"Assign ANYONE else! Please! You know my track record with partners, this is only ever going to end badly and you know it!"
Qrow sat in Ozpins office, he wasn't offered the chair nor the alcohol he had appropriated for himself but Ozpin knew better than to argue with the man, particularly in this case when Qrow was right.
"I will not accept anyone but Mr. Branwen, he is your most trusted Agent after all!" Amber spoke serenely openly enjoying the discomfort she elicited from her Chaperone.
"Pah, most trusted Agent hardly, she is..." Qrow looked away, "Look, kid, I'm not looking to get out of this for my sake... well not entirely my sake. The longer people are around me the more likely my Semblance is gonna end up getting you hurt or worse."
"Oh yes, your vaunted bad luck Semblance. The way I see it your good luck for me, if you hadn't shown up when you did even with the others help I probably wouldn't have survived that fight, only when you showed up did they flee." Amber folded her arms asking for any kind of rebuttal, this was a conversation that has happened multiple times and she refused to be swayed.
"Qrow, she chose you and as much as you don't want this it is the way it must be, at least until we discover who was behind the attack." Ozpin looked at Qrow who simply grumbled into his glass which Ozpin took as the man conceding to his role again begrudgingly. "However, Qrow will be exempt from being present during your combat class, After reviewing the footage from today, though nothing serious occurred I can already see how his Semblance affected more than a few of the fights. Until such time as a suitable substitute is found I will fill in personally with you in combat lessons, I hope that is acceptable." Ozpin looked at Amber as who nodded in concession, seeing no real reason to disagree with the Headmaster.
"Good, now if you will excuse us Amber, I would like to have a word in private with Qrow." Both men watched as the Maiden politely nodded and left the two alone, her absence was filled with Qrow pouring himself another glass from the Headmaster's private stock. "Pour one for me would you Qrow." Ozpin accepted the glass and took a seat opposite his companion.
"So, when is my backup arriving?"
"Barring any interruption, Winter and her unit will be arriving in Vale the start of next week and I will have all available Vale huntsmen we can spare here as well by the end of that week also, the operation to clear out the horde of Grimm around Forever Fall will take place on the weekend to allow the Beacon and Signal staff to participate as well."
"Jeez that's an awful lot of Huntsmen Oz, I know the horde is concerning, I've seen it first hand but these many Huntsmen out of the city all at once, what if this is just a distraction for another attack inside Vale?" Qrow knew they needed everyone capable to defeat the horde, even as much as he disliked Atlas he knew when to accept their help but he couldn't help himself being a cynic always expecting the worst, his Semblance forced himself to accept that reality quite often.
"Both myself and James are of the same mindset as you, we won't be leaving either Beacon or Vale entirely undefended, Oobleck and Port will be remaining at the School, several third Year teams that have proven their mettle will be informed of events and will be placed around Vale's Wall to bolster defence's while the senior huntsmen are away."
"If you are using the Students I could think of a few second and first-year teams that could probably help as well, I've seen enough in one day of Combat class's that if you want help in the forest and maybe free up some proper huntsmen for the city defense."
"I assume you are referring to Teams CVFY, ABYN, WNRR?" A simple nod answered his question. "I find it hard to disagree with you, particularly in Team CVFY's case, they are as well-balanced a team Beacon has had in years and I don't just mean that in combat roles, the four work together better than most teams that have been together much longer. I will certainly add them to the teams defending Vale." Ozpin glanced at his drink for a moment contemplating it. "As for the first year Team's I would rather not expose them to 'This' kind of encounter so early, they have already survived through one terrible event, I feel we should spare them from another so soon!"
Both men looked into their cups remembering similar but distinctly different events that they wish the could be forgotten.
Qrow finished his drink and paid his farewells for the evening to Ozpin who remained seated having barely touched his drink during the time the two men talked, as the door closed behind Qrow he reached for a tablet and found the video feed of Jaune and Yang's spar again, taking a sip of the alcohol he eased back in his chair and watched the fight again.
Jaune had fought flawlessly, altering his stances as the fight dictated. He was caught off guard only once, Ozpin wasn't disparaging on Yang's ability he had actually attended Ms. Nikos and her final competitive fight and understood how skilled both women were. Jaune was beyond that level though, being hit by the knee seemed to be just a product of bad luck, another reason why he agreed to have Qrow away from the Combat lessons as he intended to push Jaune, if the boy was able to overwhelm Yang, he wanted to see how he handled multiple opponents.
Yang watched in satisfaction as the roles were reversed, she sat calmly eating her lunch away from the commotion that surrounded Jaune as students asked him barrages of questions.
She turned to her only companion currently, Blake sat across from her, not interested in Jaune one bit or the conversation, instead, she was slowly eating her lunch as she looked through her Scroll no doubt trying to appear casual. If Yang hadn't been through a life with her once before she might have even bought the act, Blake wasn't to the point where she had become both mentally and physically exhausted yet.
She wanted to ask Blake what was bothering her even though she assumed she knew the answer, bringing up the topic out of nowhere was not likely to get the results or reaction she wanted so instead she allowed the two to sit in silence and enjoy their meals.
Gradually the crowd around Jaune began to disperse and Pyrrha moved to join them wearing a smile like no other.
"Careful Pyrrha, I might get jealous if I see you wearing a smile like that after coming back from talking with my man!" Yang winked at the redhead who immediately flushed, but the smile didn't diminish one bit.
"It's not what you think. Jaune has agreed to spar with me next time there is a chance available in combat lessons!" Pyrrha quickly explained the reason behind the smile, not wanting to cause any issues between the happy couple.
"Oh," Yang put on a pouty face. "And her I was hoping Jaune had invited you to our 'personal' session" Yang lingered on the word long enough that the context had no chance of being lost on the redhead who's flush deepened to a degree that her face almost matched her hair and she began to sputter and choke on whatever she was attempting to say in her defence for a good minute while Yang having got the reaction she desired just smiled at her partner and with a wink returned to her meal.
Blake watched this whole interaction and for as distracted as she was still smiled and rolled her eyes at the blonde's antics, she briefly thought about stepping in for Pyrrha's sake but chose to remain on the sidelines as to not be drawn into Yang's twisted idea of humor. Instead, she busied herself with her Scroll looking for any news on the events of Forever Fall, Adam, and the unaccounted Faunus 'Banesaw'.
If not for the capture of Adam during the events as well as the need to house a large amount of prisoners and wounded she was certain the entire event would have been downplayed even more than it already was, not that she was against such a thing, the actions of Adam and his followers were reprehensible and should be seen as separate from what the Fang was truly about, equality, not superiority or revenge which is what Adam's group had eventually become, just another of the many reasons she had left when the opportunity arose.
News of the event was already a thing of the past, nothing new to be said or discovered or at least not being release to a new source. With Adam captured though and Banesaw on the loose she kept waiting for the eventual story or blurb about his inevitable attack to free his leader. The attack never came though, she knew Banesaw well enough that the large Faunus wouldn't wait overly long, he would attack as soon as he saw an opportunity and from what she had found out, his window of opportunity was rapidly closing.
Due to Adam's injuries as well as blood loss and Aura exhaustion he was being held at a hospital that deals specifically with huntsmen, being full of retired or recovering huntsmen meant the building was quite formidable to access, but also due to its strong inhabitants had not real form of unified security apart from the few assigned to watch Adam in case he attempts anything.
No news was good news, at least currently, she put aside her scroll to begin eating her lunch only to find her plate missing and a very suspicious looking Nora nearby with a collection of empty plates that may or may not belong to her, before Blake could even scowl at the energetic girl Ren simply walked past her and placed a fresh plate in front of her and nodded in apology before walking away carrying several other plates, while still annoyed with the girl with the plate replaced and on top of that being warm again she had little to complain about as she began eating.
Weiss looked at the crowd around Jaune and tried to ignore it, she wanted a moment alone with the Swordsman, but finding a chance had been impossible so far so many people wanted to discuss his fight that he hadn't been alone since the class the previous day, she had struck upon the idea just to send him a message on his scroll but realized belatedly she had never bothered to get his information, she had briefly considered asking Ruby knowing her partner had it but after a thought of the consequences one of them being Yang finding out and jumping to conclusions she chose instead to wait and for every minute that passed by she became more frustrated with her choice, Schnee's weren't made for waiting.
"You should stop being patient, everyone who was spoken with Jaune has come away with a grin though for how aghast Pyrrha was a moment ago I think she wished she could not smile, no doubt my sister's awful sense of humor, what I wouldn't give for an awful pun or two again." Ruby spoke seemingly almost whimsically about a brief period of time when her sister adopted their father's awful sense of humor, for awhile Yang had been spouting puns as often and frequently as she could then one day it all just stopped, replaced with a more, mature, humor.
"No, I'm content to wait!" Especially to save myself from Yang's vulgar sense of humor in regards to her boyfriend. "Besides in a matter of hours he has lost most his followers, another day and I will be able to find a moment to corner him and ask him some questions that he might not be inclined to answer in public anyways." Weiss frowned at the statement, it's context sounding wrong to her own ears, she blamed that on Ruby's choice of topics being Yang's sense of humor. "What about you, from what I have heard from you that's the first time you have ever seen him go all out yet you haven't approached him either!"
"OH, I don't need to, perks of knowing him for so long, I have his number. Besides he is already kind of my unofficial tutor, more than a few of my moves are basically because of him pointing out flaws in how I fought, though I had to figure out how to fix them on my own, Uncle Qrow helped too." Ruby added as an afterthought almost.
"Speaking of your Uncle, I thought you said he was a teacher at Signal yet he was with the Team that came during Forever Fall and now Professor Bailey kept referring to him as her Chaperone, he also looks miserable, is he always like that?"
"Miserable? Hmm... yeah pretty much, though normally it more brooding miserable, this was something like uncomfortable miserable."
The table buzzed with multiple conversations as Yang finished her lunch and decided that as much as she hated to be the one to rescue Jaune they had an appointment to keep and while she could handle it herself being alone with Neo even if it was for only a few minutes the diminutive woman gave her the chills.
"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen but I'm stealing Jaune!" Yang spoke with a smile that meant something else and the group quickly dispersed allowing Yang and Jaune a brief kiss to hammer home the point so that they wouldn't be followed and the two left the cafeteria and once out of sight quickly made their way through the school.
"Enjoyed that did you?"
"A little bit yeah, though I have to admit you enjoyed it just enough that I wasn't really the same experience I had at Signal!"
"True, though you did time it just right that I'm going to be skipping lunch today I guess, you could have met with Neo on your own you know, I mean she's just here to deliver a couple Scrolls and a few other things Roman whipped together for us." As the two quickly moved through the halls a couple apples materialized, Jaune wasn't sure where Yang had hidden them but he had didn't say anything just accepted them and bit into one as they kept moving eventually reaching the rendezvous point.
Standing impatiently in one of the schools many gardens was Neo, at her feet a bag containing several things, most important was a set of Scrolls unlocked and modified to allow additional functions beyond even Jaune knew how to modify.
Seeing that the recipients of the package had arrived Neo barely gave them a moment's glance before turning away with the intent of leaving immediately only she stopped, suddenly curious of the two as they approached clearly enjoying each others company as they arrived smiling. Neo trusted them only because Roman trusted them, she wasn't entirely sure what to make of the whole time traveling Semblance nonsense but it did explain many on Roman's inconsistencies in personality and decisions over the past years.
She watched the two with keen eyes, taking in their every action so she could appraise them better than she had bothered to when they met with herself and Roman. Yang while trying to act, she assumed normal or casual, sent multiple glances her way seemingly uncomfortable around herself, though not the level of discomfort Neo usually earned from others who knew her it was enough to be genuine. Jaune, on the other hand, seemed to only look at her once curiously, before ignoring her presence and instead reached for the bag.
Neo didn't appreciate the look of apparent dismissal and quickly swung her parasol around both swatting Jaune's hand away from the bag and hooking a handle and dragging it closer to herself, she stood smiling, waiting to see the look she desired.
The look didn't come instead Jaune simply smiled and reached into a pocket, pulling out a piece of paper he had prepared earlier he tossed it to herself.
'Corner of Faust and 3rd, White Building, Pink roof. Ask for Gelato, that's a treat, not someone's name.'
After reading the brief note she smiled warmly at Jaune and in one smooth motion she flick the bag his way and vanished in an instant, curious to trying this new treat, and believing him to be a time traveler a little bit more since he didn't even hesitate to offer her something she would consider potentially valuable in exchange for the bag, though he would regret it if this 'Gelato' wasn't something delicious.
"What did you give her that made her handing over the bag so easy?"
"Oh, just an address to a place that serves a specialty ice cream I know she hasn't tried yet." Jaune responded off hand as he dug through the bag quickly retrieving its entire contents, a pair of Scrolls each marked to indicate who's each was, Jaune handed Yang hers and flipped through the other items, a couple of well made ID's that Jaune doubted they would need to use but figured they wouldn't hurt to have, a long list of times and dates Jaune had asked for that Roman had accumulated from two separate lives, Jaune looked at this for a moment before taking a quick picture with his new Scroll before tucking it away deep in one of his pockets, he would spend time later memorizing the information.
Lastly in the bag was a couple of Lien cards that neither he nor Yang asked for but there was a note attached that simply said have fun and besides that how much was loaded on the cards, the amount was fairly impressive and it gave Jaune an idea or two but quickly thought better than frivolously wasting the extra funds on unnecessary things.
"Well that was short and sweet, I guess were off to Oobleck's next for class's?" Yang knew the destination and both of them groaned in unison, Yang detested the methodical pace of her first life and now on her second she struggled to pay any attention to the fast speaking Doctor Professor, Jaune on the other hand when she spared to look at him during the lessons and lectures looked to be in a trance, physically present but his mind absent, likely to save his sanity from painfully repetitive lessons.
"Who know's maybe something exciting will happen."
Oobleck's class was let out and the students filed out in varying degree's of dazed stupors. Having Oobleck to finish a day meant a mountain of homework and very little ambition to actually do any of it but forcing yourself none the less as it would be due the following lesson.
As per usual most every student turned to the library to complete Oobleck's homework, while Jaune didn't really need the library to complete it, it was simply easier to follow the group and do it there as opposed to anywhere else so he followed the crowd and sat with his team as they found a free table in the library.
Jaune would always quickly finish his work ahead of anyone else and spend the rest of his time talking with his team, this time though he had seen Weiss approach him immediately after he had closed his books, guessing her topic of conversation to be about their fight or his and Adam's fight in the forest and not particularly wanting to have either or both conversations he looked for any distraction.
No distraction was present however, everyone was focused on their homework, Jaune locked eyes with Weiss for a moment, her eyes were narrow slits as if daring him to make a move to try and escape from her while he was sure his own were a mixture of annoyance and resignation that he was going to be forced to hear her out.
Jaune sunk into his chair and accepted his fate, though that didn't mean he had to be a willing participant.
"Jaune Arc, may I have a word with you in private?"
"Nah I'm alright here, comfy and everything." Jaune smiled and slouched lower into the chair, attempting to make the hard wooden library chairs appear comfortable.
Weiss stared at Jaune for a moment not exactly sure how to proceed, she assumed it would be easy to get him away from others to ask her questions, she hadn't expected him to or anyone really to bother to resist such a simple request.
"Jaune, you shouldn't dismiss the request, who knows this could be the start of something 'Interesting'!"
Jaune looked at Yang, fully betrayed by her, his only saving grace was the usually composed Weiss pinked slightly at Yang's comment, nowhere near the level Pyrrha reached but Jaune figured her slight embarrassment, as well as his knowledge that he could only avoid her so so long anyways, had earned her her private conversation.
"You make a great point Yang, alright follow me Weiss I know the perfect place for a 'Private' discussion."
"WHAT!" Slightly more color appeared on her face, not a demure blush, this was anger filling her cheeks at being the center of the joke between the two blondes. "No, fine you have had your laugh, very funny now get moving Jaune!"
"Oh I like that attitude, would you mind if I tagged along, you know, just to watch!"
Jaune so desperately wanted to turn around and looked that Weiss's face but guessed by the slight falter of steps behind himself that Weiss was scowling and probably desperate to escape from Yang before she had time to think of anything else to embarrass the Schnee Heiress with.
The two didn't even leave the library, Jaune led her up to the second then third story where the shelves were covered in fine layers of dust as there was little call for the staff or students to venture up here often aside from just exploration, Jaune personally liked the atmosphere up here, he felt a certain kinship with many of these books, they housed stories and histories that not many would bother to discover and read anymore, at least not portrayed the same way as these much older volumes would tell the tales.
"I think this is private enough," Jaune said as he looked around and spotted no one nearby, turning to face Weiss he noticed the hand coming in for the slap, he had expected it to be honest, after Yang's comments and him not bothering to say anything aside from his own comment, Jaune didn't feel like getting slapped, he knew his aura would negate the blow, he just didn't feel it was deserved so he learn back and watched as the hand whistled past his face and a now both embarrassed and angry Weiss glaring at him.
"You should have cleared things up before we left! Now people will start rumors! Stop laughing this isn't funny."
"No, Weiss it is, you need to lighten up a little bit if any rumors start we both know they would be untrue, and if you are worried about Yang, well honestly I think she's too stubborn that if her bluff was called she would do exactly what she suggested or implied. That being said I'm not in the mood to be slapped for you being stuck up, so ask me about our fight and my Fight with Adam." He might have regretted being so direct in other lives or not letting her have her way, but as things stood now Weiss wasn't important, she was a team leader, Ruby was keeping her occupied and happy in only the way Ruby could. She was slowly reaching the point where she be considered the real Weiss the one he knew she would become, as long as the right conditions were met but she still had a long ways to go, though he still couldn't explain why she had stuck up for Velvet before anyone else, or that the two became good friends so quickly.
Weiss glowered as only she knew how but her target was beyond unfazed, actually, Jaune wore an intimidating look himself, one that spoke of how little he cared for her or her attitude at the moment. His expression made her angrier, though with all the finesse and grace she had been taught she set aside her temper knowing that it would not earn her anything and potentially cost her. "Ruby filled you in on what I wanted to talk to you about or did you learn that from a book too?"
"Cheeky, but no, It's a simple guess though I'm betting I'm right or close enough to right for it not to matter."
"Yes, fine, first and only question. Will you train me?" That wasn't what she had meant to ask, she didn't plan to change her question out of spite or to surprise him which now that she looked at him he did seem a little bit confused by her question just now.
Jaune simply stared at Weiss, while he wasn't entirely wrong, her wanting training from him had been a goal of his but he didn't expect for her to ask for it outright, he had expected an argument over him throwing their spar and then critical questions about how he had defeated Adam so handily before eventually getting to this topic.
"I can pay you for lessons!" Weiss believed the pause to be Jaune trying to find some excuse not to agree.
"No... no, that's not necessary. You surprised me is all, I can't train you though, much like what I did with Ruby and Yang is point out inadequacies or flaws in their chosen styles, I can do that for you and that's about it." Jaune could have trained Weiss or anyone else who asked the same question of him recently, if he had the time to spare he might have done even that, but training takes time, something he knew would quickly become a finite commodity to him soon.
"While it's not exactly what I had in mind I accept!"
As the two descended to the lower floors Jaune felt his pocket vibrate for an instant. Reaching into the pocket he quickly withdrew the Scroll and read the short dangerous message.
'She controls the Grimm!'
Another one up!
Not much to be said for this chapter, I wanted a bit more filler before going into my replacement for the Docks incident.
So for all of you who said Jaune shouldn't have taken that knee last chapter if he was so skilled, I hope this chapter answered that. Qrow was present and he is all about bad luck, no matter how skilled or how much of an advantage someone might have in a fight, luck has its place as much as anything else.
Anyways next Chapter is Villian time and the start of a bad time for Jaune and Yang.
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