RWBY: The Redeemer
OMG, it's been too long since my last update. For those who follow my (P)atreon, I deeply apologize for the lack of updates since I'm suffering a mild writer's block, as well as dealing with real life and skin infection. Rest assured, One-Punch DxD is coming along slowly but surely. Without further ado, enjoy!
Beta-read by SkyRig
Chapter 32: D.D.D (II)
"So let me get this straight. You've been obviously crushing over Weiss since day one at Beacon, and despite her constant refusal over your advances on her, you still want to ask her out to the dance?"
In his office, near midnight, Claude just surmised Jaune's current dilemma. The boy in question was sitting in front of him with a small scowl on his face.
"That's about it, yeah. Do you have to make it sound dumb, though?"
"Because it's kind of dumb." Claude retorted without batting an eye. "But not to discourage you; I've seen some of your attempts on her for a while now - the lunch invite, study invite, training invite. You're really smitten, aren't ya?"
Jaune replied with a bitter smile, "What can I say? Weiss is just that… y'know, amazing. I mean, she did kind of call me cute before the initiation."
That comment made Claude blinked, "...Did she?"
"Yeah, she did." Jaune's expression went a tad lighter. "I didn't get to hear much, but I recall she said that when she was talking with Ruby."
Claude gave his apprentice a quizzical look for a second, moving his lower jaw in contemplation for a second before speaking again, "...Right, and you believe you two are meant for each other from that one comment alone?"
Jaune shrugged, "It's a long shot, I know. But what's wrong with trying? It might work. Besides, my dad told me all I need is confidence."
Seeing the boy's grin, Claude ran his hand through his locks - having remembered that it was Ashton Arc who raised Jaune.
"Okay, Jaune." Claude began again. "You're my charge, and it's my job to make sure that you'll succeed in… school, huntsman jobs and other stuff, like relationship, for example."
Claude went silent for a second to let his first sentence sink into the boy, who nodded in return.
"Okay, so let's do a quick review, yeah?" Claude then pointed his finger out. "You asked me if I can give you some tips on how you can convince Weiss to say yes?"
Jaune tilted his head with a lopsided smile, "Well, you give me a vibe of someone with experience, y'know?"
"Appreciated." Claude gave a quick smile. "But back to you; what did you have in mind so far?"
"Um…. I don't know, to be honest. I just thought of trying everything." Jaune shrugged helplessly before a small grin appeared on his face. "Actually, I'm thinking of singing something for her, y'know? I even got a guitar."
Claude creased his eyebrows. "Wait, wha-... A guitar? Singing?"
"Yeah, I even got the lyrics down. It goes like this, 'Weiss Schnee, will you accompany-"
"Okay, stop, stop right there." Claude closed his eyes with a raised hand, abruptly putting Jaune's performance to end.
Jaune stopped and saw Claude seemed to contemplate what words to say.
"First of all, the confidence part that your dad told you is not wrong. However…" Claude emphasized the last word, "That confidence needs to be used wisely."
"I… am not really following you." Jaune retorted.
"I'll be honest with you, Jaune. While I understand that you are a great person with no bad intentions, your attempts and behaviour towards Weiss has been nothing short of annoying; and that's putting it mildly."
"Is it?" Jaune blinked, before he glanced down. "I mean, I guess she's been refusing me, but…. Is it really that bad?"
Claude shrugged a bit, "Maybe, but the annoying part is still true, so yes. Anyway, as far as I have seen, your confidence was something more like a front. You speak confidence, but you're not totally sure of yourself, were you?"
"I…" Jaune wanted to reply, but no words came up.
"Besides, with the way you're behaving towards her, it looks more like you're trying to make her dislike you instead of the opposite." Claude carried on.
Jaune contemplated, reluctantly catching on Claude's point. "But… There might be a chance-"
"Jaune." Claude interrupted with a calm tone. "She has clearly shown that she is not interested, you're free to pursue a relationship, but you need to understand when someone says 'no' to you. Besides, level with me for a bit. We both know that Weiss is born from a high-class society, do you agree so far?"
Jaune regarded Claude for a second before nodding along, prompting the latter to carry on.
"I've been to one of their parties before, Jaune; and believe me when I said this, your behaviour really resembled those smug bastards who would try to flaunt their money around to butter up the rich ladies. You get what I'm saying?"
Looking at the small grimace on Jaune's face, Claude carried on, "I don't want to burst your bubble, Jaune…. But I can guess that Weiss sees your attempt on her no different than many suitors she had rejected before. Your type is just…. Dull, boring, possibly even repulsive to her. No offence."
Jaune's grimace deepened - his face telling that he still did not really want to give up, despite the points Claude had delivered.
Claude then spoke again with a more relaxed tone. "Let's try a different angle. Tell me, Jaune. What do you exactly find attractive in Weiss?"
Jaune's lips twitched up slightly, "Well… I guess how amazing she is. When I saw her for the first time, she just…. Stood out among other girls, y'know? Her looks made me think she's probably one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen. I dug around and learned that she's also a great singer."
Claude hummed, "Can't say I disagree with you. But now you've been her classmate for more than one semester. Have you learned anything new about her? And don't tell me that she's rich, heiress to SDC or anything like that - those are common knowledge by this point."
Jaune opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He then sported a thoughtful look that lasted for a few moments.
Seeing Jaune's expression, Claude pushed on, "What's her aspirations? What are her dreams? What does she truly like and dislike? What's her favourite colour? Does she have any siblings she'd like to talk about?"
Jaune's thoughtful expression slowly morphed uncomfortably, that was enough answer for the young teacher.
"You don't know, do you?" Claude asked, which Jaune could only reply with silence. "Over six months and you just focused on making Weiss look at you while never bothering to learn shit about her. Relationship you're seeking with Weiss is quite serious, Jaune; are you honestly ready for that kind of commitment?"
Jaune looked up to meet Claude's gaze with his own. They simply regarded each other for a few seconds before Jaune slumped in defeat. "...I guess I'm not ready."
Claude then smiled in encouragement. "Hey, don't look so down. Look at me, Arc." When Jaune looked up, Claude carried on. "It's not like this marks as your end of the world. It's always possible for you and Weiss becoming a couple, but with how you're doing…. I'm afraid you're just making a fool out of yourself."
Jaune let the words sink into his skull before he blinked, "Wait a second. Then how did that Neptune guy manage to hit it off with her?"
Claude blinked in return. "Sorry, who?"
"Neptune, he's a student from Haven. Blue hair, goggles." Jaune described.
Claude's memory immediately clicked - it was Sun Wukong's partner. "Oh, right. Vasilias. Now I remember him. What did you say about him again?"
"I saw him flirting with Weiss when they just met for the first time, yet Weiss took it better than it was from me. What's up with that, then?"
Claude looked at Jaune's face for another few seconds before he hummed in contemplation. "Interesting…. So Neptune Vasilias…." He then leaned back on his chair as his eyes zoned on the ceiling above.
A few moments later, Claude then returned to Jaune, "I can only give you two guesses. One - the flirting tactic can only be pulled off by someone with the looks." When Jaune blanched slightly, Claude immediately amended, "Not saying you're not good looking, Jaune, but your face is not meant for flirting. You're definitely not bad at least, but you're more of an 'adorable' kind of attractive rather than the 'handsome' one." When Jaune gave his guarantor a flata look, Claude shrugged, "...No offence."
Jaune then sighed, "What's the second guess, then?"
Claude let out a soft breath, "This might sound kind of rude, but considering how many times you've been trying to flirt with her, Weiss has probably gotten so sick of your advances that she found a move from Neptune to be a refreshing change of pace. Worst case scenario, she probably warmed up to Neptune's flirting just so you'd back off."
"That sounds… spiteful." Jaune scowled.
"Maybe, yeah. But we both know that Weiss isn't the type to go that low, don't we?" Claude asked in return.
Jaune simply nodded in agreement and the two fell into a somewhat awkward silence, which was broken by the older man after a minute. "...So, what are you gonna do now?"
"I… don't know, actually." Jaune replied. "I don't even know if I can fix things with Weiss."
"If you'd like some advice, I say an apology is a good start." Claude provided.
Jaune blinked and jerked his head to the side. "Oh, right. But it's still impossible for me and Weiss after all, huh?"
Claude sighed, "Jaune. Nothing is impossible. What we talked about earlier was how bad you hit it off with Weiss, and you believe that you could get a better result with the method that clearly didn't work."
"Yeah, I guess I've been a massive idiot." Jaune smiled dejectedly.
"Everybody on the planet will be a massive idiot at some point in life." Claude consoled. "I've been one for numerous times. Real idiocy is when one refuses to learn yet still believes the result will change for the better."
Jaune's expression lightened up slightly from feeling better.
"In fact, as far as I know about hitting on girls, you know what's…." Claude rolled his eyes for a second. "...Let's say kind of the best way to get a girl? They always like a caring friend before anything else further than that."
"A friend…" Jaune muttered.
"Yep, a friend." Claude nodded with a wink. "Flirting almost never works, but being a friend always works most of the time, trust me."
Jaune finally grinned, "I guess I can do that. Thanks, Claude."
Claude smiled again with another nod, "No problem, Jaune. Anything else you want to talk about, though?"
Jaune shifted a bit on his seat, "Out of curiosity…. Do you, or at least have had a girlfriend before?"
The boy noticed that the look in Claude's silver orbs morphed into... something he could not really describe. Nonetheless, Jaune found that Claude's smile was the mixture of nostalgia and melancholy.
"...Yes, I guess I did have a girlfriend once." Claude closed his eyes briefly. "But I'm afraid it's way too late if you want us to talk about that; we'd end up staying here until morning."
"Oh, yes, of course." Jaune nodded as he stood up. "I gotta go back to my room, anyway. My team's probably worried by now."
"So you have everything figured out?" Claude asked as he guided Jaune towards the door.
"I guess so. But… If by any chance things don't work out…?" Jaune shot Claude a hopeful look.
Claude smiled knowingly, "You'll have someone to talk with."
Jaune then smiled in gratitude. "Thanks Claude."
"Again, it's no problem, have a good night, Jaune."
Claude finally ended the session for the night.
Peter Port's Grimm Study class began on another day with a slightly different note, which was a surprising change of pace for the students, as well as Claude; for once, the portly huntsman was not rambling about his past stories.
"The Creatures of Grimm have been existing since the time of memorial…" Peter began speaking while walking back and forth as usual, his squinted eyes scanned on the students. "Mindlessly aggressive with a burning hatred towards the whole mankind, the Grimm has been a threat to all of us and could attack us at any given moment. Can one of you tell me who came up with this theory?"
Ruby, surprisingly, was the one to answer as she raised her hand , "Doctor Yurica Pordingher, sir!"
The young girl sported an eager glance at Weiss, who gave a silent snort but had a small smile on her face. Claude himself was pleasantly surprised at his niece's development.
Peter nodded approvingly, "That is correct, Ms. Rose. Then here's the next question - if the Creatures of Grimm could attack us at any moment, given their nature which we just mentioned earlier….. Why haven't they?"
Peter went silent for a moment, making sure that the students were listening to him - the children's expressions were contemplative, trying to come up with an answer but with no avail. Peter then glanced at Claude, who sat at the corner - the young man flashed the teacher a subtle nod with a small knowing smile on his face.
Seeing that there was no response from the students, Peter proceeded to press on, "We are here to challenge a theory of the past with the present happenings, children. Why haven't the creatures of grimm come knocking on our walls in hordes? Why have they, despite their advantage in numbers and aggression against us, yet to conquer the kingdoms by now?"
Weiss was the one to reply, "It is thanks to the huntsman and huntress forces, sir. As well as the fortifications the Kingdoms use to defend their settlements."
"A valid point, Weiss." Claude decided to speak up. "...But what about Nevermore, or other airborne Grimm? If Grimm are mindlessly going out of their way to attack humans, why are there nearly no reports of flying Grimm sightings in the sky above the kingdoms?"
The students began to whisper among themselves, trying to formulate an answer. Peter and Claude simply waited for the brainstorming students.
Later, it was Pyrrha who replied, "Could it be that Grimm can only sense humans from a limited distance? Those far out in the wild might have some difficulty to find people."
"Then what about the Nevermore in initiation?" Claude replied. "As well as the rest of the horde that came after? Correct me if I'm wrong, but we haven't been invaded by grimm this morning, yet the Emerald Forest is still a grimm-infested territory. We might have defences on the perimeter, but why aren't they scratching on our walls now?"
The whispers carried on but died down gradually, as no students could come up with newer ideas.
Peter then spoke up, "Do not forget that there are many settlements outside the kingdoms' protection - while they are not co-existing with the Grimm, they can still exist and flourish despite technically sharing a territory with them…. Which brings another question: what is Grimm's true nature? Are they simply an embodiment of evil who seeks to destroy mankind? But we have seen the current facts that they rarely go out of their way to find and attack human settlements."
"They might have a different motive!" Nora, who had found interest in such a topic, put her two-cents with raised hand.
"Oho, an intriguing proposal, Ms. Valkyrie! Will you care to elaborate?" Peter pointed out towards the hyperactive ginger.
"Why did the Grimm even attack us in the first place?"
There were a few snorts heard from other students, as if the 'N' of JNPR just asked some stupid question - albeit Claude's mild glare immediately put the students into silence again. Besides, some of the students, like Weiss and Pyrrha, for example, found themselves contemplating Nora's question.
Nora elaborated further when she was met with silence, "I mean, they don't even want to eat us, they don't eat anything. Hell, I once saw a Grimm ignoring animals in favor of chasing after people. So what gives?"
"That is a good point, Ms. Valkyrie - a fact that challenges Pordingher's theory about Grimm being mindlessly aggressive towards mankind even further. Allow me to ask this, what is the definition of the term 'mindless'?" Peter pointed out and addressed the entire class, while sharing another eye-contact with Claude.
This time, a student from Atlas raised her hand up - she had a tanned skin dressed in a white Atlas Academy uniform, with a blue beret on top of her head.
"Yes, Ms. Soleil, correct?" Peter pointed out.
"Yes, sir. Mindless is a condition where one is acting without justification or concern for the consequences." Soleil replied with a practiced mannerism.
"A textbook answer, not that you're wrong." Claude commented. "Now that we've confirmed the definition of mindless, let's look back at what we've talked about Grimm so far. Who here still agrees that Grimm are simply mindless beasts?"
The students supported various looks - mostly hesitant, as some of them were glancing at each other, vying for their classmates to answer first.
Claude smiled slightly at the students' expressions. "Come on, this is just a hypothetical question. We're here to learn, folks. So don't be scared of giving wrong answers - they're better than no answers at all."
The students' faces were more resolute, yet no hands were raised. Claude and Peter waited for several more seconds before the latter nodded.
"A fully-working brain with intelligence doesn't simply come out of nowhere, even when it comes to Grimm. Beowulves and Ursa Minors travel in packs, even elder Grimm possesses a tactical mind to withhold their onslaught when the odds are against them, with such capability to learn, no matter how limited, we cannot really believe the Creatures of Grimm as 'mindless', can we?"
"Then why do they call Grimm being mindless in the first place? That kind of theory could put the lives of field huntsmen and huntresses in danger!" Weiss voiced out.
Claude shrugged while grumbling, "Politics, Weiss. Bloody politics at their finest. The theory was made known by Dr. Prodingher around two centuries ago, if I'm not mistaken, it was around times where our defences against the Grimm weren't nearly as advanced as we have now. In order to rally and recruit as many huntsmen as they could, the government used the concept as a propaganda of sorts to boost morale - 'the Grimm are merely mindless beasts that stand no chance against mankind's intelligence and ingenuity', something along those lines; the idea became popular to the point everybody considers it as a common sense… Which is wrong."
Weiss went silent, as well as the rest of the students. However, the bell suddenly rang, signing the end of class.
"It appears we have to cut our time short." Peter remarked, "Nonetheless, I believe we've learned some valuable lessons about our enemy here. For your homework, I'd like a thousand-word essay about Pordingher's theorem of Grimm and how it affected the rise of huntsmen and huntresses across the kingdom. Class dismissed."
As the students filtered out the classroom for their lunch break, team RWBY regrouped with team JNPR as usual.
"Ah, Weiss. Wait up!"
The team of girls, Weiss in particular, turned to see Jaune had caught up with them first. "Can we talk for a bit? In private." the boy asked the Schnee heiress.
Weiss replied while curling her eyebrows in a skeptical manner. "What are you planning, Arc? Can't this conversation wait until later? I'd like to eat."
Jaune looked sheepish, "Yeah, I know, me too. But I need to get this out of the way, the sooner the better. Please? Just for a few minutes?"
Weiss glanced at her team, who simply returned her gaze without a word - Ruby was looking unsure, Yang merely shrugged and Blake was impassive as usual. The heiress then sighed before she returned to the blonde boy.
"Alright, come." Weiss jerked her head to prompt Jaune to follow her. They simply walked some distances away; not too far to be secluded, but still close enough for the rest to listen in without really invading their privacy.
"Now, out with it, Arc. What do you want?" Weiss asked with crossed arms.
Jaune fidgeted for a second before speaking, "I…. want to apologize."
Team RWBY and the rest of team JNPR, who watched the exchange from the distance, blinked at Jaune's words. Weiss herself seemed to look rigid at the boy. "...I beg your pardon? I mean, you said you want to apologize? What for?" She corrected with a small shake of her head.
"For everything." Jaune replied. "The sweet-talking, the flowers, the… flirting. I was just so caught up that I didn't manage to get a clue that you're never interested. For that, I'm sorry."
Weiss narrowed her eyes in return, "...What game are you playing here, Arc? Is this some kind of another attempt to ask me out to the dance?"
Jaune winced at the distrust, but he persevered. "No, it's not. But I understand what you're saying. Seriously, though. I just learned I've messed up big time and I want to make things right again. I understand if you don't want to, though. But… At least I want you to know that I'm sorry."
Weiss was sporting an incredulous look on her face. On one hand, she felt Jaune was attempting to pull some kind of reverse-psychology over her, yet at the same time, she knew him enough to be too simple to pull such a trick.
Out of instinct, she turned slightly to regard the rest of her friends, who were just as surprised as she was.
"Um, Weiss?"
Jaune called out to her again, noticing that she was not looking at him anymore. "Look, I know it's kind of long overdue, but believe me when I said I'm sorry. Can we…. Start over? As friends, at least?"
Weiss' face contorted into a small scowl for a moment, but eventually she replied while pointing her finger at Jaune. "I don't really know what you're aiming, but since you're apologizing and asking politely…. I'll give you a benefit of doubt and one chance - one chance!" She emphasized. "Otherwise I would not mind entertaining you every now and then."
Jaune's face brightened up, "Y-yeah! Of course, thanks, Weiss."
"...You're welcome." Weiss replied as she recomposed herself.
Soon the two broke off, with Weiss and her team - who spared Jaune amused and curious glances, going ahead first to the cafeteria with Jaune rejoining his team.
"Jaune?" Nora was the first to ask. "What's that about?"
"Hey, guys." Jaune greeted her. "Just… y'know, sorting some stuff out."
"You… apologized to Weiss." Ren commented - whether it was a rhetorical or genuine question, nobody knew.
Jaune ran a hand through his blonde locks. "Yeah… I just realised that I've been….. Annoying towards her. So I need to apologize, y'know? To keep things okay between us, at least."
Ren nodded in understanding. However, Pyrrha then came forward, "...Does this mean that you're not asking Weiss to the dance with you anymore?"
Nora and Ren noted that Pyrrha's tone was somewhat eager.
"No, that would defeat the purpose of me apologizing in the first place, right?" Jaune shook his head. "Anyway, let's go grab some bite, shall we? I'm starving."
As the team made their way, Jaune did not notice that Pyrrha was slightly bouncing behind him.
The combat class after the break period turned out to be another unexpected one for the students of Beacon and Shade Academy.
It was an idea that Claude had been discussing with Glynda and Griswald, which apparently drained the colors out of Ruby's face when the teachers announced the subject for the day's combat class.
A hand-to-hand combat, with no weapons.
Claude explained that the Creatures of Grimm were not the sole threat for the people - criminals, gangsters, terrorists like White Fang were the types of enemies that would not play fair. For example, they had enough mind and creativity to rob a huntsman off his weapon to reduce his combat effectiveness. Thus, the students had to learn how to fight on the fly - in any scenario where they did not have any access to their weapons.
Considering it was the first day for the hand-to-hand lesson, Griswald and Claude took turns to test and see what they were working with; and so far, the results varied from student to student.
Perhaps because they had been put under Waldo's tutelage for a while, Claude actually found around half of the students from Shade to have been accustomed in fighting without weapons - there were still rooms for improvement, but not too bad.
From Beacon - to be precise, his students, however, there was a pecking order when it came to the first-years.
The top contenders of the first-years in terms of unarmed combat were Yang, Blake, Ren and Pyrrha. It was a close call, however - with the blonde being physically stronger and more attuned in unarmed combat, while the rest showcased a decent amount of skills with a good head on their shoulders.
Nora was nearly as strong as Yang, but her fighting style was… unpredictable to say the least. Nonetheless, she had an impressive arm strength thanks to her past usage of her hammer.
Weiss definitely never trained in a hand-to-hand, before, but at least she got the basics down. Rather than hand strikes, Weiss' skills and moves involved redirecting her opponent's attacks and using it against them by throwing them away- the techniques that were usually taught in Mistral's style of judo and aikido.
Those who needed a lot of work were Jaune and Ruby - especially the latter. While the girl had showcased an impressive drop-kick during her first combat class, that was the only thing Ruby could pull without her weapon around.
Jaune himself was nearly as bad. However, thanks to the reflex that had been ingrained on him, thanks to his lesson with Claude and Pyrrha, he somehow was able to overpower Ruby with his body mass, being taller than her.
It was the reason why, after class, Claude was spending some extra time with RWBY and JNPR, using the time before dinner, to get down some hand-to-hand for those who needed it.
"Okay, show me a punch."
Claude was standing with his hands up before Ruby, who was nervously holding up a basic boxing stance. The young girl looked hesitant at first, she casted a quick glance at her team, where her sister gave her an encouraging smile. She then saw Claude was nodding at her, before she threw a quick jab at Claude's palm.
The man scowled lightly after taking Ruby's hit. "Again, harder."
At Claude's instruction, Ruby creased her eyebrows and with a grunt, she threw her fist forward.
"...Really?" Claude quirked his eyebrow at the embarrassed-looking Ruby, before he glanced at her team - Yang, in particular.
"Yeah, I know. She's just that bad." Yang nodded sympathetically. "She can hit quite harder, per se, but she needs to smash rather than punch to deliver the impact."
"...Right." Claude nodded and returned to address his niece. "Now we know what to do now."
"Do I really have to?" Ruby whined, "I'm just no good with hand-to-hand. Why can't I stick with my baby?"
"Because you'll never know what's gonna come at you when you go out there, Ruby."
Everyone, especially Ruby, blinked and found Claude was sporting a serious look on his face.
"There will be a moment when you won't have any access to any weapon, let alone Crescent Rose - when the odds are against you, when you are on a mission, when lives are on stake. What if you fail those who count on you, just because you're, 'no good with hand-to-hand'?"
The rest inwardly took what Claude said into heart, albeit Ruby was still biting her lips in a show of reluctance. "That's why I always carry Crescent Rose in the first place…", she murmured.
Claude heard Ruby's low voice and narrowed his eyes. With a soft exhale, Claude spoke, "...Go grab your Crescent Rose, then."
Ruby looked up, seeing her uncle's neutral expression as he jerked his head for her to get going. Confused at the sudden change, Ruby was a tad too happy to have her baby in her hands again.
The two were now facing off, with Ruby being hesitant for a second in regards to attacking an unarmed Claude. However, the man simply gestured to her to come at him.
Ruby then delivered as she dashed forward and performed several swings and combos with her scythe.
Everyone watched Claude simply stepping aside, back and forth - effortlessly dodging every single slash of Ruby's blade by hair's breadth. While Ruby's face was beginning to show signs of frustration, Claude's expression remained collected as he kept himself on defensive.
Eventually, Claude spotted an opening between Ruby's slash, and when she overreached, he stepped into her guard, grabbed the scythe's shaft between her grip, and Claude proceeded to ram his head right on the girl's face.
While Ruby was dazed from the sudden impact, Claude followed by sending his knee crashing against her rib - Ruby's aura kept the damage to minimum, but the force of the impact was still enough to rattle her and send her into a brief coughing fit, unwittingly loosening her grip on her weapon in the process.
The next thing Ruby knew, her gut received another kick that sent her away to the ground, and she could no longer feel Crescent Rose in her hands.
Ruby looked up from her prone position and saw Claude was examining her baby in his hand. He gave a few twirls, running his finger around its parts before her scythe transformed into its rifle form, earning a nod from Claude in the process.
The young teacher then cocked the rifle's chamber back and proceeded to point its nuzzle on Ruby's direction. "You see now? This is just one of many scenarios that I told you about. In fact, this might be one of the worst. Your enemy now has a high-impact sniper rifle aimed towards you - bang, bang, bang."
Claude pointed the nuzzle at Ruby's general direction while pretending to fire to prove his point. Ruby grimaced, then she watched Claude pointed the rifle towards the spectators, who flinched slightly out of the line of fire.
"...Or worse, your enemy could use your own weapon against passer-bys, civilians. Do you understand my point now?"
Ruby looked down dejectedly, processing her uncle's words in her mind. On the sideline, the spectators were also silent; Yang was scowling at Claude - torn between agreeing to his point and disapproving of how harsh his treatment towards her little sister, even if it was for the sake of teaching.
Soon, however, Ruby then found Claude had closed the distance and was kneeling before her, allowing their eyes to meet.
"That's why academies exist, Ruby." Ruby saw Claude smiling at her, ruffling her hair with his hand in the process. Claude then looked to the side, making sure that his next words were also intended to the rest of others. "All of you are here to improve yourselves, to learn things that you have yet to know and are capable of. That's also why I'm here to help you."
Claude then met Ruby's eyes again, "Let's do our best together, okay?" He smiled as he ran his hand through her locks again.
Ruby nodded with a radiant smile as a pleasant pink-tinge adorned her cheeks.
"Before we begin, may I announce a disclaimer first, Professor Rose?"
Claude blinked at Weiss - it was the latter's turn for a counselling session with the former that night.
"...Sure. What is it, Weiss? Oh, and no need to call me professor, I'm not that much older than you are."
Nodding, Weiss then straightened her posture on her seat, cleared her throat in a practiced manner before speaking, "Very well, then, Mr. Rose. I simply would like to claim that I am in complete control of my faculties, and am in no way under any sign of mental disorder of any kind. After all, this session is meant for punishment for a transgression, rather than an actual counselling session, is it not?"
Claude snorted in a light amusement, "You don't have to say all of that, but your words are noted. Moving on, how are you feeling tonight?"
Weiss smiled, with her posture remaining stalwart as she had been taught, "I am well, thank you for asking. The Grimm studies took some…. Refreshing change of pace in its subject of the day, your combat class earlier has been beneficial as well. I enjoyed them."
"Glad that you did." Claude nodded, "But let's talk about why you are even here in the first place, shall we? To tell you the truth, I didn't expect a straight-A student like you to appear during the White Fang raid that night."
"In our defence, we were not actually looking for the White Fang." Claude noticed the water on Weiss' expression shifted slightly, along with her sitting posture. "We were simply enjoying an evening walk to get our mind off things until we caught a wind of some suspicious activity from a warehouse not too far from us. Since we are students learning to be huntresses to protect people, we were obligated to investigate."
"With Blake disguising herself as a White Fang member and infiltrating their base, while the rest of you wait outside? I gotta say, that's a very bold investigation strategy." Claude retorted with a raised eyebrow.
"Our team has been known for being…. Bold." Weiss replied before her eyebrows creased slightly. "By the way, may I ask how Blake was…? I… can't imagine myself witnessing what she saw."
Claude smiled softly, "Distraught, will need some time to come around, but she will come around. But let's just focus on you, okay? Leave Blake to me."
"Right, of course." Weiss cleared her throat and shifted her sitting position again. "I…. believe we still owe you an apology for… messing things up."
Seeing Weiss' dejected look, Claude sighed, "I've already received that apology from Ruby, and especially Blake. As long as you girls promise not to pull another reckless stunt like you did before, I won't hold it over your head."
Weiss looked a little better as she nodded in acceptance. "So… for all intents and purposes, this is actually my first time undergoing counselling. Do you have anything specific you wish to talk about with me?"
"What a coincidence, this is kind of my first time providing counselling…. Discounting Blake and Ruby." Claude replied with a knowing smile. "And honestly? Considering neither of us want to bring up the topic about that raid, we actually can just talk about anything, really."
"I see…" Weiss nodded.
The two then fell into a somewhat companionable silence. Claude wrecked through his brain to begin a topic - anything, really.
"...How's Willow doing?"
Claude berated himself - of all things, his mind ended up wandering to the woman he and his team met during one of their trips to Atlas.
Weiss' expression clearly said that she was not expecting such a question. "You know my mother?"
Claude inwardly sighed - might as well roll with it. "Escort mission at the end of my first year at Beacon; the VIP was your old man Nicholas - your grandfather, and his daughter who… I think, was just recently wed to the man who is now your father."
Weiss blinked - once, twice at Claude before she shook her head lightly, "Are you saying that you've met my grandfather? But that's way back- Are you messing with me, Mr. Rose?"
Claude chuckled in amusement, "No, I'm not. I'm serious here. In fact, I learned quite a few things from your grandfather and your mother…. Though they're mostly about Dust and politics."
Weiss narrowed her eyes at her teacher for a few seconds before she commented, "...You're lying."
Claude raised an eyebrow at the accusation, which he somehow took as a challenge. Shifting his sitting position, Claude began, "In that case, let's see… I recalled old man Nicholas and your mom going on a business trip at Mistral, and my team was supposed to escort them to Argus first…"
oXo
"So… how are we gonna do this?"
Yang asked as she sat casually on her couch - leg prepped up with her head supported by a hand.
Claude replied, "I'm ashamed to say this, but after three counselling sessions with your team, I'm still not sure of what to do. But we basically just talk, since this is more like a punishment rather than therapy…. Unless something's messing with your head?"
Yang snorted and waved her hand off, "Nah, I'm good here. Kind of rattled from that night, but… I'll come around." Claude noted that her smile dimmed slightly at the mention of that particular night.
"Good, good." Claude nodded, "...So, anything you'd like to talk in particular?"
Yang rolled her eyes for a brief moment before shrugging, "I… kind of want to know you more, since you're… y'know, went way back with my parents and all"
"I can do that." Claude nodded, "But me re-telling you my past is gonna take forever. Any particular info you want to know?"
Yang bit her lip, running her tongue over for a second before speaking, "Can you…. Tell me about Raven?"
In return, Claude merely stared right at Yang's eyes. Noticing the gaze, the latter immediately explained, "Just being curious here. It's been kind of a sore topic to bring up back at home, I know Summer was my mom, but…. I can't help but wonder why she did what she did sometimes."
Claude regarded the girl for a few seconds before he exhaled through his nostrils, looking up at the ceiling in reminiscence. "Raven, huh…. Aside from the fact that she was Summer's partner during her days at Beacon, she's… many things, kind of."
Yang's curiosity was picked as she leaned forward a bit to listen.
"Listing them off is gonna take too long, but in summary, she's…" Claude grimaced slightly at Yang before he let out another soft breath, "A massive, unadulterated, insufferable bitch."
Yang winced slightly - her eyes were wide in a mixture of amusement and bemusement.
On the other hand, Claude took another breath, "...Sorry." He suddenly apologized, "Sorry, didn't mean to trash talk her like that."
Yang blinked before waving her hands around awkwardly, "No, no, it's fine, really. Nobody in the family likes Raven, not even me, considering what she had pulled on us… It's just, y'know, you dated her, so…?"
Claude simply regarded the blonde before leaning back on his seat, "I guess I did date her… Heh, now that I looked back, some of those were good times."
"Only some?" Yang inquired.
Claude shrugged, "The entire time I spent with Raven was filled with good and bad things, Yang. That's basically how a relationship works. By the way, remember that night when you trashed Junior's club?"
Yang blinked at the sudden question, "Yeah, why?"
"This is just me hearing things of what happened, but…. Did you go there to search for Raven?"
Yang shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much. I heard he knows pretty much everything about the town, y'know? I thought he might have heard anything about Raven runnin around Vale or something….. Wait."
She blinked and regarded Claude with a somewhat calculative look, as she rolled her tongue around inside her mouth.
"...Looking back to that night, when you came to the club to see Junior as well… By any chance, did you…. Know Junior back in the day?"
Claude regarded his honorary niece for a second before his lips grew into a small smile, "As a matter of fact, I did. Capital of Mistral Kingdom - back there, my team and I happened to run into Junior's father, who was ruling the kingdom's underworld as its crime lord." He then snorted, "Getting caught in their turf war too, pretty bad to the point that team STRQ had to get all of our asses out of fire."
Yang's lips grew into a smile, "Can you tell me more about that?"
Claude regarded the girl for another second, rolled his eyes in thoughtfully before shrugging again, "Sure thing. Make yourself comfortable."
"We received a distress call from the Lower Cairn settlement that had been sent to us... approximately 4 days ago."
Inside the teacher's lounge, Claude and the rest of the teachers and staff were using what little time they had to finish their paperwork before they had to return to teaching classes again, when Glynda looked up from her terminal.
"...Days?" Claude narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean by '4 days ago'?"
Glynda exhaled as she closed her eyes briefly, not liking the development itself. "Lower Cairn is a settlement surrounded by rocky terrains of Mount Glenn as a natural defense against Grimm, but ironically, it also gave them a poor reception to send out a distress call to the Kingdom. That's why we're going to send out a team… Promptly."
"I'll go, then. Which team do you have in mind?" Claude volunteered as he stood up.
Glynda nodded, "Judging from the geographical records and reports surrounding Lower Cairn… The Headmaster and I deem team CFVY will be the most suitable for this mission, with you as their chaperone…. Or perhaps you have something else in mind you want to add?"
"Mind giving me a quick look at those records?" Claude asked as he approached Glynda, who lent him her terminal.
Claude skimmed and scrolled through the pictures, statistics and reports on the screen - his expression sported a calculative look.
A minute later, Claude then turned the rest of the staff, "Peter and…. Waldo. Can you guys come as well?"
Claude's response elicited several eyebrows to lift up - Glynda in particular. Peter, however, nodded and stood up from his seat to follow Claude without a word.
"Are you sure about this, Claude? A team of second-year students with a high-calibre like team CFVY, and three fully trained huntsmen? I believe we might as well keep team CFVY here altogether and just deploy you three."
Claude simply returned Glynda's terminal to her as he replied, "Despite its location, surrounding terrain and total population, Lower Cairn is no small settlement. How big do you think was the Grimm horde for them to send out a distress call? Not to mention, considering several days have passed, we have to assume the worst case scenario. Sending out team CFVY is not a bad idea, but I need Peter and Waldo as insurance."
"But Mr. Leicester still has students from Shade Academy to look after." Glynda argued with a calm tone.
"The students here are not civilians in danger of Grimm incursion, are they?" Claude shot back, before he turned to Griswald. "Still, the final call is still on you. What do you say, Waldo?"
The man in question glanced around at the attention directed at him, before he shrugged and stood up, cracking his neck in the process. "...Now that you mentioned civilians in danger, I can't really ignore you anymore, can I? In fact, I can actually use some light exercise out there."
Glynda eventually sighed, "While I can't really argue anymore, the fact remained that we will be one staff short to look after the students here."
"You are the deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy, Professor Goodwitch. I'm sure that you can figure something out." Claude simply replied with a smile and quick wink as he, Peter and Waldo walked past her - the middle nodded at her with a knowing smile, while the latter merely grinned.
In return, Glynda could only narrow her eyes and throw a stink-eye at Claude's back. Once the trio had disappeared from sight, she sighed again at the remaining staff and teachers. She could cover the combat class just fine, but who would cover Peter's Grimm Study class?
As if on cue, Brunesteid spoke up, "Just saying - don't we have someone who had pretty much nothing to do but sitting with a mug of coffee at the top of the tower?"
Glynda blinked at Brune's words for a few seconds before she caught on. She opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but she closed it again in favour of contemplating the alternative.
oXo
"Hello? Weiss?"
Weiss blinked as she turned to see her team - Ruby in particular, staring at her. "Huh? What...?"
"Sheesh, it feels like we are nearing the end of days to see you spacing out before class, Weissy. What's wrong?" Yang quipped.
The heiress closed her eyes and shook her head lightly to clear her mind, "Sorry, it's just… My mind went back to my counselling session with Mr. Rose."
The rest of the team RWBY stared at Weiss for a second before Blake asked, "...Mind telling us what happened?"
"Nothing much happened, actually. It's just…. The whole topic that we talked about that night sounded… ludicrous." Weiss replied as she rubbed her forehead. "...I began to think that his whole time-travelling nonsense might be…. True."
"...What did you two talked about?" Ruby asked.
"He spoke about how he and his team worked with my grandfather and mother… The way he spoke and the details he gave… Either he's an exceptional liar or that he did meet my mother over 20 years ago."
"That's… Huh." Blake was the one who commented with a shrug. "...Come to think of it, we never really began about investigating his old team, didn't we?"
They all then went into silence as they only remembered that particular detail. Ruby then broke the said silence, "Welp, we can start our investigation once the school is over. Hey, maybe we can ask JNPR to help out too!"
They turned to see their sister team sitting in a row behind them. However, the girls were greeted by an odd sight - Pyrrha Nikos were scrutinizing the Scroll she held under the table, with the rest of her teammates peeking over. The device itself was playing a low-quality video recording.
"Um, Pyrrha?" Yang dared herself to ask, "What 'cha looking at?"
The redhead blinked from her Scroll and noticed that her friends were looking at her. Clearing her throat with a flustered face, she replied, "Oh, um, sorry. It's… just an old video I asked my parents prior."
"What video?" Weiss asked.
Pyrrha gave a sheepish smile, "I can show you later, since the class is about to begin. But…. Claude will be here, right?"
Team RWBY blinked at the question, before the leader replied, "Err, I guess so? Why?"
Before Pyrrha could have answered, they heard the door was opened and immediately returned to their seat, expecting Peter Port and Claude Rose, only to see an unexpected individual.
"Good afternoon, students. Professor Port and Mr. Rose are currently preoccupied with an emergency mission, thus I have volunteered myself to cover their class until their safe return."
The entire student body in the classroom had their eyes widened in disbelief, as the Headmaster Ozpin himself was standing before them, a steaming mug of coffee in his hand as usual.
"First of all, I shall admit that it has been quite a long time since I had a class to teach myself, but I will give my utmost to impart my own knowledge for you." The Headmaster said with a disarming smile. "Now, will any of you kindly put me up to speed on what did Professor Port cover in the previous session?"
"Y'know, having three huntsmen chaperoning us on a regular bug-hunt is kind of overkill, don't you think?" Coco Adel remarked as she regarded the aforementioned trio sitting across her, with the rest of her team sitting by her sides inside the Bullhead hangar.
The ride by air from Vale to Lower Cairn was rather tense, so Coco decided to lighten up the atmosphere by jabbing at the presence of the three veterans.
"We are looking at a Grimm invasion that has lasted for several days, Coco. I'd rather not cut corners when nobody knows what kind of hell-hole we're diving ourselves into."
"Not that I'm complaining, but…. Considering you three are veterans here, do you even need us around?" Coco replied.
"More people means more ground and tasks can be covered, Ms. Adel." Peter was the one to reply, "While it seems over the top, I cannot really argue against Mr. Rose's decision here."
Coco rolled the eyes behind her sunglasses.
While the students felt that Professor Port was being lenient as usual, Peter was simply following Claude's judgement - nothing more, nothing less.
"I'm actually grateful that he invited me along." Griswald commented with a hearty grin. "It's not every day I can go to missions with people outside of Vacuo! It's refreshing!" He then leaned down-forward to meet team CFVY's eyes with his own. "So, you're team CFVY, but I never really met you folks before. Griswald Leicester, at your service!"
Mild amusement was plastered across team CFVY's expression. Deciding to return the courtesy, Coco took the initiative as a team-leader. "Coco Adel, a pleasure," she said with a confident smile before introducing the rest of her team.
"...And these are my teammates - my partner Fox."
The youth in question simply nodded.
"Our Ace in the hole, Velvet."
The girl blushed in slight embarrassment at the Ace word, but she nodded nonetheless, "I'll be in your care."
"...And finally the beefcake of a tank in our group, Yatsuhashi."
The giant teen followed, "It is an honour to work with you, sirs."
"Sorry to cut this short, but I'm afraid you guys need to get knowing each other later." Claude interrupted with a small apologetic smile. "Let's focus on the mission first."
Everyone nodded in agreement and Peter dutifully took out a tablet and held it in the middle of the group to see.
"You guys heard the briefing from Professor Goodwitch, didn't you? We're heading to the Lower Cairn, a settlement near the base of Mt. Glenn - yes, that Mt. Glenn." He clarified at the somber look from the children. "...Our job is simple; search and rescue the survivors and destroy whatever Grimm we see there."
Claude paused for a moment to let his words sink into everyone's mind.
"Unfortunately, the distress call was heard at least 4 days after it was broadcasted, so we're looking at the worst case scenario here."
Velvet looked horrified for a second while the rest of team CFVY sported dark looks on their faces.
"...And you're saying earlier, search and rescue… Do you believe there are still survivors around?" Fox spoke for the first time in a while.
"There's no guarantee, but…. I don't think it's wrong to hope." Claude finished with a small smile.
One would call him being too optimistic, but somehow nobody argued. For team CFVY, it would feel nice if they actually saved at least one person.
"Moving on," Claude returned everyone's attention on the map on Peter's device. "Lower Cairn is surrounded by rocky terrain of the mountain that serves as natural barriers. There are also narrow passages and caves around the edge of the settlement, so there's a possibility that the survivors are still holding up there."
The intel seemed to shed some hope over everyone.
"ETA 7 minutes!"
They turned to hear the pilot announcing their near arrival. Claude then immediately went towards the briefing point.
"Here's the plan. Velvet and Yatsuhashi will follow Wal- Professor Leicester to circle around the settlement to find any survivor; while Coco and Fox will accompany Peter and I to hunt the Grimm down. Once the hostiles are taken care of, we will regroup with the search-and-rescue team. Any question?"
When nobody spoke, Claude nodded. "Alright, ladies and gents. Final check on your gear and supplies, we are gonna be here for a while, after all."
Everyone then promptly looked over their weapons, equipment and rations. Claude turned to see outside the window; despite the small anxiety that crept up to him, he knew what he said earlier.
It was never wrong to hope.
Extra Omake
Pyrrha sighed as she sat alone on one of the benches on the Beacon Academy's ground outside of her dorm. Clad in her sleep-wear, she looked up to the shattered moon in the night sky.
The day of the Beacon Dance party was coming closer by day, and Pyrrha did not really look forward to it for several reasons.
There had been many invitations from the student body: upper-classmen, exchange students, male and female alike, who wanted the invincible girl Pyrrha Nikos to be their date for the dance.
She managed to refuse every single one of them, somehow, while it was relieving that they easily backed off, that also infuriated her. Those people, in the end, believed that she was way over their league.
She disliked that notion - she was still a teenage girl, a person, who just wanted to have a good time and a fulfilling school life before she would become a full-fledged huntress. What's with their deal about her being too good for them?
While she knew that most of them bore no ill will, their stupidity still got on her nerves.
Speaking of stupidity, Pyrrha sighed at the idea of Jaune still gunning for Weiss to go out with him. Do boys prefer girls with a hard-to-get attitude? She honestly did not understand. She also honestly wanted to go with her partner - the loveable goofball who was able to see her as just another girl. Too bad Weiss ended up ruining that chance in that locker room, now he probably thought she was over his league as well.
At least he was able to get over the Schnee soon after. Now, if only he would even have the slightest inkling to actually ask his own partner.
Should she be the one to ask him, instead? Would it be presumptuous of her? Isn't it also customary for the man to invite the girl instead of the opposite?
While her mind was overwhelmed by those thoughts, she did not realise someone had made herself comfortable next to her and let her presence known by a slurping sound.
The redhead blinked at the noise and gasped when she saw a horned lady wearing a lab-coat sitting next to her, sipping on a cup of coffee.
"Oh! Um, err… Dr. Apelsin!" She almost shrieked after trying to remember the woman's name for a second. "I, err, good evening, can I help you?" She greeted after schooling her features at the last second.
"I just saw you sitting here by your lonesome and wanted to check on you." the woman smiled cordially and offered a steaming cup that she had been holding by other hand. "Would you like some? It tastes delicious in this kind of atmosphere."
Pyrrha glanced at the drink and smelled cocoa from the cup. She was about to refuse when she realised that the woman might have gone out of her way to procure her a drink after seeing her state.
Eventually, she silently accepted the drink out of courtesy and took a small sip. It was delicious like the doctor said, and Pyrrha could not fight back a small smile creeping up her face.
"So… can I help you, doctor?"
Jersey glanced at the younger girl before she looked ahead to nothing in particular. "Nothing, really. In fact, I believed I said that I wanted to see if I can help you, Ms. Nikos… Actually, can I call you Pyrrha?"
The girl blinked at the question, the prospect of being addressed without formality made herself nodding before she realised.
"Well, Pyrrha, then. I just walked for some fresh night air when I saw a young maiden in love sporting a sad look on her face. How can I call myself a doctor if I were to ignore her?"
The younger girl blushed in return, "I-I'm not…"
"I advise you not to lie to a doctor, Pyrrha." Jersey flashed her a knowing smirk.
The girl then ceased her attempt to deny the doctor's claim easily enough.
"Rest assured that what you say to me will stay strictly between us. So tell me, Pyrrha." Jersey then met Pyrrha's eyes with hers.
"What is it that you desire?"
Sorry for the lack of action here, folks. But next chapter will (hopefully) be action-packed.
