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Chapter Twelve: A Tender Moment
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"That's a big Ursa!" - Speech
'I'm so tired.' - Thoughts
[Game Announcement]
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I don't own RWBY or The Gamer.
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"Again!" barked Ironwood.
The path to becoming a hero was tough to say the least. Beaten down by Cal for what seemed like the hundredth time, Jaune rose up to his feet again covered in sweat, the robot giving him a few moments of rest before engaging again. Every swing of his sword, every strike they exchanged Jaune felt his blows grow a tiny bit more effective. Although it wasn't showing, his attacks landed more frequently, just once or twice more every time he was beaten down.
Still, the inevitable occurred.
Dodging a quick spinning hook kick, Jaune countered with a fast thrust. Cal blocked and rocked Jaune with a fast uppercut with its blunt arm. Before he could recover, Cal was fast enough to take advantage of the opening he created, finishing a staggered Jaune with a leg sweep and a quick slash.
"Again!" the general spoke from the observation room.
His aura taking quite a heavy toll, Jaune dug his sword into the ground of the training area, pulling himself up while panting.
When Cal rushed in to attack him, Jaune expected this, predicting the android's attack better and landing a well-timed counter to the body when Cal jabbed. While the blow didn't damage it much, it was enough to catch Cal off guard, the robot quickly retaliating, forcing Jaune to give ground.
"He's tougher than he looks." Qrow nodded while nodding in approval of his improvement since the day before.
"Tsch." Ironwood flicked an eyebrow. "Disappointing nonetheless."
Cal's arms rang loudly off Jaune's shield, the Huntsman in training dodging and rolling under hacks while pivoting into a series of counters. Crocea Mors pinged loudly, slipping off Cal's arms as the strikes continued. The training room filled with the sound of metal as Jaune shield bashed Cal in the stomach. While the android managed to dodge, the thrust and swing that followed were enough to make it backflip away, spinning in the air to avoid damage. When Jaune took a more effective route, striking as he entered the effective range to attack instead of blindly sprinting in, Qrow took notice, chuckling quietly in surprise.
Cal was still using an incredibly strong aggressive defense, piercing Jaune's guard by closing the distance while Jaune struck, catching him with a knee to the jaw after a fast overhand slash. As Jaune swung wildly, Cal spun in the air on top of Jaune's shield, flinging him away into a wall when it landed back on its feet.
Showing off its dynamic programming, Cal did a downward block while raising its blunt sword arm over its head, still on its guard while Jaune was knocked down again.
"See?" Ironwood pressed a finger to the intercom. "Again!"
"Give him a second to breathe." interjected Qrow. "He's tired, just got beaten again."
"I'll be the judge of that. Cal! Take the offensive this time."
Obeying, the android gave Jaune ten seconds to catch his breath before unloading a barrage of strikes Jaune barely weathered. Easily parrying Jaune's slash, Cal hit Jaune with a clean body kick right to the ribs just in between his two pieces of armor.
Almost in the red, Jaune summoned all of his strength and put it well behind a slice he put all of his energy behind. Cal blocked it handily, knocking an exhausted and beaten Jaune down once again with a quick head strike.
Spinning back into its guard, Cal stood over him as Jaune panted loudly, rising from the ground slowly.
"Again!" Sighing, Ironwood glanced at the notification on his scroll indicating Jaune's aura was in the red. "Take a short breath."
[You have gained +1200 EXP!]
[You have gained +2 STA!]
Jaune was angry to say the least, covered in sweat from a solid hour of fighting and training almost nonstop. Just when it seemed like he had slipped Cardin's leash off his neck, Ozpin bolted an electric shock collar on instead. It didn't matter if the fate of the world was at stake, Ozpin put him in an impossible situation and he knew it. He might've been compliant the day before, but that was before he realized he'd have to go through the whole thing again.
Beating Cardin in a spar wouldn't matter. He would still be under Ozpin's thumb regardless, and he was going to change this. The only question was how.
Qrow walked out to hand Jaune a towel and a water bottle. "You're doing better than yesterday."
"Takes less than last time for this stupid thing to knock me down then?" said Jaune bitterly, swiping a towel.
Jaune glared up at Ironwood in his observation room.
'He might as well kick his feet up and eat a bag of chips.'
At LV 19, Jaune's aura had grown considerably. He checked his status while Qrow spoke to him.
[HP: 824/1300
AP: 257/1200
SP: 456/1250]
"You know he can't just go easy on you." the Huntsman said. "We-"
"He's just as bad as Ozpin." Jaune said plainly as he clenched his jaw, "The only difference he pretends he cares."
Qrow handed Jaune a water bottle which he downed instantly. "They both do. You'll see."
"Yeah, I bet." Jaune rolled his eyes.
Ironwood strode past Qrow as he walked into the training room. "I hope you've enjoyed your break. You still have another hour and a half."
"Sure thing." Jaune pocketed the empty water bottle.
"Sure thing...General."
Jaune glared at him. "For the millionth time. I'm not a soldier! So stop treating me like one. You all act like I want to be here, like I actually don't care about Pyrrha or anyone else."
"Mind your attitude. You're on my ship." Ironwood said calmly.
"Why? You're not my teacher, you're just as much a robot as your soldiers." Jaune turned away and got ready for drills.
"The nerve." Ironwood shook his head. "I thought you had accepted this."
"I did," Jaune said without even looking at him. "But I never liked it. Not for a second."
"He's right though," Qrow said to Ironwood as they left for the observation room. "He's not a soldier of yours."
"No, thankfully," Ironwood said loud enough for Jaune to hear as the doors slid shut again.
'Wow. What a great guy.'
Jaune had accepted Qrow for the most part, at least he tried to get along with him. But he couldn't stand Ironwood and Ozpin for putting him through this. They had basically turned him into a punching bag for a super robot so they could get out of a terrible situation. The only out Jaune saw was maybe grinding enough time here in training and in the Abyss to eventually get an aura large enough to save Amber, and then stop helping Ozpin instantly.
After all, Ozpin was extremely vague as to the danger surrounding Beacon. But he couldn't leave that up to chance. Failure was not an option.
Jaune, with help from Gamer's Mind, thought his situation through rationally as he began drilling up and down the training room.
'Pyrrha and everyone else'll be in danger if I stop doing what Ozpin wants. My only option is to train. As much as I can.'
Jaune punctuated his thoughts with stronger and sharper swings.
'If I give up, I lose. No matter what I do, I have to do this, for Pyrrha. For everyone.'
Jaune spat at himself mentally as he trained harder.
'By actively lying to them?'
'Well do I have a damned choice? Either I help Ozpin or lose everyone. Either way, I'm screwed. Besides, even if it sucks, I'll still be a Huntsman.'
'Yeah. "Professional Huntsman!" That'll look real nice next to our 'Lied to our Friends about the apocalypse' plaque. Thanks for taking one for the team Arc.'
Jaune pivoted and turned with Cal swinging twice before raising his shield and dodging an invisible attack he memorized.
'Seriously? What would Pyrrha do?'
'Pyrrha. Yeah, because you care about your friends so damn much.'
His smiling partner appeared in his mind. He thought back to when she touched his hand in the library when Pyrrha was willing to train him when he couldn't defend himself from Cardin. Jaune felt like he truly didn't deserve someone like him to be his partner.
"You're a great leader Jaune."
Jaune gripped his sword, swallowing.
Fighting was in his blood, one of the greatest fighters ever was his great-great-grandfather and he couldn't get himself out of a huge pickle. Deep down he knew it, he felt like a failure more than ever. At least with Cardin, he was able to fess up. If he knew how selfless she was, it was only right to be the same way back. Jaune remembered the vow he took on top of the rooftops the semester before.
'As hard as this is. I'll be a Huntsman!'
He gained his level at the end of training that day and increased his aura.
~000~
The next day after class Jaune walked out of Oobleck's classroom as Pyrrha spoke to him. "Jaune, you still have that look on your face. Is everything all right?"
"Not exactly," he admitted. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to practice I was-"
"Busy?" Blake appeared in front of them. "I talked to Velvet. She says she never saw you at the library last night."
"O-Oh. Did she?" Jaune said nervously.
"Wait I'm confused," Pyrrha noted. "How did you know Jaune was studying last night?"
"I've been suspicious. Jaune's been acting strange since last semester, and I've been the only one to notice apparently." Blake crossed her arms.
Jaune spoke in a way that was aloof. "Did she? Well what was she doing in the library then?"
"Don't try to change the subject. You lied to me last night. And to Pyrrha!"
"I'm sorry but that was none of your business," Jaune said looking away jokingly by raising his nose.
Blake looked at Jaune before walking off, reminding Jaune of the way cats decided to glare at people.
"Jaune is that true? Did Velvet really say that?"
"I have no clue if she did. I was busy last night though."
Pyrrha shrugged, holding her notebook. "I'll see you back at the dorm I suppose."
Jaune spotted something out of the corner of his eye. "Y-Yeah."
He saw Cardin and the rest of CRDL picking on Velvet.
"The hell's this?" Cardin laughed with his cronies after he swiped Velvet's notebook. "It looks so dumb."
"I-It's just a rabbit." Velvet said.
Dove laughed. "It looks so bad!"
"Give it back Cardin." Jaune spoke confidently.
Cardin turned around, dropping the drawing of a bunny rabbit instantly. "Well, he finally shows himself." Cardin jabbed a finger into Jaune's collarbone, failing to drive him back. "Thought you disappeared. Jauney-boy."
Jaune shook his head. "Nah. But you gotta stop pushing people around. I'm finished with that."
"Oh-ho-ho!" Cardin laughed, poking Sky with his elbow. "Get a load of this. And how are you gonna stop me?"
"A spar. You against me, you can't say no to a fight." Jaune pointed out.
Crickets. Even Russel had to admit his team leader had no choice. "Dang. He's right, can't say no."
"Shut up!" Cardin snapped at his teammate without hesitation. "Whatever. See you in class then."
He nudged Jaune's shoulder as he brushed past him, the rest of his cronies stepping over Velvet's drawing as they left.
Jaune sighed as he passed the drawing to Velvet. "It's actually really good, those idiots don't know what they're talking about. Besides uh, the footprints."
Laughing quietly, Velvet took her notebook back. "Thanks. That was really unlike you."
"Yeah, found out the hard way there are tougher things out there than Cardin."
Velvet smiled. "Well thanks again Jaune, I really owe you one."
After she left, Yang was standing there surprised. "Wow! Was not expecting that."
"Wait, were you standing there this whole time?"
"I kinda always wanted to beat up Cardin ever since I met him. But it seems you want to get there first! That's really out of the ordinary for you."
"I-I know. But I guess I don't suck as hard as last semester." Jaune said.
"Really?" Yang looked at him. "Well, what have you been up to lately?"
'Going into another dimension and training to save the world. What about you?' Jaune smiled, trying not to chuckle at how this question was supposed to be ordinary for any other person but him. "The usual, not much. What about you?"
"So much," Yang said as she began walking. "I gotta walk somewhere, wanna come with?"
"Yeah sure," Jaune said.
~000~
"And then I hit that robot right in its face!" Yang slammed her fist into her hand as they passed the fountain in front of the school. "And broke the whole thing into like a zillion pieces!"
Jaune nodded. "Okay, but did he get away?"
"Yeah. This weird girl with an umbrella showed up. When I punched her, she smashed into a bunch of glass then she and Torchwick left."
Jaune looked away in thought as they walked. "Hm, weird."
"What do you mean?"
"Semblances usually involve things that are sort of, real. Like they're physical or whatever. It's gotta be weird to find one that makes you hallucinate or see things that aren't there." Jaune muttered. "Well, it's a big world I guess. Anyway, are you going to the ball with anyone?"
Yang looked at Jaune. "No. You?"
"Nope. Me neither."
"You haven't asked Weiss yet. Kinda thought you were gonna do that."
Jaune sighed. "Yeah, I kind of came to terms with the fact that that's never gonna happen."
"Really? I thought you were really into her?" Yang said.
"Oh no I totally still feel the same way, just kind of don't have my hopes as high anymore."
"You don't think there's any chance for you to ever go out?"
Jaune just remembered Yang had no clue that he had Gamer's Mind. Technically, being astronomically more powerful would definitely help him in the romance department, but then there was the fact that he was still Jaune Arc at the end of the day. There was no getting around the fact that despite growing up with seven sisters he was about as subtle as a missile launcher to the face.
"Well yeah. I still thought about maybe asking someone to go to the ball."
"Well, who then?"
Jaune shrugged. "Good question. Haven't thought about that yet." Jaune looked around Beacon's grounds. "Hey Yang, where exactly were we walking to?"
"Oh, I needed to give my bike a tune up, keep it in a small garage on campus. Kinda did a number on it last night when I chased after Torchwick."
Jaune looked at her. Yang was clearly very, very beautiful and he had no remote idea why she was talking to him right now. For some reason, whether it was his new confidence he found after facing fire monsters in a digital labyrinth that asking a girl out seemed less of a hurdle to leap. Either way, he had found a really good candidate to go to the ball with him.
Pyrrha and Weiss were a bit obvious since he liked one for months now and the other one was his partner, but he wanted to go with someone no one would ever expect like Yang or Nora.
"You're not going with anybody to the ball then?"
"Not really," admitted Yang. "Why?"
"Huh, thought guys would be fighting each other to go with you," Jaune said. "You know since you're all," Jaune raised his fist making chopping motions. "Super strong or whatever."
"Yeah..." said Yang. "Guess that can be a bit much for people sometimes. Plus, the only guys I know besides you and Ren are Neptune and Sun really. Even then I barely know either of them."
Jaune decided that now was not the best time to ask her. It was their second conversation after all. The ball was in a week after all, and he had other things to do first. Namely grow his aura fast enough to throw Ozpin's leash, or well, shock collar off him.
"I gotta go back to the dorm. Gotta change before I go bake cookies with Pyrrha and Ruby."
"Have fun with that." Yang smiled.
Jaune pointed at her as he walked away. "Thanks for letting me know how you fought that giant robot though." he bumped into a taller student by not looking behind him as he walked backwards. "Oh, sorry! Sorry!"
Yang turned away while barely laughing. He wasn't the worst company in the world in terms of guys, but considering his competition was the ever secluded Ren, and the wannabe detectives Sun and Neptune, it wasn't saying much.
'He's a total dork. But somehow after a few months, he's changed a bit. Was not expecting him to want to fight Cardin like that at all.' Yang told herself.
As Jaune walked back to the dorm, he needed to talk to Pyrrha. A full confession wouldn't be smart for multiple reasons, mostly because he at least owed Pyrrha a proper apology and at least some sort of explanation.
~000~
Jaune walked into his dorm to find Pyrrha by herself sharpening her spear. "Hey, Pyrrha you got a minute?"
"Mhm." she turned to him when he entered the room.
Jaune sighed. "I wanted to tell you what was going on before the ball. Or well, we went and baked cookies with Ruby."
"What is it?"
Jaune looked around the room. "Where are Nora and Ren?"
"Ren's in the library, Nora's off training I think."
Jaune took a deep breath. "I've been a complete idiot. I haven't been able to tell you about what's going on because well- I might lose you."
"What!?" Pyrrha's eyes widened as she put down her weapon, almost running to Jaune in surprise.
He couldn't meet Pyrrha's eyes. "I-I. There's been so much going on, and I think Ozpin might be. I-I can't really tell you, I wish I could tell you but I just can't."
"Jaune, you're not making any sense."
"I wish I could tell you more but…" Jaune looked away from Pyrrha. "They would-I would" he gulped, stopping himself. "We could lose you."
"Lose me? Lose me how? Jaune, I'm not going anywhere."
"I don't know!" Jaune exclaimed, turning to the cabinet in front of the window to JNPR's dorm room. "I don't know how any of this works but I just can't let that happen to you! It doesn't matter what it takes but I can't lose you Pyrrha! You're." Jaune bit his lip and tutted. "The best friend I've got. You were there for me when I pushed everyone away, and you tried to help me when I didn't deserve it and I-"
Pyrrha watched as Jaune slammed his fists onto the table, rattling it loudly. "I want to be worthy of, of how nice you've been to me."
Jaune bit his lip tighter. "I know we've only known each other for a semester but. I don't know who I'd be without you. Without you Pyrrha I'm-" he exasperated. "I'm no one."
"What makes you say that?"
"What do you mean? You're the one who told me to stay in Beacon. You kept my secrets when I was being stupid!"
Pyrrha shook her head. "Don't you see? You decided to stay in Beacon. You decided to keep trying to become a Huntsman when you knew you had no chance. You're not no one without me."
Jaune sat down on the carpet of his dorm. "Of course I'm no one." he threw his hands up in frustration. "How can I ever be a Huntsman or anyone if I-"
"That's the thing about you Jaune." Pyrrha sat down next to Jaune. "You always try your best, you always have the best intentions."
"But i-"
"But it's the truth. See, I have something to tell you too." Pyrrha made eye contact with Jaune. "I'm not like Ruby or Nora or anyone else at this school."
"Of course not! You're Pyrrha Nikos!" Jaune said.
"That's not what I meant. I didn't try to become a Huntress because I wanted to help people, or because I wanted the adventure or the power or the like." Pyrrha looked down at her lap as she sat next to Jaune. "Jaune, my entire life my father told me I was meant to be the best. And one day, he disappeared." Pyrrha frowned. "Just like that. And ever since then I took his words to heart, I didn't care about anything else other than proving him right. I needed to be the best, no matter how hard I trained or how many tournaments I won, I strove for perfection."
Pyrrha turned to Jaune. "It's why I chose to go to Beacon. Because I thought it was the best Huntsman Academy in the world. And I knew that no matter what, the only thing I wanted was being the very best. Until I met you." Pyrrha smiled. "You taught me that no matter someone's flaws, being a good person at heart and trying to do good is what's more important."
Pyrrha nodded. "In a way, I agree with you. Yes, you've told terrible lies. But you wanted to stay with us." Jaune grew surprised, gasping quietly when Pyrrha looked forward and smiled, putting her hand on his and interlocking her fingers with Jaune's. "And I think, more than what anyone else might say. That's what really matters."
Jaune grew pale. "B-But I can't tell you what's really going on. I can't tell anyone."
"Don't worry Jaune. I'm staying right here." Pyrrha rested her head on Jaune's shoulder. "Right here."
Jaune just stayed quiet, letting Pyrrha rest her head quietly.
Needless to admit he was re-considering asking Yang to go to the ball with him.
Pyrrha knew Jaune wanted to tell her what was going on. But if he did, he'd be in serious trouble. They could talk about it at a later time if needed, but for now, they needed to relax for the moment in a rare moment of quiet in this hectic semester. Being with Pyrrha felt calming as if he wanted to take a solid nap. Jaune just sat there, letting the winds of early spring hit his dorm window quietly as he sat with his partner. He didn't know if it was a decent minute or an entire hour because to him it didn't matter, but Jaune lost track of time. Jaune closed his eyes and began to drift off.
~000~
Nora bursting into the room woke them both up. "Hey guys check out this awesome- Ohp!"
"Oh! Nora!" Jaune cleared his throat as they both stood up. "We were just-" he cleared his throat again as Pyrrha looked aside in embarrassment.
Nora looked at them. "You two were napping together! I'm so sorry!" Nora lowered herself slightly, extending her hands forward and preparing to leave. "I had no idea-"
"Okay, I think I need to go work on my forms!" Pyrrha brushed her teammates grabbing her gear and still in her school uniform towards the rooftops.
"Ooh, nice going Jaune! Thought you'd never notice." Nora looked at her team leader. "I thought I'd have to grab you together." Nora made an invisible pressing motion together with her hands. "And-"
A beet-red Jaune dashed into the bathroom. "Congrats! You definitely landed a date to the dance now!" Nora called through the door.
'The Abyss Jaune, go to your happy place. Now.'
Practically sprinting out of the room into the bathroom, Jaune locked the door behind him. He needed to get his mind off things, fast. Despite the fact that Nora or even Ren for that matter might need it in the future, Jaune knew what he was doing.
This wouldn't take longer than a half-second of actual time no matter how long the attempt was.
'One quick run. Just one quick run.'
Jaune escaped to the Abyss and started another run into the ever-changing dungeon rooms.
~000~
It seemed to be the perfect thing to get his mind off everything.
A skeleton soldier wielding a pair of axes chattered, missing its attack as Jaune blasted it away with a Mana Bolt. After it fell Jaune slashed away its brethren into pixels, the Gamer quickly rewarding him right afterward.
As he was at level 20, the predictable mobs of the Abyss fell to him in droves. He rushed past EXP notification screens and stat gains while cutting through and blasting past anything in his path with ease also using Mana blasts. Jaune entered the room right before the mini-boss to finish the first section with his Aura a bit depleted. For this reason,he spent more time observing from behind his shield to avoid arrows and Fireballs from the Undead Mages.
Groaning quietly, the reanimated corpse lifted its staff, sending a series of Fireballs towards Jaune. He quickly dodged them before running forward and sticking Crocea Mors directly into its head before it had a chance to block.
Turning around, Jaune raised his shield again in time to stop another Fireball, running forward and finishing off the final Mage with a shield to the rotting jaw and by thrusting his sword right through its skull when it was down.
After taking his routine EXP gain for clearing the room and beating all the mobs in it, Jaune took the moment to take advantage of his time, checking his stats while he waited to recover all of his AP before the boss room.
After taking a decent look at his stats he decided he should continue to buff speed until he got the speed demon perk, as well as the INT stat which boosted his mana abilities.
Name: Jaune Arc
Class: The Gamer
Level: 20 (Next Level: 63.47%)
Title: Student/Huntsman in Training
Age: 17
HP: 1391/1400
AP: 1014/1300
SP: 1236/1450
STR: 34
STA: 30
DEX: 53 (+2,+5)
INT: 31
WIS: 13 (+2)
LUK: 17
Status: N/A
Perks: -Large Aura Pool (+50 AP and increased possible expansion of Aura)
-Sharp (+5 to DEX)
-Quick (+2 to WIS and DEX)
-Mana Novice (+10% DMG to all Mana attacks and -5% AP consumption for all skills)
Flaws: None
Skill Points: 0
He decided to put 5 points each into DEX, INT, and then LUK. This was because it would be impossible to properly invest into LUK later on if he had the rest of his stats in the high 50s and 60s. A leap from a DEX of 61 to 62 was much better than a tiny step from a LUK of say 14 to 15. Before he moved on, he knew that even with all his training, Ozpin was still basically forcing him into an impossible situation. But if the only way forward was to level up enough and continue on his promise to himself to become a Huntsman.
Properly recovered and having used his remaining skill points, Jaune pushed the white doors open to enter the next room.
In it awaited a tall slim and dark figure hanging from the ceiling, its face hidden behind a sleek red mask, Jaune using Observe almost instinctively. The Lord outstretched an arm, revealing its long silver Polearm.
[Vampire Lord LV 20 (HP: 2000/SP: INF) - A weaker Horror, wielding strong Mana and physical vitality.]
Its eyes glowing white behind its mask, the Vampire hissed loudly, flying down from the ceiling and spinning its polearm around before attacking. Dodging the first couple of attacks, Jaune fired back, blasting off multiple Mana Bolts.
The Lord easily evaded, showing his speed rivaled Jaune's with how effective he was in maintaining a decent tempo with him.
Jaune found out the hard way that the Vampire Lord was extremely skilled with its polearm, trading blows and giving Jaune a decent challenge. Unlike the Minotaur, the Lord might've had less raw power and strength, but more than made up for it in speed and accuracy.
Knowing this would be no easy fight, Jaune pulled away from the exchange and charged up a huge spinning Mana attack. Letting it fly like a missile, Jaune sent the most powerful attack that did the job last time against another tough boss.
This time, the Lord pulled into the air with its spinning polearm in a Mana tornado attack and making it glow red hot, sending glowing red balls flying forward like rockets to strike Jaune's attack. In a huge colorful display, sky blue exploded with dark red, staggering Jaune from the power of the impact.
Not giving Jaune a second to breathe and having the reflexes to take advantage of the stagger, the Vampire struck the ground with its polearm, sending huge plumes of red hot Mana flying up from the ground, sending Jaune sailing into the air. After landing from hitting the ceiling of the dungeon, Jaune grunted, standing back up as the Lord spun its polearm around it so quickly it whizzed loudly through the air.
This would be no easy fight, and Jaune might even have to abandon the attempt. But he just hoped he could hang on against the Vampire Lord and its overwhelming might.
~000~
Arkos remains the most believable pairing in RWBY at least in my opinion. Mostly because Pyrrha might be the only person in canon who would like Jaune even if he was, y'know, Jaune. That's the thing about Arkos, Jaune is so oblivious that he's the only person who has no clue who she is. I wanted to use this chapter to test the waters between Jaune and Pyrrha about the whole maiden thing.
Honestly, I think that Volume 3 of RWBY is easily the best, and one of my favorite seasons of any show, especially Rooster Teeth's. Monty's RWBY, or rather the first three seasons really spoke to me. While RWBY might have come out only in 2013, it still is one of the few shows I can say I've enjoyed on a level I haven't with most other shows.
While shows like SAO, Code Geass, and especially My Hero Academia might outpace it in things like production and especially rendering, RWBY has a sort of charm that you really can't find anywhere else. But somewhere along the way, it lost its touch and unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever see it anywhere else, even in Rooster Teeth's shows.
People like Shane Newville and Dillon Goo are still out there, and animation has continued to evolve and grow as a medium, but sadly I think RWBY will always remain that show that could have been. It really sucks but, my interest in RWBY rests completely on sadly but funnily enough, Miles Luna's paycheck and if Volume 8 turns out to be Jaune's Life Ending Simulator. Ren's not long to be axed off either I think. Either way, I really wanted to send a huge thanks to everyone who continues to support this story, it's really awesome to see I've been able to find an awesome group of people here who want to see me write this in my little corner of the internet.
The reviews have helped me shape this last revision of the past 3 chapters. I noticed I passed up a huge opportunity for Jaune to properly become you know, the person I was trying to create in this fanfic. So thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts and helped me write this. So, I have updated the last three chapters.
And because I actually care about what you all have to say, yes, I do read the reviews. And while I can't say that Jaune will stop letting Ozpin walk all over him right now this, it's why I'm building to a sort of arc that will definitely resolve this plot thread, it's just gonna take a lot of time. While I might've dropped the bombshell in chapter 10, I have hoped that 3 or 4 chapters of build-up will show that I really want to resolve things gradually. I want to write a Jaune who's sick of being bullied and stepped on without being OOC subtly.
Either way, your voices have been heard, as they always will be. Stay awesome folks. This is MiyazakiFan18 wishing you all the best until this Saturday when I post properly again.