pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

I used to go for jogs with Pyrrha.

Just around Beacon campus. I didn't read much into it at the time. I really didn't. I was mostly focused on getting enough oxygen and afterwards enough breakfast to read into how she probably wanted me to see her body in action. It wasn't like I didn't get to see her in action in Glynda's class and our training sessions, but still. I didn't look much into it.

With Ruby, jogging through the waterfalls of Mistral until we stopped to get smoothies and talk shop, it was kind of hard to miss how her body flowed. Maybe it was a speedster thing, maybe I was more awake, maybe I was less of a total moron, but it was an experience chasing her through the Mistrali gardens in her workout clothes. An experience.

Eventually she took mercy on my tired soul and lungs at a place she must have looked up in her scroll to get blended fresh fruit. It was delicious after so long rationing everything.

"So that was fun." She stretched breezily and in that moment I'd never, well hated was a little strong, but I certainly never disliked her more as I wheezed for breath. I'd insisted that I have a weapon on me which meant my bastard sword was strapped to my back and had given my run asymmetry.

I took a long smooth drink of smoothy. She was so lucky she ordered me strawberry, pineapple, and vanilla. Plus she was damn cute. I suspected she knew it too.

"What did you and my uncle talk about over drinks? Must have been interesting to get you so stumbly."

"I wasn't stumbly." I defended insistently.

"You were." She teased. "You and him stumbled all over the place when you brought that new guy back."

New guy. Like she wasn't already chummy with Oscar Pine, better known as Ozpin. She shared her comics with the guy. I didn't jealously suck on my straw at the thought. Well, he would never have what we have anyway. "Qrow and I talked about a way to get him some legs."

"Oh really?"

"Unfortunately it probably involves doing some shady shit." She hit me for the swear. It was light, with the back of her hand. More like she was grazing my bicep than hitting me. It made me want to swear again more than anything else just to get her to touch me.

"I thought you wanted to avoid stuff like that."

"I did but your uncle really needs a new pair of feet."

She sighed at that. "You two are going to get along so well."

"I appreciate what you did with him, by the way."

She innocently cocked her head at me, the damsel. "What did I do?"

"You convinced him to teach me."

"Well he did used to be a teacher."

"Thanks Rubes. I really need it."

"So you'll be up for some fighting later?" She jabbed my sides where she knew I was ticklish. "Up for a bit of one on one?"

"Oh you better believe I'd go one on one with you anytime." I gave her a kiss to emphasize and she turned scarlet. She looked away, brushing her hair from her face and taking a long drink to calm down which only made me want to do it again.

So I did. I ran my tongue across her lips and into her mouth and she leaned into me in a really self-satisfying way. I pulled back a chair behind her and pushed her down into it. As I did, I pulled back and kissed her forehead. She giggled and flushed even more red, looking up at me with big silver eyes.

Fuck me.

Her sweat, light across her scalp tasted as sweet as my smoothy.

I licked my lips looking down at her. "Stop it." She blushed. "I'm trying to focus. You're not helping"

"Yeah well me too. You can't just be there looking like-" Sex. She looked like sex. "Like really, really good and expect me to do nothing." She made me remember that night in the woods where we shared our first ride. It was unforgettable, burned into my memory more than anything I'd ever experienced. I wanted it again. I was hungry for it again.

"Yeah well you need to tell me what you and my uncle are planning, still." She must have heard it in my voice; maybe it turned more husky than I meant it to. I put the cold smoothy in my lap because the demure sound of her voice and her smell and taste was seriously driving me nuts.

Embrace the cold, little Jaune.

"I'm not sure yet. Probably some kind of drug run to be honest."

"What kind of drugs." Her eyes and nostrils narrowed and the demure sound was gone. I would kill to bring it back.

"Just greens, probably." I lied, like a fucking liar. "About Ozpin…"

"You don't trust him."

Was I really that obvious? "No. No I don't. I think he'll get you, or Ren, or Nora killed. I think he's hiding something, besides."

She nodded along. "Well what about you?" What the fuck about me? "Besides what could he be hiding?"

"The truth. Whatever that may be. What do we actually know about Mother besides she's evil?"

"Mother?" She wondered at me.

I frowned. "Mother?"

"I don't know. You said it."

"I meant Salem. Slip of the tongue. The point is we don't know anything about either of them. Ozpin seems to have some sort of plan but I trust it about as much as I trust his last one."

"His plan with Pyrrha." She confirmed. I'd told her about the girl in the tube and when Qrow had spilled his guts about the maidens, I'd pieced what they had planned together. In reality I was still warming up to Qrow. At least he hadn't used Ruby as bait or something.

Pyrrha, though, was dead because of Ozpin. She was dead. My friend was dead.

Qrow had a perfectly good reason to not join up with us in his scouting and his semblance. "Well what about Lionheart?"

"I trust him even less." If that was possible. "Hell, Ozpin doesn't even trust Lionheart. You heard him. He's disobeying Ozpin's orders. Who knows what that means. How did Cinder and her allies slip past him? Cinder isn't exactly a normal student. Speaking of, I shouldn't have been able to get past Ozpin either. I could have gotten somebody killed."

"Well what was in your forgeries?"

I thought hard. And harder. And was coming up blank. "I have no idea. I can't remember." I scratched my head. "Must have been convincing or else after day one, I should have been out. It doesn't make any sense. I was total garbage."

She reached out and took my hand. "You weren't garbage. Maybe he saw the potential in you." She stroked my fingers.

I shook my head. "None of this is adding up." I squeezed her hand back.

"You'll be safe with what you do with my uncle, though, won't you?"

"Of course. We're heading out this evening to even see if we can work out a deal. You'll see me back tonight. Tomorrow at the latest. And if you don't you'll at least hear from me."

She anxiously slurped her smoothy to empty. Then she started to eye mine and I forked it over. She seriously burned twice as many calories as a normal person. If not more. She was a hungry little devil.

"I don't like this." She mumbled into her new drink.

"I figured you wouldn't but what choice do we have? We need your uncle back to one hundred percent, regardless of Ozpin's schemes."

"If you need me I'll be around finding the parts for Harbinger. Just a call away."

I watched her drink in silence as she absorbed what I had told her. "About your uncle, does he know about us?"

She shook her head and swallowed some smoothy.

"Do you want him to?"

She thought about it for a moment. Then she shook her head. Then shrugged. When she finally pulled the straw from her mouth she said "If he finds out, that's fine. I don't want us to be a secret or anything. And it's not like I'm embarrassed by you. He just gets a little overprotective. I'd like him to get to know you a little better, if possible. He does seem to like you but...If he finds out he finds out, I guess."

I nodded. Hey, it was her decision.

When she finally stood up from our table I followed suite without hesitation. "Come on," she said, "Ren and Nora should be up. We can get some practice in before you head off." I groaned because I knew she was going to make me run again but she flashed me a million watt smile and I felt my load lighten. Her eyes flicked down to my pants then back up to my eyes knowingly. "Plus if we make it back fast enough we can, well, there's only one shower. We may have to share."

The little devil.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

"Bladebeam, bladebeam, bladebeam, bladebeam."

"I'm bladebeaming."

"You're clearly not."

"Well maybe if you did more than repeat it over and over again and gave me some actual instructions."

"Make a beam with your blade."

"I'm mounting in dislike for you."

"Look, I already told you to focus and project your aura. My niece told me you should have plenty and you're already close enough."

I sighed and swept my sword at my target. A poor unscathed tree. Nothing happened, yet again. The tree remained unscratched.

Qrow took a drink from his wheelchair and slouched over.

"If you weren't in a wheelchair I'd dump you on the ground," I grumbled.

"If I wasn't in this chair I could kick your ass."

"Let me try with my semblance."

"And what is your semblance?" Qrow sounded genuinely curious.

"It makes me better."

"It makes you better at what?"

"Everything. Near as I can tell."

I charged it by standing still and focusing. Then I whipped the broadsword around my body easily as the blue glow swept over my body. I cast my sword at the target and nothing happened. I did it twice more before I felt the power start to fade. I glid towards the tree and in that baseball style swing cut straight through it, growling in frustration.

"That doesn't count." Qrow informed me helpfully. "And now we don't have a target."

"I get it. And sure we do. The tree is just on its side."

"Do you get it?" He took another long day drink. "You know we're renting this place, right."

"I get it."

"Does it mess with your emotions at all?"

"Does what?"

"Your semblance you… neanderthal." He struggled for an insult for a moment before settling. "My other niece's is a bit like yours and it fucks with her emotions. It's tied to them, even."

"No. I'm just frustrated."

"Well put that frustration towards bladebeaming. You really are a sitting duck the way you fight without a gun. You'll die and Ruby will have nightmares and who do you think will have to deal with that? Me. I will. So get it together and bladebeam."

I sighed and focused my aura. I felt it run down my hands and into my blade and make it light up gold. I'd gotten this far before now. I just couldn't get the aura to cascade outwards. I swept my sword at the fallen tree and once again nothing happened.

"Show me." I walked over and as I did I swept the sword to my back and drew the bastard sword from the shield. I handed that to him by the extended hilt.

"The weight and balance of it is good so you don't have a problem there. You're just messing up."

Ah. Good. I was the problem. I suspected as much.

"Show me." I demanded.

He swept the sword at the fallen tree and a white slash extended outwards and shook it, leaving branches cleaved from the pine in a wave of brief white. He wobbled in the chair from the motion and I reached down and caught one of the handles.

It wasn't anything like the golden, aura colored wave I was going for.

I took the sword back and a waved it at the tree. A white colored wave hit the tree much more softly than Qrow's. It was small, though fast moving. I frowned. I didn't really like it.

"There you go. Must be one of those learn by example types. Well, once I'm up again I'll have some lessons you can learn quickly, how's that?"

"Thank you." I meant it too. I was sure he was going to beat me into the ground over and over but that was how I learned best.

I waved my sword from the ground upwards and a golden wave of fire the color of my natural aura erupted from the sword and raced towards the stump. It was much slower moving but it would cover me more and it collided much more intensely than the razor thin attack I had managed. It was vastly weaker than Qrow's attack, even from his chair.

This was good. It was fantastic, even. Who needed guns? I wanted to try it with my semblance. I sat there and charged it to completion and this time the wave was blue as it raced even faster to the target. Where it collided it trapped the tree in a series of smaller cuts, like Qrow's, before collapsing with an audible pop that I was sure wouldn't be comfortable for anybody caught in the vortex.

Any reasonable enemy would be able to dodge it and it was still vastly weaker than I'd like, but practice would make perfect and a ranged attack like this one would save my life.

"Your semblance sure is something else. Does it always let you make leaps like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You weren't even close a few hours ago. Now you managed something even if it wasn't particularly good. Is it just like that with you?"

"I just know how to practice and push myself. You know? Had to just to keep up."

"I think I get it. Well keep practicing and pushing yourself, then."

"Bladebeam, bladebeam, bladebeam."

"What are you two up to?" Ruby waltzed out on us to find me covered and sweat and Qrow day drunk.

Our shower had been pretty much pointless as far as keeping me clean went; that was to say I was already sweaty again.

"Qrow was teaching me his bladebeam." I answered when it became clear he wasn't going to be the one responding. His mouth was otherwise occupied with liquor.

"Any luck?"

"Some." I granted her.

"Well Ren and Nora will be out soon for some doubles practice but I figured you and I could go a few rounds in the meantime."

Ruby drew her blade, rotating with the motion until she was facing me with the scythe extended. On the activation of my semblance I rushed to bash her with the kite shield. I knew she would dodge of course. A blur of petals and she was behind me.

I slashed towards her even as she hovered upside down behind me, prepared to shoot me in the back of the head. She knew I could take it. It was still rude, though, so I tried to bisect her and forced her to disappear before she could take the shot.

I rushed her when she landed, trying to get her in the moments before she resolidified when I knew she was most vulnerable. Hey, I had to make it count. I bounced her off the ground but she turned it into an elegant roll.

I rushed her like I meant it and swept the sword at her. Then, when she leapt back I took a moment to charge my semblance, I knew it meant trading advantage with her but hopefully it would mean giving me a little more advantage later.

She recognized it and blitzed me. She slapped me up a little, not going to lie, but when I hit my head against the tree stump my semblance activated and I rolled to my feet in a mean blur. I lept at her, sweeping my sword vertically and rushing her.

She made an adorable "eep" noise that made me not only grin, but made me want to kiss her. Then I swept to her next location. Then the next. She just couldn't get away completely and establish her own advantage. I swung again and she turned to complete petals this time, I was there too. I hit her with my kite shield, spending Limit with it.

She skipped across the ground hard.

This was it. It was ideal to use Limit as well as spend it.

She bounced across the ground when the kite smacked her whole body. Rather than start charging my next Limit or pursue her attempts to get back to neutral I checked her aura with a roll of my wrist. It was already turning yellow from my attacks and how much she had spent just trying to dodge me.

When she got up I dashed forwards, jumped and slashed twice horizontally with the bastard swords. She turned to petals and teleported behind me. "Almost." She teased me. She caught me around the waist with her scythe and fired. The option yanked me into the ground by the blade.

She showed me no mercy and kicked me back and forth across the arena until Ren and Nora decided to show up. My semblance returned when they did so I had nothing to do but turn to them and let the power fade, leaning against my sword as I did.

"Getting in some training?" Nora wondered. "Mind if we join you?"

"Of course not." Ruby kicked my shin. "Don't treat her like that."

I moved the sword so it rested against my shoulder but at the same time I said "harder."

I set the tip of my shield in the dirt and didn't get any complaints just a mild glare. "How do we want to do things?"

"Nora and I against the two of you?" Ren proposed to a general agreement.

The new kid came waltzing down the steps of the house and plopped down to watch us fight. I stood next to Ruby charging my semblance while she took potshots at their attempts to approach us. Once I had it I engaged Nora in a rush, blocking oncoming grenades with my shield until I could get an attack off with my semblance which she tried desperately to avoid.

In the meantime Ruby used her speed to overwhelm Ren in addition to her incredible range. They matched our tempo and gave up their assault and went onto the defense to try and manage my semblance. They regrouped and Ruby and I made to corner them against the far edge of the yard so that I could get an attack off with my semblance.

They timed me out and when my power faded Ruby and I were forced back on the defense. My semblance timed the ebb and flow of the match and allowed us to dictate when we would attack but was also clear when we were in more of a disadvantage. We traded partners and I shoved Ren back with my shield.

"Do you intend to just camp us out with your semblance."

"Its a legitimate strategy." I shoved against his blades. "Besides you're not using your semblance against us."

He closed his eyes and I felt his aura wash over me. Anger flooded through me. Directionless and without real purpose for this fight. Then I felt it fade as I made to hack at him with what was probably too much aggression.

"Thats why. My ability to control another's emotions is beyond the scope of even the most extensive training match."

He made to sweep my leg but I blocked low with the shield and ate a punch to the face. He maneuvered a dagger behind my shoulder and shoved his hip into my side and threw me to the ground over his body. It was very fancy and I'm sure he practiced it a lot but all it really did was activate my semblance and put him on the back foot.

"Keep Nora out of the way!" I called to Ruby. She blocked any attempt by Nora to approach and help mitigate my semblance. I had him cornered and I had resources.

I jumped in place like I was going to hammer him with my sword or shield and when he blocked high I went low, I swept his feet out from under him and jumped bringing the sword down on his falling form with both hands for real.

I knocked the aura out of him with the charge and that seemed to be the end of our match.

"From what I remember you've all shown signs of improvement." Oscar said to the side. As though I had anywhere to go but up from where I'd been at Beacon. "Have you given any thought to what Ozpin said about fighting without your weapons?"

"Some." Pyrrha had trained me in fisticuffs a little and I roomed with Ren who was a martial artist. He didn't need the help with that. Instead he went to meditate and recover his aura.

"What about you, Ms. Rose."

"I already told you to call me Ruby. And I suppose we could do a few rounds. Are you joining us."

"That was our hope. I mean my hope. I meant it was Ozpin's plan and I'm going along with it."

I stepped to the side with Nora and watched the two go at it for a while. "Man, Oz wasn't kidding. Oscar is picking up on this stuff fast."

Oscar hit Ruby in the face. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry." He'd need to get over hitting women though.

That sounded really bad but it would only get him hurt worse in my experience. Estrogen was a hell of a drug and huntresses weren't no joke. True to form, Ruby knocked him off his feet.

"Yes! I did it!" Ruby celebrated. "Oscar?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Oscar said to the air from his position on the ground. He must be having some private conversation with Ozpin, then. He got to his feet and his eyes glowed slightly in that way which indicated Ozpin was taking over. "Not bad Ms. Rose. But Oscar doesn't have the years of training that you do. Or I do." He closed his eyes and green waves washed over him, his aura coming into place.

"Oh, well maybe we should take a break" Ozpin just raised Oscar's fists.

When they clashed again, they sparred only briefly before he ended things with a headbutt.

"Next time you throw a left cross remember to push off with the appropriate foot. And as always do be aware of openings."

Qrow rolled up to me. "You ready to go kid."

I watched Oscar collapse as Ozpin released him . "Yeah, its about that time."

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq