So one day after I post the last chapter I decide to check my mail an- HOLY CARPFISH! Everyone wants Team RWBY to just go ahead and suffer like a bunch of ignominous bitches. Like I know Team RWBY did some shit but the whole point of the hearing was to just demonstrate that they in reality did not have a single clue exactly what it was that they were getting into and had no idea what exactly was going on during the hearing. Also that Ruby might have gotten a little too excited about things. I really didn't expect everyone to get up in arms about it.
Seriously guys this is an AU fic but its not going to be so AU that the main characters get completely shunted to one side and told the fuck the hell off while Jaune basically does everything and makes every single other character completely irrelevant to the plot.
There's like a million of those fics out there if you're looking for that.
Anyway this is another long-ass chapter, hopefully its not overstretched but I hope you enjoy it.
Team JNPR of Beacon Academy quickly exited the room and watched as their friends were taken away, helpless to do anything to assist them as Team RWBY was led away with quite a lot of noise following them.
"Well that was…" Pyrrha started and then stopped, at a lost as to how to describe what had just transpired in the room.
"That was fucked up." Nora completed, Ren shot her a look which made her shrug and throw her arms out to the side, "What? It was and you all know it!" She pouted.
Ren raised one hand and looked like he wanted to protest, but then seemed to hit some kind of realization and let his hand fall while shaking his head, "Well that was certainly…erm…" He scrunched up his face trying to be tactful.
"Disastrous is the word you're looking for." Jaune completed again with a loud sigh, he wrung his hands and pushed out his lower lip, in-between finding out the King of Vale –and his maternal grandfather- was in Vale and nearly getting revealed by Ruby, he was kind of lost as to what he ought to be feeling.
Anger? For Ruby nearly revealing him like that?
Elation? That the King was here to aid them?
Or perhaps…
Perhaps he ought to have been feeling more than a little cautious and suspicious, after all not just a few days ago both his uncle and his sister had shot down a plea from him to intervene on the part of Team RWBY. They had been especially firm to him on that part of the conversation that they had, so why then was the King of Vale out of Avalon? Jaune had only met his grandfather a small handful of times in his entire life; he did not make it a habit to visit the Royal Palace at Avalon or really try to communicate with either the king or the queen.
So with that in mind, what was the King doing here?
There was not anything in particular that Jaune could think off that would drag the elderly King out of the considerable comfort of the palace in Avalon and into Vale. Maybe the King had decided all on his own to come to help and in doing so override the orders given by both his son and granddaughter? Or maybe he just wanted to take a walk? Who knew after all, he was supposedly getting on in years these days and was no longer as right in the head as he once was.
Or rather that was what Jaune imagined it to be.
He was taken out of his thoughts when Pyrrha tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, "What do we do now Jaune?"
Jaune leaned against the nearby wall as the crowd and the chaos moved away further down the hall, "I think we should all-" He paused when he looked up and just noticed Headmaster Ozpin exit the hallway, hot on the heels of Councilor Nyla who was already some distance down the hallway.
"Can you guys…" He turned back to them, "Just wait here for a moment? I want to go talk to the headmaster."
"Why don't we just follow you?" Nora asked with an inquisitive look, it was clearly a viewpoint shared by the rest of the team as they were giving him weird looks.
"I was thinking you can go and get snacks outside while I talk with the headmaster." Jaune tried to deflect the question; he really needed to have a private conversation with Ozpin, "I think I saw a pancake and waffle stand outside." He tried pointing out.
They all stared at him.
"Really Jaune…?" Nora looked at him with narrowed eyes and a most unamused expression on her face.
Well that didn't work… A drop of sweat rolled down Jaune's forehead, Great, before I get a rebellion on my hands…damage control…NOW.
"Look you guys…" He lowered his head down and gave an awkward smile, "I really need to talk to the Headmaster on my own, so I was just suggesting you grab some snacks and drinks while waiting for me because I will be right back ok?" And then just like that Jaune turned on a dime and immediately walked away as fast as possible before they could say anything else to him.
He quickly followed the headmaster and the councilwoman but remained at a far distance, overhearing them as they walked quickly down the hallway
"Nyla?" Ozpin called out as he walked as quickly as he could, despite being taller than the councilwoman he has a hard time keeping up with her as they rounded a corner, "Nyla!" He called out more angrily this time, finally stopping the woman in her tracks as she turned to look at him and he finally caught up to her.
Jaune hid behind the corner to listen in on the conversation.
"What do you want Ozpin?" She asked tersely with no small amount of irritation.
"What on Remnant was that?" He demanded angrily, "I thought I could trust you to support me, and now I find you heading the same committee that not only intends to completely eviscerate a team of trainee huntresses, but also appears to be out for my blood!" He grit his teeth and faced her directly
"Oh please Ozpin," Nyla scoffed and straightened her glasses, "If I hadn't been on that committee, you and your students would have faced something more akin to a firing squad rather than a proper hearing," She rolled her eyes, "All they're looking for is a person to shift the blame to and then crucify that person as a scapegoat, they would've found a way to dismiss you and throw the whole of Team RWBY into prison if they could."
"So I'm supposed to accept that this is all for my own benefit then?" Ozpin threw his arms out to the sides before letting them fall, his expression rather disgruntled as he glared at the councilwoman, who remained completely impassive under his gaze.
"I did my level best to ease your students into the hearing by starting off slowly, I had hoped that they would do their level best to prepare themselves for it," She sighed, "But unfortunately I guess it was too much to hope that a bunch of children could have prepared themselves for an adult's work." She turned away for a moment and stood back on one leg before looking back at Ozpin.
"They're a bunch of children like you said," Ozpin waved his hand angrily, "And we expect to be capable of thinking and reasoning and acting like adults?"
"Well then perhaps someone should have ingrained in their heads the understanding that they have responsibilities to uphold." Nyla rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Perhaps the first thing someone should've taught them was that if they wanted to be graduate and stand on the same level as the adults, they had better grow up fast before they…" She paused for a moment and pushed out her lower lip, "Get eaten."
"Is it my fault that the council perpetuates a culture of hero-worshipping whose only result is an endless cycle of sending more and more young men and women to their deaths every year so that they can inspire more young men and women to their deaths?!" Ozpin nearly shouted at the councilwoman.
Surprisingly, Nyla flinched and grimaced at his sudden outburst, "It's…" She trailed off and looked distant for a moment, "A necessary sacrifice, you yourself know this to be true," She locked eyes with Ozpin, "the Grimm encroach on our borders every single day, never knowing where they come from, all we can do is pile and stack the mountains of bodies higher every single day, isn't it your job to make each body last as long as possible before we add them to the list of fallen heroes?"
"Yes," Ozpin begun slowly with a low growl, "It's just as you said," He straightened up so that he was looking down on her, "Make each body last as long as possible. Then explain to me why the council wants to take down a group of bodies that could spend their time better by propping up that wall rather than in some prison cell?"
"Perhaps instead of running around trying to solve internal issues on their own that group of bodies should've just focused on manning the wall and not on trying to catch a bunch of damn terrorists!" Nyla finally blew up and threw her hands into the air, turning away from Ozpin and folding her arms across her chest, she turned her head to look at him with a dark glare on her face.
The mood was shifting drastically.
"I tried Ozpin," She growled beneath her breath, "I tried to be patient with them, I tried to be easy on them, I tried to give allowance for their behavior, I tried and yet they still lost it while the rest of Vale was watching, and I even tried to rein in the more hostile committee members when it came to you," Nyla folded her arms, "Perhaps Whitemore was going too far with his remarks but attacking the committee isn't worth just a mere reproach." She leaned forward and narrowed one eye, "A little bit of thanks on your part would be appreciated."
"Well then I must thank you councilor for the ease by which the hearing was conducted," Sarcasm dripped off of every word, "Thank you also for the respect that your own committee showed to my students, choosing to deliberately bring up family to try and incite a reaction from them, quite a series of tactics used there."
"Really? Respect? That's all you've got for me?" Nyla's raised one eyebrow and lowered the other, "Because all I saw today was a bunch of immature and frankly unrepentant children who don't seem to have properly grasped on to the fact that their reckless actions led to a tragedy, the only person of any real note was the Schnee girl, though that's only something to be expected rather than something to be applauded." She scoffed and tilted her head back, "It makes me wonder why she isn't the team leader rather than the little girl you have on instead."
"Political savvy does not necessarily translate into tactical prowess on the field of battle." Ozpin grunted, "I judged Ms. Rose to be the more capable, and she has yet to disappoint me."
"Not even in this instance?"
"No, she's still only fifteen, give her some credit for only being childish rather than doing something else silly."
"You mean like her elder sister?"
Ozpin could not say anything to that.
"…Fine then, I won't question your methods, your Academy is yours to do as you please, just please do take note in the near future the rest of the council may not take quite so kindly to you should you continue to try to defend your students the way that you have, although I must admit getting the King to come all the way down here…that must've been quite something, what did you promise him in return?"
"Nothing, I didn't call him down here." Nyla seemed rather startled by that assertion from the way her brows jumped suddenly, her own eyes searched through the headmaster's own and yet, she could not find a single thing that might suggest he was lying, finding nothing she took a moment to stroke her chin and appeared deep in thought.
Sighing in resignation, she finally responded, "So it seems you have other friends in high places after all. Well whatever it is you have up your sleeve Ozpin, you'd better play it now, after Ms. Xiao Long's little outburst, there isn't much time left for your trainees."
"So I guess it's too much to count on any other assistance?" Ozpin grit his teeth.
"Too much…and too late," Nyla shrugged, "Like I said I've tried and done my best already, the rest is up to you, and now if you'll excuse me I think I left something back in the room, I'll see you later Ozpin, and that is all." She walked right past Ozpin who could only watch her go and clench his fists in response.
Hearing the footsteps coming closer and closer, Jaune instinctively backed away from the corner just as Nyla rounded it, although he froze for a moment, the councilwoman only gave the barest of an acknowledgement of his presence with a single look and passed right by him without a word and continued walking down the hallway. Jaune breathed a sigh of relief as the sharp click of heels passed away dimly into the distance along with the woman that wore them.
"I do believe that it's unbecoming of a prince to eavesdrop on others, it's not polite you know?" Ozpin's voice rang out, Jaune squeaked in response and slowly poked his head out and around the corner, and found himself looking right into the eyes of the headmaster who was walking over to him.
"Eh hehe…well…I just wanted to see you for a moment sir." Jaune had an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Yes well, am I to presume that his majesty's arrival is your own doing your highness?" Ozpin gave a small smile, which fell off when the prince shook his head.
"No, I was told not by the Crown Prince and my sister not to expect anything," He cast his eyes downward, "I have no idea what the King is doing here either."
Ozpin stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Do you and the King know each other well?"
"Uh…" Jaune fidgeted with his fingers, "Not really, I've seen him and the Queen a few times myself but…no…I can't say he and I really know each other."
"Hmm, then perhaps it's better to go and find out why he is here you, I myself might go to see him when I get the opportunity, I have a few things to clear up first though, where is your Team?"
"Just over there…actually sir…" Jaune grasped his hands behind his back and looked right at Ozpin.
"Yes, is there a problem your highness?"
"Do you…do you think I should tell them?" He asked hesitantly, "It's just…I feel kinda bad leaving them out of the loop like this all the time, I think they're starting to hate me for it." Jaune let his shoulders sag with a glum expression on his face.
Ozpin furrowed his brow in response and rubbed his forehead, "That is entirely your own prerogative your highness, if you feel that they can be trusted then by all means, you've trusted Ruby, Blake and Sun so far and they have yet to fail you have they?" Ozpin saw Jaune's objection coming and quickly waved it away, "Except of course for Ms. Rose's near miss just a little while ago, they have done fine have they not?"
"Well sure, it's just that if I tell my own team, I don't think my family's going to be very happy with me…" Jaune sighed, "Man sometimes I wish I wasn't a prince, maybe then I could get a proper set of friendships, heck maybe even a relationship wouldn't be out of the cards." He kicked one foot against the floor lifelessly.
Ozpin chuckled, "This is coming from a prince who has surrounded himself with all sorts of females and only one other male, without context anyone would think that you were trying to build a harem of some sort."
Jaune snickered and inhaled when Ozpin said that, "It would be the ultimate harem! One consisting of ultra-protective huntresses defending their beloved prince!" Jaune threw his arms out in a grandiose gesture before letting his arms fall back down, "But the House of Vale would never accept such a playboy prince; they'd probably disown me forever."
Ozpin laughed with him, "But I think we should go and see your own team now so that we can give them assurance to your own whereabouts." Jaune nodded and turned to lead the way.
They walked together in silence until they found Team (J)NPR right where Jaune had left them more or less, they were more or less still standing around and not doing much, but all immediately became more attentive when they saw their leader returning with the headmaster.
"Professor!" Nora waved at him excitedly; Ozpin merely returned the greeting with a smile and nod.
"If you don't mind me asking sir," Ren started, "What's going to happen to Team RWBY now?"
Ozpin sighed, "Unfortunately Mr. Lie, at this moment they are most likely being taken to a holding cell somewhere else where they will be made to wait until His Majesty returns to the royal enclaves, it's quite likely the council wants to tidy up and present a clean image to the King lest the House of Vale rub it in the council's faces that the Royal Enclaves –ostensibly an extension of Vale- are doing far better than the city of Vale is." He explained thoroughly.
"What should we do now?" Pyrrha asked.
"There's nothing much you can really do except return to Beacon for now," And then a curious twinkle appeared in his eye as he turned to Jaune, "Unless the resident Armorican would like to take you to see the King?"
Oh great, don't tell me that was your plan all along… Jaune's eyes widened as they all focused on him.
Nora zipped right up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Really Jaune-y? Could you do that?!" Her eyes were wide with elation as she shook him to and fro roughly.
"W-e-e-ell t-th-ats…." Jaune tried to free himself from Nora's iron-cast grip on him.
"That would…certainly be interesting…" Ren stroked his chin and nodded along.
"Hmm, I wouldn't mind I guess?" Even Pyrrha looked rather thoughtful, now being a rather famous person in her own Kingdom, she had had the pleasure of meeting with some of the council members herself, on the other hand it would be a whole new thing for her to meet actual royalty.
Discounting the actual royalty that was her partner of course, but she did not know about that.
"Regardless of all that," Ozpin raised his voice to speak clearly, as apparently Team JNPR were just awed by the thought of having a King in their midst, "My earnest apologies to you Ms. Nikos, Mr. Lie and Ms. Valkyrie, but I need Jaune to do something important for me first of all and so I shall be forced to take him out of your care for the moment and send him on his way."
All of them had rather surprised looks on their faces, their eyes flicking back and forth between their leader and the headmaster, asking for an explanation from either as to this turn of events.
Before Jaune could say anything though, Ozpin was way ahead of him, "Don't worry now, I just need Jaune's assistance with a little thing that I need help with," He then turned to Jaune, "You'd better hurry up now, I wouldn't keep them waiting."
"Yes sir," Jaune replied and gave an awkward smile at the rest of his confused team, "Look guys, I promise on my word that I'll make it up to you, but right now I really have to go." And with that he quickly walked through them and away from them, "I'll see you later back at Beacon!" He tried to smile and wave as he turned back for one last time.
He had to, if he had turned back to look at them anymore, he doubted he would have been able to look at their rather forlorn faces without cursing himself into oblivion.
Ah stupid stupid! I really should tell them one of these days; these secrets are going to be the end of me. Jaune growled in his head as he sent of a text to Gravelyn asking for information on where the King would be staying while in Vale as he walked out of the building to hail a taxi.
BREAKING NEWS
We have just received official confirmation from the House of Vale that His Majesty the King of Vale will indeed be arriving shortly at the Vale City Airport along with an armed escort of Royal Protectors. At the moment it remains unclear as to what exactly the purpose of His Majesty's visit will be and what this means for the hearing being conducted on the trainees involved in the Highway 42 incident.
The committee has so far called a halt to the hearing, the team designated "RWBY" has been taken into custody following an attempt by one of its team members to assault the committee for reasons believed to be related to the conduct of one of the committee members during the course of the hearing.
We go now to a live broadcast at the Vale City airport.
"Lisa I'm now right outside the terminal leading onto the runway, as we can see in the background the Royal Family's private airship is just taxiing this way, and just over there in the public area in the terminal you can see a large crowd has gathered many people are very excited and curious, they know that the Royal Family doesn't appear in public much, they know that this is going to be a pretty big event, it might even be a once in a lifetime thing so they all want to catch a glimpse of their King."
And how are the Vale authorities handling this new arrangement?
"I just spoke to the head of the Airport Police Division, the surprise arrival did cause quite a ruckus, they're trying to get things under control now, the Royal airship has actually forced several other airships to remain in the air while they try to sort out this whole mess. Actually just now there was a surprising development, a team from the Royal Protectors actually appeared…almost out of nowhere, they're taking charge now of the security arrangements working together with the Airport Police, setting up a passageway, marking out the lines, helping to perform crowd control, I haven't had the opportunity to speak with them yet or get any more details but I think we can be assured that this is going to be a momentous event for Vale."
Has there been any word on the King's purpose in Vale?
"It's hard to say Lisa, like I said I still haven't been able to get in or err…talk with any official yet, everyone's sort of remaining a little hush hush about this, but we have had a few unconfirmed rumors that the King might take up temporary residence at the Raffle House which was the old seat of the King before the Vale Succession War."
A short while later, Jaune found himself just outside the Raffle House, once the original Royal Palace where the King and Queen lived and now a relatively prestigious hotel in the heart of Vale, and where the King would be staying for the duration of his visit to Vale City. At the moment there were teams of armed policemen and a number of Protectors milling about, trying to secure the area and talking to each other over radios, walking here and there rapidly, none of them spared more than a passing glance at the teenager in a black hoodie and blue jeans slowly walking through the chaos towards the main entrance of the hotel.
Hmm, I wonder what Vulcan and Allen think of this. He thought to himself as he walked while observing his surroundings.
He need not have worried so much, at the moment the former was busying herself yelling at one trainee for breaking a particularly important cog in his weapon's transforming mechanism and the latter was in the air supervising another trainee pilot.
"Hey Jaune!" A voice called out, Jaune turned his head and saw Gravelyn –now dressed in the traditional green short-coat with yellow buttons and black pants- waving at him as he approached.
Jaune grinned, finally he had found a friendly face, "Hey Gravelyn, is His Majesty going to be here soon?"
"Yep," Gravelyn looked at his watch, "Should be within the hour, hopefully if traffic remains stable we should have the King secure in the house within the next hour or so…hopefully."
"Do you think anything's going to happen?" Jaune asked.
Gravelyn's expression took a dark turn, "Let's hope not, this is a surprise visit so I can't imagine the White Fang has anything planned up their sleeves, but if they do…" He smirked.
"We'll cut them down like the filthy swine they are." He tapped Typhoon on one side with a dark smile on his face.
Jaune merely nodded at that, still he could not help but feel worried, after all there were plenty of things that could go wrong, if the King ended up injured or wounded or badly or worse…
He shook those thoughts out of his head.
"Well I suppose it would be prudent for you to just find a place to sit down, kick back, take a break and chill for a while, the hotel lounge should be available, and don't worry," He made a sly wink, "I already told the other Protectors to expect you and that you were in disguise, so you don't have to worry about a single thing." He grinned.
He turned out to be quite right, as Jaune made his way to the lounge to wait for the King's arrival, he passed by several Protectors, some gave a low bow of their head in a gentle acknowledgement of his status, others just gave a knowing smile or smirk and moved on without a word. Jaune prepared a cup of Earl Grey and took a seat on a couch in the mostly empty lounge to wait for the King.
He stayed in the lounge when he did arrive with a rather large crowd of reporters and press officers following him, Jaune paid no heed to any of them and waited for Gravelyn to give him the all clear. That took a surprising amount of time, allowing Jaune to count the number of designs on the ceiling, the couch, and the floor rug before Gravelyn came to get him.
"Ok, we cleared them out though they're still stacking up outside, this way please your highness." He mumbled the last part just audibly enough for Jaune to hear as he gestured for the prince to follow him
"Dahlia? Daniel?" Gravelyn turned from one to the other, they were a set of twins that he recognized as being the protectors assigned to the King for the current shift.
Both saluted and stood at attention, "His Majesty has been expecting your presence your highness." The girl answered, looking directly at Jaune.
"Well in you go then, so sorry I can't stay and chat, I have matters to attend to, good luck your highness." Gravelyn gave a low bow and held one hand out in the direction of the door, taking this as a signal Dahlia rapped her knuckles on the door before opening it a small way.
"His Highness Prince Jean is here your Majesty." She said, a muffled voice answered, and Dahlia opened the door wider and turned to Jaune, "His Majesty is ready, if you would your highness?" She gestured inside.
"See you around your highness," Gravelyn bowed again and walked off. Jaune watched him go for a moment before he took a deep breath to calm himself, this was it then, he was going to meet the King on his own, no uncle or big sister to help him here, just himself and whatever he brought with him.
God if he was not a nervous wreck.
He nodded to both the protectors and walked right into the room, the door closed behind him and he found himself alone in the rather large and luxurious looking room, the floor was nicely carpeted, windows that opened out onto the street in front of the hotel, it had a king-sized bed right at one side of the room, in the middle of the room were a set of chairs and a table, and on the far side of the room to Jaune's left.
A somewhat short and elderly fellow sharply dressed in a suit and tie, he was clearly balding, currently he was crouched over what looked like a tabletop that had a tray with a teapot and teacups on it at one side.
This then could only be the King of Vale himself.
Jaune fell to one knee and bowed his head low, "Your majesty." He said, even though he was trying his best not to show the nervousness, anyone else could have been able to tell that he was visibly tense.
"Oh do get off the floor Jean, you look darned ridiculous trying to kneel in that outfit." Jaune swallowed nervously and stood up, the King did not appear to have even turned around at that, instead he seemed more concerned with…filling a teapot? Jaune took a moment to check himself.
Of course. He sighed inwardly, a black hoodie and blue jeans, he looked nothing like the part, and more like some teenager pulled off the street and stuffed into the room with the man before him.
He wondered if he ought to have asked for a change in clothes before this meeting.
"Ah good it's ready!" The King's voice drew him back into reality; he stood up straight and took the tray with him towards the table, "Do sit down and have a little drink." He gestured to the chairs as he set the tray down on the table, Jaune gingerly made his way over to the chair and sat down as gently as he could right in front of the King as he poured out the tea.
"Have a drink Jean." Although he was smiling, the tone that was said in was so dry and flat that Jaune thought he was actually going to draw out all the moisture in him. Well he could feel himself start to sweat a little anyway.
"T-thank you your majesty." He tried his best to smile and take the teacup slowly in his hands; it was then that he noticed something else about his hands.
His hands were shaking.
When had his hands started shaking?
"Do be careful dear boy," There was a sudden spring in his voice; "I just boiled it."
"Uh…of course your majesty." Forcing his hands to a halt as best as he could, he lifted the tea to his lips and took a sip, flinching just a little from the heat before setting the cup back down.
Silence reigned between them, Jaune wondered if it was prudent for him to try to start a conversation or if he ought to have waited for the King –who was looking through his scroll- to start. A few minutes later neither of them had done much except sip from slowly emptying cups of tea, and so it was that Jaune chose to try breaking the ice first.
"Your Majesty…if you don't mind me asking…" Jaune pushed out his lower lip and paused for a moment, the King did not respond at first, "Why did you come to Vale?"
"Why do you think I'm here today Jean?"
The King's tone remained perfectly level as he put his scroll aside and looked at his grandson directly, a little too level and controlled for Jaune's liking, the sort of tone a person makes when they are trying to say that 'you fucked up somehow but we are going to do our best to be nice to you about it', and so a dozen things immediately ran through the little prince's head, trying to figure out what he had done wrong recently.
"I…I don't know your majesty." One of Jaune's fist was clenching and unclenching slowly. he was getting quite nervous now; any form of joviality in the King seemed to have evaporated, leaving behind a rather stony and cold man who although elderly, was still the King of Vale.
"Take a guess." The complete deadpan expression in which the King said it with the thinnest of smiles on his face sent a chill up Jaune's spine, still he did his best to maintain his composure and cleared his throat before speaking.
"D-did you…erm…p-perhaps come here to-"
"I do wish you wouldn't stutter like that, I'm an old man and a little hard of hearing in my left ear."
"Sorry your majesty, I meant…ahem…" Jaune cleared his throat and forcibly composed himself, "I meant did you-"
"And do speak just a little louder if you would." As if to tease Jaune, he turned his left ear to the prince and tapped it gently.
"I meant did you perhaps come here to intervene on behalf of my friends who are currently being confined somewhere because one of them decided to blow her top during the hearing that would decide on the consequences for their actions and maybe possible probably hopefully get them out of trouble?" Jaune let out in a single quick, sharp breath.
"I'm not here for your friends Jean." The King turned to face Jaune with an unreadable expression on his face.
And immediately, Jaune started wondering what punishment he might potentially receive if he chose to run out of the door right. That. Instant.
"Rather," The King got out of his seat and began slowly walking the side of Jaune's chair, "Edward had informed me that a certain…shall we say little princeling of ours…had just suggested something incredibly extraordinary…" He stuffed his hands into his pockets while stopping right beside Jaune, bending over just a little so that his icy gaze was directed at the now very tense Jaune.
He started walking around Jaune slowly while the latter sat stock still, the former kicking his shoes against the floor to create a sharp tapping noise and drumming his fingers on the top of the chair, "This princeling of ours suggested that we should uhm…use our position to affect some sort of possible influence on the hearing that a bunch of his friends were attending because they…got a little bit uppity." He walked one round and came to a stop in front of Jaune.
"So actually Jean," He remarked, "I'm here for you."
Oh crap, well this is gonna suck. Jaune visibly went tense.
"For me your majesty?" Inwardly, Jaune wondered if playing dumb was a good idea.
"Yes you of course." He turned and sat back down, placing one leg over the other and slouching in his seat with his arms on the armrests while Jaune remained sitting up straight.
A moment of silence passed between them before the King spoke again, "Do you know who your paternal Aunt and Uncle are?"
Although caught off guard by the sudden question, Jaune had to admit he did not, he knew their names for sure, Frederick and Altira, but they had both passed on before he had been born and there were not many around for him to raise the issue with, and so they remained just a distant thought in his mind and nothing more than that.
"I know their names, Frederick and Altira." He stated as firmly as he could, the King nodded in response.
"At least you know that much, do you know what happened to them?"
"Not really, only that they died before I was born."
"Hmm, well I'll just spare you the details and give you a brief summary then," The King stood up again and began walking in an almost aimless manner behind Jaune, "Frederick was killed holding the frontline, it was not too long following his untimely death that your father left for Beacon Academy."
Jaune remained silent.
The King took this as a gesture to continue, "After graduating from Beacon, both your parents lived their lives out as hunter and pilot, until Altira fell in battle whilst out on an expedition far beyond our frontlines to eliminate an infestation of Grimm."
"I don't understand your Majesty." That was all Jaune could come up with after hearing this, he felt sad for sure hearing of the deaths of his family members, on the other hand he had hardly known them at all such that they might as well have been strangers.
"You're certainly following in the footsteps of your father aren't you?" There was a strange tone of mirth in the King's voice as he came to Jaune's left side.
Jaune gripped the armrests of his chair tightly, "I came to Beacon to hide from the White Fang per my uncle's-I mean per the Crown Prince's suggestion. It wasn't my idea to go to Beacon."
"No it wasn't." The King conceded the point, "On the other hand it was the one you chose out of all the others, and very quickly too with little hesitation on your part according to the Crown Prince, its almost enough to make one wonder." The King turned his back to Jaune and began walking away, "A male Arc, not the eldest child of the family, loses a sibling and then proceeds to run away to Beacon, also-"
"I didn't run away." Jaune could not keep the indignation out of his voice and barely avoided baring his teeth at the King who remained impassive at his outburst, "I know what I have to do when I'm done and I won't make the same mistake that my parents did."
The King remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I suppose I could say that we made a mistake as well that much I will admit," The King looked down to the floor momentarily, whether in solemnness or in disgust Jaune could not tell, and then he turned away and began walking around the room again, "We let your father and your mother run around on their own for far too long, and when it came time for them to return to fulfill their duties, well they had you and your sisters, and then they rebelled and left all of us."
"I'm not my father." Jaune repeated, though it held less strength than the first time, "I will fulfill my duties when my time comes."
"I know that," The King agreed with nary a hint of praise or commendation for it, "and let's hope you stay that way. However, I would like to call attention to certain actions on your part."
What else is there? Is this some sort of interrogation? Where is he going with this? What is he doing? Questions raced through Jaune's mind, swiftly cutoff by the King's voice again.
"Now Jacques was well known for being the best person you could ever have as a friend, the fact that he used royal funds to help them out on multiple occasions including payment of debt, financial assistance for housing, weapons crafting and maintenance, and my personal favorite, using it to bail someone out of prison."
Jaune was silent again.
He moved to stand on Jaune's right now and straightened his blazer out, turning his head to the side and looking down at his –nominally- much taller grandson, "Now I know that you've been…helping yourself out on the side, giving a hand to others so to speak," He smirked and narrowed his eyes as Jaune swallowed a lump in his throat, "We don't give you a high enough monthly allowance for you to do things like…shall we say," He clicked his tongue, "Fund a food stall for your friends."
"It was…it was just meant to be a small, one -time thing," Jaune breathed slowly, "I justified it and my sis- I mean Maria allowed it." Jaune said as best as he could, despite the tea, his throat, mouth and lips were starting to feel rather dry and parched, and he could not stop himself from letting his tongue run over his lips.
"Yes indeed," The King nodded and began to walk back to his seat slowly, but instead of sitting down he rounded it so that he stood behind it and faced Jaune straight on, "Maria tends to bend over backwards when it comes to her younger siblings despite her best efforts on her own part doesn't she?" He tapped his fingers on the top of the chair as he said so.
At this point, it was becoming rather difficult for Jaune to face his grandfather- no, that was not right, it would be more appropriate to say that it was becoming difficult for Jaune to face the King of Vale, as much as he tried to keep his face straight and on his majesty, he could not stop his eyes from drifting to the ground rather bashfully and fidgeting rather uncomfortably with his fingers and toes.
"Do chin up a little more Jaune," The King leaned forward over the chair, "It's unbecoming of a prince to act…quite…so…ashamed." Jaune forced himself to look up, swallow a lump in his throat and into his King's eyes as a bead of sweat tickled his face as it rolled down from his forehead.
The King smiled, "Much better, now…" He walked back up to Jaune and looked up at the much taller boy, "I'm not suggesting or saying that a person can't have their own fun from time to time, and in fact I even admire a person who isn't uptight all the time and is able to relax of their own accord." He explained with a smile before his expression shifter again as he leaned in close Jaune.
"But for goodness' sake Jean," The King lowered his head to look at Jaune from beneath his brow, "Please do not ever mistake our…deliberate off-handedness…" His head tilted ever so slightly before he corrected, "For freedom to act as you please." He forcibly emphasized his phrase, "Have I made myself clear on that point?"
"…Yes sir." That was all that Jaune could come up with at that point, there was no argument to be made, not against his grandfather, and especially not when his grandfather was the King of Vale.
"Good." Came the curt reply, and right at that moment a series of sharp knocks sounded on the door and it opened to reveal Dahlia.
"Your Majesty, General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin are here to see you." She stated flatly.
Jaune's eyes went wide as he stared right at the door.
"Ah good, my guests have arrived!" The King's demeanor changed in an instant as he clapped his hands together just once, "Do send them in if you would do so kindly Ms. Greener?" He smiled brightly.
"Of course your majesty." She nodded as she widened the door and stood to one side with a bow and one hand outstretched, allowing both men to enter the room and closing the door behind them. Although the headmaster of Beacon Academy was still dressed in his usual attire
"Your majesty." Ozpin gave a short bow in greeting, the General saluted instead.
"At ease you two," The King nodded before turning back to Jaune, "Jean." He said, making the prince's head snap back to face him with a surprised look on his face, "You may go now." He said and jerked his head in the direction of the door.
"Ah…o-of course your majesty." Jaune gave a quick bow and made for the door as fast as he could without breaking out into a run, he spared a passing glance at the two headmasters as he neared, "Headmaster, General." He acknowledged the both of them with a small nod as he went by; both met his gaze and answered with nods of their own, although Ozpin's eyebrows lifted momentarily at the prince's hurried action.
"Oh one last thing Jean!" The King called out, stopping the prince dead in his tracks and making him turn around with an awkward smile on his face.
"Yes sir?" He answered.
"Dahlia, Daniel!" He called out, and the twins opened the door simultaneously.
"Your Majesty?" They answered at the same time.
"I believe your shift is almost over is it not?"
"It is sir." Daniel answered monotonously.
"Then please, won't you as your last duty for the moment escort the prince about as he goes until such time as he chooses the leave?"
"Of course your majesty." Dahlia nodded.
"Thank you, you're both very kind." The King nodded as the prince exited the room with the two protectors, leaving him with the General and the Headmaster.
"Great!" The King clapped his hands together once and rubbed them together eagerly as he looked upon his two guests, "Now that that's been taken care off," He cleared his throat abruptly, "It's good to see you two gentlemen, please have a seat!" He gestured to the chairs in the room while he went back to the kettle to collect a new tray of teacups.
Ozpin and Ironwood exchanged a curious glance with Ironwood clearly looking a little unsettled; Ozpin merely shrugged and took one seat while Ironwood took the other. Within a moment, the King had already returned with a tray of three cups for the three of them, he set it down easily on the table and dropped into his chair easily.
"It's an honor to be served by the King himself." Ozpin did his best to crack a joke.
"Sorry about that," The King laughed, "I'd have brought servants to wait on you hand and foot, but unfortunately…" He pursed his lips and twirled his moustache.
"I don't have many." He finished with a scoff, "So then, what can I do for you gentlemen today?"
Ozpin decided to start, "Excuse my impertinence your majesty, but his highness seemed rather…distressed shall we say…as I saw him leaving." Ozpin said as cautiously as he could.
"Was he?" The King lied right through his teeth, "I didn't notice a thing."
"Well he seemed to be in quite a rush."
"Hmm, are you suggesting something Ozpin?" The King's raised his brow as if daring the headmaster to push the issue further.
"Far be it from me to suggest anything your majesty," Ozpin quickly said in return, "I was just being curious as to what happened, I will not push further if you deem it unruly of me to do so."
"Bah!" The King suddenly scoffed and laughed, startling both men, "I was merely giving the little prince a bit of a scare and a…familial reminder that's all." He stated simply as he took a sip of his tea.
Two days before RWBY's incarceration,
The Royal Palace in Avalon,
An elderly man sat alone on a balcony overlooking a large courtyard, watching a group of children freely play around in it with a small smile on his face as he sipped from a cup of hot tea, he sighed and relaxed into his chair, closing his eyes to immerse himself in the cool wind blowing out over the area and letting the gentle sounds of ambience wash over hi-
The scroll in front of him started ringing loudly.
With a snort of annoyance, he sat back up and pressed the green button on the scroll.
"Yes?" He said, grunting to make sure the other person knew he was rather irritated by the sudden disturbance.
"Your Majesty?" The Crown Prince's voice came over the scroll.
"Ah Edward, is there something I can help you with?" The King leaned back into his seat and turned up the volume to listen to his eldest child.
"No, rather I just came to inform you about a certain wayward prince of ours." The Crown Prince growled out with an indignant tone and his eyes rolling.
The King quirked an eyebrow and sat up a little straighter, "Oh? What's he gotten up to now? Killed anyone in particular?" He asked, clearly bemused at the thought of the only son of the Duke and Duchess rebelling against their family. He took the cup of tea to his lips again and took another gentle sip.
"No instead, he suggested that we should do something about that rather unfortunate incident wherein a Team of trainees wrecked a public highway and…maybe ended up causing…more than a few civilian deaths."
"Oh that is a rather sad thing, would you help me compose and send a text over scroll expressing our deepest condolences and sympathies for the families of those victims killed in the incident?" The King asked blithely as he set the cup down.
"Fine then, and what shall we do about Jean?" Edward asked.
"What do you mean?"
"He was asking if we should perhaps intercede on behalf of his friends and his three unofficial protectors…all of whom were directly involved in the incident." Edward sighed with exasperation.
"Well that is a rather nonsensical and preposterous thing to suggest," The King agreed with a smirk, "Have we vetted them yet? I don't recall anything related to them." He pursed his lips.
"Well the official protector we deployed down to Vale gave them the go ahead, so we trusted in his judgement and Jean's judgement and let it stay as that."
"I see, so what are you suggesting now?"
"I beg your pardon? I wasn't suggesting anything-"
"No, but it's clear to me that the boy has without a doubt vexed you in some way, after all you wouldn't be coming to me about him if you didn't feel strongly about his actions in some way now would you?" The King nodded knowingly.
"…Yes that's true," On the other side of the screen, Edward nodded and folded his arms with a sigh, "I'm beginning to wonder if he's not becoming more like his father the more time he spends in that Academy."
"From just one overstep? Aren't you being a little obtuse with that assertion? He's after all just a child for all intents and purposes." The King chided gently, Edward could be –and probably was- one of the staunchest traditionalists in the entirety of Remnant, everything and everyone had a time and place to be for him.
Even the King found this rather annoying at times; still he did his best to humor his only son.
"Maybe I am, on the other hand I'd rather not take any risks with him, we let both Jacques and Viola run around far too freely for far too long, eventually forgetting their responsibilities and landing Maria in the situation she is in now, let's not take that chance now hm?"
"So you're thinking we should teach him a lesson and ensure that he never oversteps his boundaries again is that it?"
"Well I wouldn't…" Edward cleared his throat, "I wouldn't say that we should go so far as to teach him a lesson as you say, but perhaps…a small reminder that he should take care of where he treads and what he uses the little authority that he has in his name for, it could after all be most damaging if something like a prince standing up for a group of rogue trainee hunters came about."
"Disavow his actions?"
"Maybe a little more than that…"
"Well then why don't I pop over there for a while?" The man laughed, "Give all of them a good shocker for a moment."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, I'll just drop in to say hello and maybe give a speech or two, it would be a nice surprise for everyone I think." He stroked his chin with a smile on his face, "And at the same time meet up with my grandson who I haven't seen in a while."
"Are you sure about that?" Edward shifted uncomfortably, "We haven't prepared any sort of schedule or transport or alerted the Vale council."
"Why should we? Let's make this a surprise visit!" So saying the man stood up and stretched his back, sighing in relief as he leaned one way and then the other, slowly working out the kinks in his back, "Not only will I have an opportunity to check up on how our youngest prince is doing, but also to see what all this is about," He let his arms settle down to his sides, "How on earth did a little accident draw so much Grimm that they would cutoff communications for a time? Well at least it took the heat of our own lines…"
"It wasn't just a little accident your majesty." Edward pointed out.
"Well then…" There was a strange twinkly in the old man's eyes as he stroked his chin, "I am the King of Vale after all, should the day come that my subjects be forced to live in fear of the approaching darkness, it is our requisite duty to…" He cleared his throat as he finished the last of his tea, "provide reassurance, comfort and shelter to them."
"They're not your subjects anymore."
The look on the king's face darkened, "No, they are no longer our subjects," He set the tea cup down and moved over to the railing, placing his hands on it and leaning forward, "And they haven't been for more than half-a-century."
"What comes of this then?" Edward raised an eyebrow, "Putting in effort to help out a bunch of ingrates such as them."
The King sucked in a lungful of air and breathed out slowly as he turned back to face the screen of the scroll, "The throne of Vale is not a mere symbol to be coddled and protected; the throne is a symbol that protects. In dire times, people will always look to symbols for hope and safety, the throne of Vale was often that symbol during dark times." He commented wistfully, "If the council cannot provide reassurance to the people, then I think we shall step in for a change."
"Are you sure about this? I don't think they'll be appreciative of the king 'just dropping by' for a visit…" Edward trailed off uncertainly, looking at his father with an inquisitive eye, trying to figure out what on Remnant the King was thinking.
"Of course," The King nodded, "Besides the primary purpose of this visit isn't just to give a few nice speeches and wave at the crowd while we're at it, I'm also going to take the opportunity to check in with little Jean and see how he's doing." He chuckled warmly.
"Should I go with you? I'm rather concerned for your health at the moment your majesty."
"No, no don't worry about it, its fine!" The elderly man laughed heartily, "I think it's been a while since I've stretched my legs like that!" He smiled with a twinkling in his eye, "Just get the transport and the Protectors ready, everything else will be fine."
"I beg your pardon, but did his highness do something wrong?" Ozpin asked.
"He sought our intervention to aid his friends, which would have assuredly been a most blatant abuse of authority." The King shrugged when he said it.
"Oh, I see" Ozpin nodded as his eyes flicked away, "That must've been a terribly offensive thing for him to do."
And a Terribly brave thing for Mr. Arc to do, I didn't think he'd actually try though. Ozpin thought to himself quietly.
"Well of course we couldn't very well give it to him, although it did ruffle the feathers of my own son the Crown Prince though, and so to save dear Edward the trouble I decided to come down here to give him a piece of my mind myself." The King chuckled to himself, "Poor Jean, still too young and inexperienced to see an act, I just hope that he didn't take it too seriously, I honestly thought he was going to have a heart attack at one point."
Ozpin remained silent for a moment before speaking up, "Surely that wasn't entirely necessary, in all my time with him he has always seemed rather unlike his father."
Actually he's not all that different, he's close to his comrades and will bend over to help them on a moment's notice, it was one of Jacques most defining characteristics. Ozpin thought.
"No he's not, Jean isn't a rebellious person by nature, he'll fall in line as long as it's pointed out to him. Certainly he isn't Anne, god forbid that woman inherit the worst of her parent's traits, at least she came home eventually, quite unlike Kristina who remains for lack of a better term…gone." The King rolled his eyes at the mention of his granddaughters.
While Ozpin had not met Kristina in person, it was hard for anyone to forget the Rebellious oldest daughter of Jacques, Princess Anne aka Annie Arc. After her battle with the Vale Police Division and a couple other hunters –all of whom were sent to the hospital in a concussion- sent in to reign in the rogue huntress, she had become the ultimate persona non grata in Vale, and had apparently disappeared off the scope, surfacing temporarily for brief periods around Remnant and then disappearing just as quickly. She apparently resurfaced one last time within the royal enclaves in the aftermath of the White Fang attack, doing her best to help her people out.
Ozpin snapped out of his thoughts when the King began speaking again, "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with it would you?" He was asked, "With the prince, trying to get us to help I mean."
"Of course not your majesty, I know better than to play around with authority, it always results in such a mess of things you know."
The King hummed, seemingly in agreement as he lay back and relaxed himself.
"Still, perhaps I might give a speech or two if I felt so inclined to do so, what exactly was that whole mess with the Highway and huntresses about anyway?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
With a sigh, Ozpin began his explanation, explaining the entire course of events so far and admitting that the official story if it being entirely an accident was false and that Team RWBY had in fact tried their darn best to take on a criminal and terrorist organization with their own strength. Ironwood adding in the information about how his own prototype robot had been stolen and used in the incident, the King listened to all this with a ready ear and nodding to show his attention.
At the end of the explanation, he had this to say, "Well gentlemen, as far as I can tell from the information you have just disclosed to me, you are all deeply in the shit and the problem lies with what appears to be an irresponsible group of students, am I wrong on this assessment?"
Neither Ozpin nor Ironwood said anything, only shaking their heads slowly.
"Ah the central problem with youth," The King sighed and got out of his seat to take a short walk to the window and peer out of it, "Always too eager to get out and do something, thinking so hard about whether not they could as opposed to whether or not they should."
"I was actually wondering if your majesty had any advice to give as to these matters." Ozpin asked.
The King clapped his hands together once and turned back to them, "Well the most sensible thing to do of course would be to hang the little fools out to dry and carry on," Seeing the shift in the headmaster's expression he quickly corrected himself, "But I wager that as headmaster of the Academy this is not an option for you is it?"
"Although you are right to say that my post as headmaster makes me feel bound to a sense of duty to my own students, I feel like I should clarify that there are other factors at work here."
"Oh? Do enlighten us."
"Chiefly, for all their faults Team RWBY is a highly effective and efficient team of students, more than capable ability, mind and soul. They demonstrated it as such during their fight with the Atlesian robot, they stand head and shoulders above their peers, and are matched only by his highness' own team although they tend to of course demonstrate a greater proclivity towards 'independent actions' as it were."
"Ah independent actors," The King snorted, "Such troublesome people and yet, the same people that we often rely on in times of crisis."
"I understand that your majesty, and so-"
"It shouldn't be too difficult, both of you and your followers are tied down so actions on your part will only reflect badly on yourselves, on the other hand a third party with sufficient influence could…shall we say…" The King pursed his lips as his eyes flicked to the ceiling for a moment before refocusing on the two in front of him, "Gently push the course in your favor."
"What are you suggesting your Majesty?"
"Nothing of course, just thinking about whether I should go down to the hospital to give the victims a show of support, maybe give a few speeches, that sort of little thing." He shrugged.
"You're going to help us?" Ironwood had been silent all this time, and chose this moment to speak up, Ozpin shot him a sharp look.
"Maybe, maybe not, I still have to think about what could be in this for me." He sighed and drummed his fingers idly on the table while looking distant.
Ozpin and Ironwood exchanged worried glances.
Elsewhere,
Jaune took a deep breath as he pressed the soda button on the vending machine and watched as a can rolled into the bottom. He fished it out, opened it and took a long drink, he had been completely caught off guard by the sheer pressure that the King could exude from himself onto the people around him just by his very presence, at the moment all the prince wanted to do was to calm himself and try to move on past the little talk he had just had with his maternal grandfather.
Your certainly following in the footsteps of your father aren't you? The words seemed to echo in his head, his father and mother, Jacques and Viola Arc, Duke and Duchess of Armorica. Disappeared years ago shortly after Elizabeth, Victoria and Catherine were born, and by that time both Anne and Kristina had found their own things to do while he stayed in Armorica with Jeanne and Maria.
And then after that…
Jaune shook his head a little as he took another long gulp, he badly needed to clear his head, needed to stop remembering…
Needed to stop…
And let's hope you stay that way.
"I know!" He cried out to no one in particular.
"Your highness?" Jaune jumped, he had completely forgotten his two silent companions were still behind him.
"Are you well your highness? If you need any help the King's personal doctor is here alongside him." Daniel asked with a level voice.
Oh god no, I DO not need this now, I don't need a bunch of bodyguards worrying over me. Jaune thought as he tried to come up with an answer.
"Your highness? Are you alri-" Dahlia tried but was swiftly cut off.
"I'm fine ok?!" Jaune growled out angrily, the sudden mood shift caught both protectors off guard and they flinched from his sudden outburst, Jaune immediately felt rather guilty and quickly put his hands up in front of him.
"Sorry…I didn't mean to…ahem," Alright calm down, they're just doing their job here, no need to get angry at them, Jaune straightened up, "Sorry I shouldn't have snapped at you, I'm just a little winded, it's been a long day, I can find my own way out, you can go and take your break."
"Our orders were to escort you until such time as you live the premises." Dahlia flatly replied.
"Orders from His Majesty himself." Daniel spoke up as well.
Whelp, no overriding that then. Jaune sweat-dropped.
He finished his drink and made his way outside the sun was already beginning to set ever so slowly, waving goodbye to his two temporary companions he departed with another taxi and sped off quickly.
"Well he seems rather nice in general." Daniel commented.
"Not too bad looking either I guess." Dahlia shrugged, "I mean not 10/10 but I'd say a 7/10 is pretty good."
"Yeah, well let's go catch five while we can." Daniel tapped his sister on the shoulder and the two disappeared back into the building.
Meanwhile, in Beacon Academy,
Team JNPR –without the J- entered their dorm room rather lazily and sat around the room without really knowing what to do, Pyrrha on the chair by the desk, Ren on his bed and Nora leaning on her bed's post, all of them were rather quiet, fidgeting here and there and making small movements that spoke more about their mood than any words really did. Uncertainty and nervousness was in the air, not just for their friends but for their errant team leader who had disappeared of to do something for their headmaster with only a vague assurance of making it up to them.
"Jaune-y's holding out on us." Nora stated out of nowhere.
"That much is obvious; he's been hiding something for a very long time now." Ren agreed.
"But what is he hiding?!" Pyrrha grit her teeth and clenched her fist, she really did not like the idea that her partner was keeping secrets from her-the team. They were supposed to be a team, which meant no secrets being kept from each other and that they bonded as a team and that…
And that was where Pyrrha sort of hit a dilemma, as far as she knew no one else but her knew that Jaune had had dreams…bad dreams, she was the only person besides Ozpin who knew that he had such dreams. Ones that made you go completely off-the-rails and forced you to try to kill your opponent in the most efficient way possible, she supposed that without the stress of combat, his 'semblance' did not activate and with that, he seemed to be perfectly fine otherwise.
In fact he had not talked about it since that first time on the rooftop of the dormitory. Indeed during combat classes these days he seemed to far calmer and controlled, and generally did not look to tackle anyone to the ground and slam the pointy end of his backup knife into their faces before Professor Goodwitch called him off. Instead, he was more content to ram his sword's handguard into their faces using that silly technique of grabbing his sword by the blade and using it like a hammer.
Well she still thought it was silly, no matter what he said otherwise.
In any case, perhaps now would have been a good time to start revealing the things she knew about Jaune in turn, after all if their leader was going to be so secretive perhaps it was time to start opening the can lid that was covering him so tightly.
"Alright so now Team JNPR's investigation into team leader Jaune Arc is beginning…" Nora took a deep breath, "NOW!" She shouted and immediately crossed her legs, folded her arms and adopted a thinking posture, "So what do we know about our team leader?"
"We know he comes from the royal enclaves…" Ren started.
"Does spend quite a lot of time in private with our headmaster." Pyrrha noted.
"Has a rather big family, like six sisters!" Nora was nodding along.
"He doesn't think all that highly of his parents." Ren put forward.
"What do we know about his sisters anyway?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't he say one of them runs a law firm…?" And then Nora's eyes widened, "That's it!" She cried out, both looked at her with perplexed expressions on their faces, "If his sister is a working professional, than we should have no problem finding out from there! It should be even easier since it's a private law firm, all we have to do is search on the Rem-net!" Both Pyrrha and Ren exchanged an understanding look before they fetched their scrolls.
Unfortunately that turned out to be a dead end, none of them could find out anything from the search term: Arc lawyer.
"I don't get it, what can of company doesn't have its own website in this day and age?" Nora tossed her scroll to one side.
"Maybe it can't afford one?" Ren tried.
Pyrrha sighed, "This is starting to feel like a really bad idea guys, I don't think Jaune would appreciate us gossiping and snooping behind his back."
They lapsed into a rather gloomy silence at that. Jaune was a nice person and leader for sure, it was just that for his own team, he could certainly stand to be a little more informative at times.
"That's it!" Nora suddenly slammed her fist into her palm, "How were we so blind before?! The answer is so obvious!" Her eyes were bright and shining with determination, both Ren and Pyrrha exchanged slightly worried looks, both wondering where the hammer maiden was taking this.
"Jaune is obviously some sort of secret super-spy person working for Ozpin! Performing secret missions to sniff out criminals and terrorists and beating up their hordes of goons and henchmen while saving the world and never letting anyone but himself and Ozpin knows about it!"
Ren and Pyrrha blinked and exchanged a look, Ren shrugged and Pyrrha nodded.
Well it was just like Nora anyway.
"But it makes the most sense doesn't it? I mean he's always so secretive, doesn't really talk much and he always spends time with..." And then a lightbulb seemed to go off above Nora's head and she snapped her fingers.
"I know! He must be working with Ruby, Blake and that one monkey guy! They were all involved in that thing at the docks a couple months ago, Jaune must have been working undercover against the White Fang when he saw that Blake and the monkey needed help so he blew his cover and then Ozpin probably made all of them into secret agents!" Although it was Nora they were talking about, Pyrrha not to think of those possibilities since it generally meant that Jaune was going to be closer with whichever girl he was being partnered with than her.
And that just would not do.
It was a shame they just did not have the chance to train together as often as she would have liked, Vulcan's rage was one thing, but her chance to bond with him as a partner –and she hoped in the future, as more than a partner- was the primary thing as stake here.
She personally would have loved nothing more than to be able to pull him to one side and demand an explanation, unfortunately for her Jaune generally did not like being pushed into things.
So she was just going to have to bide her time and court him slowly, well she had four years to do it anyway.
Vale City Airport,
As the day drew to a close and some of the initial excitement started winding down, a new airship with a snowflake emblem on it appeared in the skies above Vale City Airport. With clearance granted for it to land, it touched down gently and taxied away to a hangar where it would stay for as long as it needed to until whatever business its master had was completed.
The ramp lowered and a woman stepped out of it, white-hair tied in a stiff bun, she was very well dressed in her Atlesian Military specialist uniform, ironed and starched to perfection such that there was not a single crease to be found. She carried herself well, with pride and strength and perhaps just a little bit of haughtiness in her step. As she exited the airship she turned to look at the one right beside her own.
"So that's the airship of his majesty…" She mused quietly to herself, it was an older model and it certainly was not as big or impressive as her own airship was, and yet there was a certain old-fashioned charm to it that she just could not place, was it nostalgia for the past perhaps? The lingering remains of the once proud House who ruled this domain of Remnant, the airship was certainly plainer looking even if it bore the markings of the House of Vale.
She knew all about the House of Vale of course, how could she not? She had had the pleasure of spending the last several months working together with one of its own progeny, a genius young girl aiding in the development of advanced technology related to all sorts of fields including robotics, medical equipment and dust refining…
That girl never ceased to amaze her.
And according to her, she had a twin brother currently staying –or hiding out as it would appear- at the prestigious Beacon Academy, the only son born to the Duke and Duchess of Armorica amongst a large family of eight children, one of only two princes in the entirety of the Royal Enclaves, a tragic result of the White Fang attack that had breached the city and claimed the life of not just one of the youngest sisters, but also disabled the Crown Prince's wife and caused a miscarriage.
She seethed at the thought, an unprovoked attack on a city that accepted the Faunus as equal? It had been clear that day that the White Fang were just a bunch of terrorists with no real cause to fight for, a bunch of pathetic and useless…
She rubbed her forehead, clearing those thoughts out of her head. In any case, she hoped he would turn out better than the eldest daughter of the family, she still tried her best not to remember her and tried not to think of her as a princess. The eldest daughter had basically been the antithesis of what a princess ought to have been.
"Ms. Schnee!" A voice broke her out of her thoughts, it was her aide that had spoken up, she turned around to look at him with a quizzical expression on her face.
"We're all set, we can go whenever you wish ma'am."
"Excellent." Winter Schnee nodded in return.
Shaking away her distracting thoughts of the House of Vale, she turned her attention back to the original purpose of her coming to Vale. Which was to put it simply: fish her little sister out of whatever problem she had gotten herself into now, and of course ensure that she received a proper scolding for it as befitting the elder sister of Weiss Schnee.
At the same time as Winter Schnee was making her own preparations, down in the baggage collection area, a different sort of preparation was taking place.
There was a tall man, broad shoulders, blonde hair, blue eyes and little stubble on his chin, standing on one leg quietly with his armed folded, he was waiting in earnest for the last piece of his luggage to arrive, a little something that he wanted to give to his two daughters just to…offload him from his house and give him some peace and quiet for once.
So to speak.
He was finally answered with a sharp bark and he let his arms fall to his side as the pet carrier came into view with 01 Corgi inside of it.
"Finally!" He sighed in relief as he picked it up with the dog inside barking excitedly.
"Calm down Zwei, yes we're going to see Ruby and Yang, yes you're going to stay with them and yes there will be food." Taiyang Xiao Long growled out, that seemed to silence the mutt, but he continued to excitedly move around in the carrier, making it rather difficult for the man who was carrying it.
Taiyang sighed as he bunched up his shoulders and stepped out of the Airport, normally whenever his daughters were in trouble he could rely on his old teammate to take care of them for him since he had his own responsibilities as a teacher in Signal, at the moment though that guy was off doing something in Mistral, flirting with barmaids and waitresses probably.
And so it fell to him to drop whatever he had been doing and organise a trip to Vale from his island home of Patch, the communications blackout had been sudden due to the rarity of such an event, but as soon as he had caught wind of what was happening he had mustered everything and gone on his way with a letter to Signal explaining himself.
"Just wait for me you two, I'm coming." He looked into the night sky before setting off.
No of course I most certainly did not forget that Winter and Taiyang were a thing, with this fic going more and more AU with every chapter I felt, why not use this as an excuse to introduce them earlier and set up V3? Both have their own distant connections to Jaune which Ialready sort-of hinted at in previous chapters (STRQ and CORA were rivals, Jaune's twin works in Atlas)
I know everyone expected me to just deus ex machina the whole thing away with the King, unfortunately it really wasn't what I had in mind in the first place, the key thought for me was that the King should act as the process rather than the end result, gently easing events in the preferred direction as opposed to directly trying to push them that way.
I was going to include a longer conversation between the two headmasters and the King, but I felt that the chapter was long enough already and so left it out, it got really long winded and would have made this chapter about equal in length to the previous.
There was a part of me that wanted to make both Dahlia and Daniel childhood friends of Jaune, they would have met in school together, with Dahlia and Daniel dreaming of becoming knights -their father being a royal legionnaire and being determined to do so (although they would not have known that Jaune was a prince until much later), in this chapter the King would have been aware of this and would have let the both of them go so that they could basically catch up with each other. The purpose would have been to give Jaune someone else to interact with outside of the his servants, family and Beacon, unfortunately there was no built-up and no mention of them before, so I cut it out, also I already had Gravelyn so there was no need to create even more redundant OCs.
I realized at some point that I completely forgot about the whole dreaming subplot that Pyrrha is the only one who is apparently aware that Jaune had at one point been having nightmares that may or may not have been related to his semblance, I don't really know if this is a could time to restart that subplot but I really wanted to run it to its eventual conclusion because its partly related to the overall story plot.
Well that's all for now, I might have one more chapter at the end of August, but we'll see about that.
No omake again, this time however because I wanted to keep the one I had in mind until the next chapter.
I appreciate all your reviews, faves and follows!