune had caused a lot of negative emotion around the city, according to one huntsman. He sounded as if he enjoyed it thought as, in his words, "It was starting to get boring as no grimm would come around."
Meanwhile while they hunted, May was going through everything she could with Jaune. From steady breathing and trigger control, to even wind resistance and a little snippet of the Coriolis Effect. While Jaune was a little nervous, he was picking up this stuff pretty easily. He wasn't hitting all of his targets, true, but he was still hitting some of them, almost half of which were bullseyes.
A timer goes off and Brawnz puts the safety on his gun and takes out his scroll. He turns off the alarm and grabs his team's attention. After everyone finished their magazine, they turned to Brawnz. "All right guys we got a few minutes left," he stated. "Want to get started on the bet?" Jaune shifted a little bit. He still wasn't sure about it. May elbowed him in the ribs. He looked over to her and she had a relaxed look on her face.
"You don't have to dude," She said. She gave a small smile that Jaune swore he saw before for some reason. It was filled with non-judgmental warmth. Jaune smiled back. He didn't go through all of this to back down now. He gave a confident grin to the males of team BRNZ.
"Let's do it," He said to them. There was something in his voice that made the team smile. Whether it was his confidence or because he was willing to do the bet, he didn't know. Right now all that mattered was getting five grimm.
"Okay so to reiterate," May said. "The first person to get five grimm wins. Jaune's alone, while the three of you are on a team. We lose, we owe you all of you twenty lien, we win you owes us thirty lien. Ready?" Everyone one of the guys loaded their weapons with confidence. May took that as a yes. "All right, begin!"
Jaune closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He calmed himself down and when he was finally ready he opened his eye that was looking through the scope. He used the scope to scout for any signs of white in the darkness. Since it was getting closer to night, grimm were becoming harder to see. The only things that would be noticeable is if one of the spotlights that accompanied the wall got one in its sight, or if there was weird red or white markings in the dark.
Jaune heard one of them fire their rifle followed by a cheer. He is one behind. He saw a blur of white when he was scanning closer to the wall. He found a beowolf trying to attack the wall alone. Whether the pack was behind or if it was the last of its pack alive Jaune didn't know nor did he care. When he made sure that he could take the shot, he pulled the trigger. The beowolf collapsed not even a second after Jaune fired. The body began to dissipate and Jaune let out a grin.
For the next few minutes the four guys continued firing and killing any grimm they could find. Halfway through the time Brawnz and Nolan got into an argument about who killed a grimm causing them to stop shooting to argue, leaving only Jaune and Roy.
Both were head to head in their kills, needing only one left. They were searching frantically for their final grimm. Jaune finally laid his eyes on one and took aim, He fired and the beowolf collapsed. Jaune made absolutely sure that the creature was dead. As the body began to dissipate Jaune let out a cheer. "That's five!" He exclaimed.
Brawnz and Nolan stopped struggling with each other and looked at Jaune. When Jaune and May looked at the two they started laughing. Brawnz had his thumb pushing up on Nolan's nose causing him to look like he had a pig nose, and Nolan had his hand gripping Brawnz's face making his lower eyelid droop and part his mouth droop as well.
Roy however wasn't happy as he didn't laugh at their antics. He went up to them and knocked their heads together like they were a slapstick trio. "You idiots!" he yelled. "If you two didn't begin fighting we wouldn't have lost!"
As the three of them began to argue with each other Jaune and May just sat back and enjoyed the show. As they did May elbowed Jaune in his arm. "Nice shooting blondie," She said. "Not gonna lie I was expecting you to lose."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jaune joked. May giggled at his comment. "Seriously though, thanks for everything May."
"No problem." She raised her fist and Jaune recoiled a little, expecting her to playfully hit him. Instead she held it there as if waiting for something. Jaune realized what it was and smiled. He fist bumped her and smiled. The two watched as Roy, Nolan, and Brawnz continued to fight and argue. Eventually it got to the points where they were starting to punch and kick each other. "Okay as much as I want to see those three kill each other, we should stop them."
"All right," Jaune said getting up from sitting on the wall.
"What are you going to do?" Jaune cracked his knuckles.
"I'm going to do what used to stop my sisters from fighting." May looked on with curiosity as Jaune walked up to her three teammates. Nolan and Roy were on the ground wrestling with each other as Brawnz was on top of both of them trying to get as many punches in as he can. One moment he was fighting his team, the next moment he felt a sharp pain on his right ear and was being dragged away from the fight. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" he yelped in pain. As Jaune dragged him over to May he handed Brawnz off to her.
"Here you go," He said nonchalantly. "Pinch the lobe and twist it nice and tight to make sure he doesn't go anywhere." May nodded and then did as she was told onto Brawnz causing him to yelp pain again.
Jaune goes over to Nolan and Roy and does the same thing he did to Brawnz. they both let out pined yelps and Jaune drags them over to Brawnz and May. "All right are you three done?" Jaune asked in a way that reminded all of them of a parent scolding their kids. The three of them nodded their heads. "Good, now when we let go you better not be at each other's throats. Promise?" Again the three of them nod their heads. Jaune and May lock eyes with each other and nod their heads. They let go of the boys and they all let out audible groans.
"I'm going to start using that more often," May teased her team. When Brawnz was done rubbing his ear he grabbed Jaune by his shoulders.
"Jaune what have you done?!" He panicked. "You have given her unlimited power!" May let out an evil laugh that scared everyone nearby.
"I thank you for the power Jaune!" May said. "I can now make them bend to my will!"
"Do so and I'll do it to you," Jaune retorted. This caused May to freeze in fear. She quickly apologized to her team causing all of them to laugh.
"All right I think we've been out long enough to go to the highlight of tonight," Brawnz said. Jaune could see everyone was getting excited for what Brawnz had planned next.
"Where are we going to next?" Jaune asked.
"We're getting you shitfaced!" Nolan screamed as he pumped his fists in the air. The others joine din his cheer and Jaune gave a weak smile. He wasn't much of a drinker, but he figured that having one drink couldn't hurt, right?
Ten minutes later:
They were walking around Shade again to a bar that Brawnz said his team usually goes to. As they did Jaune had a question for all the guys on the team. "So if you guys are decent shots," he started. "Why don't you implement guns into your weapons?"
"First question I asked when I was paired up with these knuckle heads," May said with her hands behind her head. "Not only am I the only girl, I'm the only ranged person."
"Hey my grapples shoot!" Brawnz argued.
"Dude it's a knife on chains, you're literally just Scorpion from Mortal Kombat."
"So? At least I'm awesome!"
"I think she means discount Scorpion," Nolan joked. Brawnz glared at Nolan who shrugs.
Brawnz turns to Jaune. "All jokes aside, I have a personal history with guns and…" An image from that day flashes in Brawnz's mind. "Let's just say they haven't done me any favors in my early life."
Jaune can tell Brawnz had some bad memories and decided to not push any further. He turned to Nolan. "What about you Nolan?" he asked the red haired teen.
Nolan looked down at his hands. "I don't know," He said. "I just don't feel right using a gun you know?" Jaune could respect that. That left one remaining person. Everyone turned to Roy who had his hands in his pockets.
"I like to make sure my opponents stay down," Roy stated. "Personally I don't feel safe with a gun in my hands. I can miss, it can jam, I can lose ammo, stuff like that. With my saws however, I can tell someone's down since I'm close and I can assess the situation." Jaune could see where Roy was coming from. With his questions answered, they continued down Shade with idle chatter. After a few more minutes of walking, talking and laughing, the crew finally made it to the bar. Jaune took a good look at it.
It was only a one floor building but it was long enough to accompany a lot of people. It had medium sized windows that had the blinds up across the entire length of the building. The bottom layer of the house seemed to be made of black stone but once it reached the windows it changed into a wood that made the place very inviting. He could see a couple of beer brands he knew from advertising across the window, some in neon while others in the form of poster. He took a look at the name of the bar. "The Desert Oasis" was spelled out in letters on the roof, with dim lights still on to signify they are still open. It was also on windows.
They walk up to the bar and they stop right at the entrance. BRNZ looks at Jaune who takes a deep breath. "You ready Jaune?" Brawnz asked. Jaune nodded. He took a deep breath, and they walked into the bar.
To be continued
A/N Hope you all enjoyed the long chapter! I Would have cut it off sooner but it didn't seem right so I kept typing and it ended up being double my usual lengths! Now does this mean I will be making my chapters this long all the time? Who knows? It depends how often I feel unsatisfied with a chapter's length. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed and stay tuned for the next chapter.
Beta Reader: TheShadowOfZama