A/N: I don't own RWBY. That goes to Rooster Teeth, with its conception to the late Monty Oum.
Her alarm went off, and Nora rolled out of bed. She pried her eyes opened, she convinced her limbs to move, she slammed her feet to the ground as she pulled herself up, cracking her back and other stiff joints before lightly jumping up to get the blood flowing, but not loud enough to wake Jaune.
She wasn't worried about Ren, he could sleep through anything. As for Pyrrha….
She wasn't there. Her bed was empty, and even more unusual, un-made. Normally Pyrrha was obsessive with neatness, a pride in her organization that represented her reputation as the graceful championess that she was. She couldn't control the snoring, but she could control her environment, but yet the blanket was practically flapping about like a scarf in a blizzard, the sheets drooping like a filthy ghost.
Nora sighed, got dressed, and went out the door. She had a BFF to find.
She at first checked the roof. She wasn't there. She checked the gym. She wasn't there. She checked the girls bathroom, and knocked on every stall door and screamed into every shower. Yang was there, but not Pyrrha.
Nora was about to give up until she stepped on a slippery surface near the cafeteria, and landed on her butt. "Oww…." She looked at her shoe and saw that she slipped on a colorful puddle of…. something. She touched her shoe, scooped up the unknown substance with her pointer finger, and licked it.
"Strawberry…. No…. Vanilla…. But wait! Chocolate as well…..
….It's Ice Cream. Neapolitan Ice Cream…."
Nora suddenly jumped up into a defensive stance, expecting something to strike her from above or from the side or from below…. Somehow. She didn't fully know how Neo worked, to be fair.
Oh wait, she hates ice cream. Nora chuckled to herself and then looked forward, seeing that the ice cream drippings continued down a separate corridor, disappearing around a corner. Nora decided to follow.
At the end of the trail she was greeted by Pyrrha Nikos stuffing her face with a Neapolitan, banana-less sundae while sitting on a park bench outside. She wore her incognito outfit of a black hoody, black sweats, black shoes, and her tiara. It never worked.
"Hey Pyrrha." Nora started, and was greeted by the sudden arrival of a deep emerald-green glare "what's…. up?"
"You're going to the dance with Jaune!" Pyrrha replied with a threatening monotone. Oh yeah…. I am…
"OOOHHH YEAH I AM!" Nora suddenly jumped in the air, fist bumping the sky, and rocketing down to the ground. "I am…" Nora looked as Pyrrha's expression had yet to change, "…going with him as a friend, in order to avoid any…."
"Oh you don't tell me things like that Nora." Pyrrha stood up, the bowl of ice cream now being cradled beneath her right arm, "look, I'm doing the best I can. I have accepted…" Pyrrha blinked heavily, "…that Jaune doesn't see me that way, or at least not now, and that there's nothing I can do to change his mind other than to just be a good friend to him and nothing more. I still help him with training. I still listen to him. I still support him as our leader. And I do ALL OF THAT with a smile on my face!" She pointed at Nora, "and I try to ignore the thoughts that you have started to hang out with Jaune more, A LOT more. All most as much if not more than ME. And I try to not be paranoid and think that you had any influence over him. And then I hear that you and Jaune are going to the dance….
"….as friends, Pyrrha! Listen, Jaune would've asked you if he wasn't afraid…."
"That I'd fall in love with him again? Hah!" Pyrrha shuddered. "Maybe I would! Maybe I would be lost in the twirl of a night with my partner in my arms, dancing alongside him and realizing why I fell in love with him in the first place." Pyrrha then stepped closer, "but what makes you any different?"
"Listen Pyrrha, I'd like to imagine that we are past 'fighting over boys' in our relationship." Nora offered up her hands in peace. "Besides, as I said…"
"Not together-together, I know." Pyrrha sighed, facing away from Nora, slouching her body downwards while still greedily holding on to her bowl of ice cream. "But… you said the same about Ren. What happened with that, anyway?"
"He doesn't see me that way Pyrrha. And considering how much of our lives we shared, he had plenty of time to think about it." Nora crossed her arms, removing her gaze from the back of Pyrrha's hood and towards the concrete. She closed her eyes, "I'm sorry I saw what you saw in Jaune. But I tried. I tried to ignore them. I even tried helping you get together, after Jaune told me his… concerns. I tried. But… there's only so much I can do in both helping you and ignoring myself. What else can I say…." Nora scratched the back of her head.
"I'm…. Noraaaaaa" she said weakly, providing limp jazz hands shaking lazily at the sides of her head.
"I mean…. It's not too much of a logical jump, you and Jaune's relationship." Pyrrha said lowly, "it started shortly after Mulan, you two were alone for a full weekend. You bonded and formed a deeper friendship…. Ren and I act so suspicious but…. When you think of it simply, it's not like there COULD be anything else there. I mean…. What? The DOG is somehow involved?"
Nora let out a loud, forced "HAH! Yeah…. That would be stupid, wouldn't it?"
Pyrrha once more sighed, and turned to face Nora. "Listen, I've tried forgiving Jaune for not loving me and…. I guess I'll have to try forgiving you too, just…." She sighed again, expelling so much air she was building a palace out of those sighs: A Ver-sigh, so to speak. "Give me time and a little space with…. this." Pyrrha motioned to her bowl of ice cream.
Nora felt the magnetic compulsion to hug; her go-to comforting technique, but…. She wasn't sure she was the hug Pyrrha was looking for. Nora instead stood still and nodded, "I understand."
"Thank you." Pyrrha quietly replied, before slinking off into another building to avoid detection as pathetically as the last time. Nora simply frowned a small frown, not in despair but in slight frustration. No matter what victories she had, there were always things that would just be fundamentally wrong.
"I'm going to find you a date, Pyrrha Nikos, and if I can't…." Nora shifted her posture into the proud warrior she knew she was, "I will FORCE JAUNE INTO A DRESS!"
Jaune woke up with a cold sweat, as if someone just…. Doomed him to do something embarrassing. "Nora…." He mumbled, as he rolled out of bed and got up to get dressed.
Ren continued sleeping away as Jaune got dressed. Nora and Pyrrha were gone, so he didn't even have to hide behind a towel, hide in the wardrobe, or-more realistically- go to the men's restroom to safely change. He got into his casual wear, it was the week-end, and walked out of the dorm, refreshed and ready to take on whatever the day had in store.
"So… you're muttering her name when you wake up now?" Jaune jumped up as Ren snuck up behind him.
"I thought you were asleep?"
"So was I…" Ren sighed, "but hearing Nora's name immediately makes me panic, so I woke up. But then I realized it was just you and that you were going to start changing, so I remained with my eyes closed."
"So you panicked yet made no sound?"
"I am an island of calm in a sea of insanity…." Ren let out a deep breath, "at least that's what I try to do."
"Fair enough," Jaune crossed his arms as he looked away from his team-mate. He shifted his eyes across the corridor to see if anyone was walking nearby. There were a couple, but nothing large crowd of clear gossipers. "So… has Nora…."
"Nora told me you and she are going to the dance that's in a couple months…. Or is it a month?"
"Month and a half,"
"Ah…." Ren nodded, "plenty of time for you two to prepare." Ren crossed his arms and leaned along the wall. He then shifted his head and looked at Jaune with a smirk, raising an eyebrow and slacking his head back. Jaune himself crossed his arms and leaned along the wall.
"Are you expecting me to say something?"
"You are taking the closest thing I have to actual family on a date, should you say something to me?"
Jaune pressed his back closer to the wall to stand upright. "It is just the dance, we're going as friends…."
"You know what Nora means by not being 'together-together,' right? I'm assuming she used that phrase, if she didn't then…."
"….she did…."
"…naturally she did, I'm usually right." Ren nodded in self-satisfaction. "Now, do you know what it means when she insists that you're not 'together-together'?"
"…..I'm in an awkward position, aren't I?"
Ren sighed, "only if you make it awkward."
Jaune looked down, it isn't what Ren's hinting at, is it? But if it is…
"You have my blessing, you know that, right? Because unless Nora's lost family just somehow shows up all of a sudden…."
Jaune and Ren look around, expecting some form of payoff for that line. It didn't come.
"….I'm all she has, and…. well, I trust you. Now, if you don't mind," Ren straightened his getup, "I have to talk to Cardin about something." He walked away, leaving Jaune alone in the inexplicably empty hallway. Jaune looked at his hands, noticing that he indeed wasn't holding onto Nora's weapon, despite being deep in thought.
I trust you.
It was an easier issue to think of than… the other thing Ren brought up. The fact that Ren, and Pyrrha, and possibly Team RWBY trusted him, with the exception of Ruby and Weiss at the moment…. Which was half of Team RWBY, to be honest.
He couldn't let it just be 'BY' and his team. He had to regain their trust, and earn it. They deserved the truth.
But then there was the promise he gave to Goodwitch…..
….Their enemies knew of them. Every time Jaune left Vale he was assaulted with a ridiculous Grimm-based attack. He was targeted by the White Fang along with Nora. His sister was sent upon him, and it's possible that someone in this very school was preparing to strike, right after coitus, of all things.
He had to tell his team why all this was happening. Why Nora and he were always in danger of some kind. Why they became…. Close.
As to what that closeness entailed didn't matter to him much at the moment, he had to set things right.
He had to beg Goodwitch to let him tell his team. It was the right thing to do.
"So they were out with Zwei?" Ruby asked, sitting across from Weiss, while they had the room alone.
"I saw it. How Zwei even left the room is a mystery, Nora and Jaune didn't pick him up. However, they did slip by the room late at night to deliver him back to us, yet somehow they didn't need to open the door." Weiss had a large tote bag of random equipment designed for spying. How she got a hold of it, Ruby didn't ask, but she didn't care. She only cared of the mystery ahead of her.
"So… what do we know?"
"We know Zwei was present in Mulan, and that Nora and Jaune brought them there. We know Zwei was possibly present with the Slaggeater attack. And now we know that those little rumored jaunts that Nora and Jaune take at night…"
"…heh. Jaunts. Jaune…." Ruby thought of her sister.
"FOCUS! Uhg, I think Yang made that joke before, anyway," Weiss shook her head and regained her own focus, "we also know that Jaune and Nora can disappear in that elevator, the same way Dr. Glass did. Whatever the definitive answer is, it is in that elevator."
"Or it's with Zwei himself," Ruby motioned to her cute little doggy, passed out on Blake's bed, where Zwei always resided when their faunus team-mate wasn't in the room.
"Well, we can't ask him, can we?" Weiss sighed. "I suggest we go to Goodwitch, the defeat of the Slaggeater was attributed to her by Umber, if you recall." Ruby nodded, attempting to follow every word her partner said. "She might have answers."
"Or she might not tell us…." Ruby pouted.
"That is a high possibility; however, we can't just rule it out and assume the worst." Weiss shrugged and hopped off her own bed. "Shall we go?"
"Of course!" Ruby hopped off the floor and joined her partner as they left the room and headed towards Goodwitch's office. She kept her hands entwined together behind her flowing red cloak as her shoes clacked along the percussive marble that stretched across the halls. She smiled, wistfully whistling a song to the beat of their footsteps.
Weiss turned her head to face her leader. "Ruby, could you please stop whistling, it's distract-OOF!" Weiss ran into a tall figure. "Watch where you're going you dunce!"
"Watch who you're speaking to…. Weiss." Ruby felt a shiver down her spine as Goodwitch eyed them with the ferocity she was accustomed to.
"Oh…. Professor Goodwitch… ma'am, I'm…." Weiss lunged back, practically running into Ruby, stammering and shaking, "I… actually wanted to speak with you about something important, something that I hope you have the answers to."
Goodwitch suddenly smiled, a…. sinister smile? "Oooh, really? Well then, come with me Weiss. Though I…." she patted her pockets, and then pointed at Ruby, "um… you. Could you run by my office and pick up my scroll? The door should be open. I rarely worry about thieves to be honest, should probably work on that."
"No probs Goodwitch!" Ruby saluted, "I'll get it to you in just a moment!" And she ran off in a flurry of red petals.
She arrived at Goodwitch's office in around 15 seconds, and immediately barged into the door to find…. Jaune and Goodwitch sitting down having what appeared to be an intense conversation.
Ruby recoiled, "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, but you where… I saw you, and with Weiss, and you said…. And me here, and unlocked, and….." Ruby looked everywhere, pointing in every which direction as she expressed her confusion, and she found her silver eyes attracted to one sight.
"Is that that Ninja's of Love series Blake loves to read?"
"Ms. Rose, what is the meaning of this?" Goodwitch firmly stated, "Mr. Arc and I are having an incredibly important discussion right now."
"But…. I saw you down the hall, you were taking Weiss somewhere….. I….. we were going to ask you about Mulan, but you said you needed your scroll in your office."
"I'll have you know I never have my scroll off my person, but…. You said I was somewhere else… and took Weiss somewhere?"
"Yeah…. I…. did I do something bad?"
Jaune rose from his chair, "we need to find Weiss. NOW."
"Don't think I don't know that Mr. Arc, now, Ruby, lead us to where this doppelganger of mine was." Even Goodwitch looked worried, and then the sudden realization of what could possibly be very bad settled into Ruby's mind.
"Oh… Oh Oum no!" She ran off to the spot where the faux Goodwitch was, without even really considering that Jaune or Goodwitch could feasibly keep up.
She ran to the spot, Weiss and "Goodwitch" were gone. Ruby scouted around in a short perimeter, checking every single classroom and corridor in the general vicinity.
"WEISS!" Ruby called out, and all she was responded with were a bunch of fellow students looking at her weird. Ruby huffed in frustration and continued running around Beacon, pushing people off if they didn't get out of the way of her tumultuous floral storm.
Jaune and Goodwitch eventually caught up, with Ruby started to slowly tear up. "I mean… I thought…. I should've noticed, the smile, she called Weiss 'Weiss,' not 'Ms. Schnee,' and…. and….."
"Look, it's probably nothing too bad," Goodwitch reassured, probably some stupid prank with some shapeshifting semblance, we don't know all the facts. Still…. I will notify Ozpin of what just transpired, if you wish, you can continue looking." Goodwitch then looked at Jaune, nodded with closed eyes, and left.
Jaune walked up to Ruby and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's just been a minute at most, she couldn't possibly have even run off campus by now, the only way that could happen is…."
Ruby instead turned around and dug her face into Jaune's torso, causing Jaune to blush slightly. "We live in a world where practically anything is possible… it's highly likely she's off campus!"
"But how? I mean, unless…." Jaune seemed to look up in thought, "okay, I might know someone who could pull a stunt like this."
"Who?"
Jaune sighed, "doesn't matter, she wouldn't do something like this…. I hope." He then paused, "still…. I also have something to tell you. And it might help." Jaune pulled out his scroll and pulled up Nora. "Come here, ASAP."
An Atlesian special unit Stealth Bullhead, designed to liftoff quietly and inconspicuously, was parked out in the Beacon docks. It looked just like a normal bullhead, but had a nice engine, sleek chair design, cup-holders, and a gaggle of White Fang troops: Adam among them.
He twiddled his thumbs, awaiting the "surprise" Sienna had promised him. He would've smiled if he wasn't busy scowling.
Suddenly, the bullhead opened, and someone appearing to be the deputy of Beacon walked in, holding what appeared to be….
"Look what I found!" 'Glynda' smiled as she held the heiress by the scruff of her neck.
Weiss's eyes registered what she saw, widened all of a sudden, and then made to kick the faux professor, only to be pushed into the bullhead, the ramp suddenly closing, and Adam pointing a thirsty Wilt at the heiress's face.
"I thought you would bring Blake or Jaune to me…." Adam mumbled
"Don't forget, I'm not here to provoke your bizarre fantasies or desire to save face," Sienna Kahn, master of disguise, leader of the White Fang, replied, "but when I scouted Beacon dressed as another professor," she pulled out a gigantic white fake mustache, "and I found a Schnee, I couldn't resist…." She chuckled a horrendous chuckle, that eventually graduated to a vile laugh.
"You… you…. My team will get me!" Weiss shrieked, "and if you kill me, you will sure as hell expect the FULL WRATH of the SDC raining upon you! My father and Winter could eviscerate BOTH of you!" She then turned to the random goons, "and they would still have time to stomp you all into the dirt from whence you came!"
"My my, how racist!" Sienna scowled, still dressed as Goodwitch. "We'll see how vocal you are after we INTERROGATE you at our Vale safehouse!"
"The whole point of interrogation is to make people vocal!" Weiss objected.
"Not our interrogations, since we already know all we need to know!" Sienna laughed once more as the bullhead stealthily speeded into the daylight sky.
Weiss mumbled, "I can't believe I fell for, 'I have a full report and recording on this specific non-suspicious bullhead'…. I RECOGNIZED the Atlas markings!"
"The search for a certain truth makes us vulnerable for the lies directly in front of us…. That's why I simply resort to violence." Sienna sneered as she walked up, ignored Weiss, and entered the enclosed cockpit to check on the pilot. Adam scowled and looked at the Schnee.
"If it's any comfort, I don't want anything to do with you. I used to have hatred towards the Schnees, now… it's just been consumed by the hatred I have for all of humanity. A Schnee is no less vile that the random bastards I see not living in fear walking down the streets."
"Is that what you want?" Weiss spat, "for us to live in fear?"
"No…" Adam leaned in, "I don't want you living at all." Adam then stood up, pulled out his journal, and wrote that down. He was going to use that later, that's for sure.
Adam sneered as he sat down and thought his usual thoughts. He wondered if his thoughts should ever be published, due to how amazing his thoughts were. His thoughts on love. His thoughts on truth, his thoughts on the bullhead being shot out of the sky and…. wait…..
"WHAT THE HELL!" Adam screamed as he suddenly saw a gaping hole where a wall was. Air sucked out violently as the ship itself careened like a drunk trapeze artist.
Weiss suddenly started levitating, a ball of light surrounding her, as she was rocketed out of the bullhead, as Adam dramatically screamed "No." Sienna would later punish him for only screaming "no," rather than doing something.
Weiss splatted upon a plain of grass, feeling the wind leave her lungs. She coughed violently as she tried to regain the air she so dearly deserved and wanted.
Right when she was about to inhale, a sloppy lick from a dog dragged along her face, making her sputter and choke again.
"Wow! That was impressive Zwei!" Weiss heard Nora's voice say, "what a great way to debut your powers to everyone here! Which is only us and Ruby for some reason!"
"Why are the docks empty?"
"Duh, it's national indoors day!"
"…it is?"
"I honestly have no idea, I mean, when I talked to Pyrrha outside we were the only ones there."
"You had a talk with Pyrrha?"
"Are you surprised?"
"Man… I… should look for her…"
"She needs her space. Don't worry about it."
"EXCUSE ME!" Weiss pushed herself up after finally regaining the ability to breath. "Will ANYONE explain what the hell just happened?"
Nora and Jaune looked at each other. "Uh…."
"You know what, fine. Don't explain why I'm suddenly here and Zwei is here and…. wait….. Ruby's here?"
"Oh, yeah! She's right over there!" Nora pointed to her side, which guided Weiss's gaze to Ruby….
Who was bug-eyed and salivating with an expression of wonder.
"Woof!"
Weiss looked down at the dog. "When Ruby regains her sense of time and place, we are going to have a VERY important conversation with you!"
A/N: Shortest chapter yet, so apologies. Anyway, I only watched the first three episodes of Volume 4, basically intending to binge it when it's all out. Screw cliffhangers except for the inevitable one at the end of the Volume, amirite? Still, I keep checking to make sure Sienna Kahn hasn't been fully revealed. Until then… instead of doing what seems reasonable like many fics that proposed a reasonable yet inaccurate version of Qrow before his reveal in the show, I decided to go, "fuck it, Sienna is a weird-ass master of disguise." Why?...
…..Just so I can make a Star Trek: Into Darkness reference…. I never said I was going to be high-brow with this story…..
Anyway, Fave! Follow! Review! Force Your Friend into A Dress!
