*cha-chink*
Uh oh…
One of the dual-guns of StormFlower seems to have a mechanical problem. Specifically, the spring that contains the recoil, allowing one to use it without either being pushed back or jabbed in the chest by the back of the gun, seems to have worn out.
Just great…
Ren quickly pushes the gun a bit to the back, letting it rest just beside the lamp. With that break fresh in his mind, he decides to check his other gun, quickly picking it up from the floor, unloading the bullets, and giving it a quick test-fire.
*cha-chink*
An identical sound comes from the second weapon. His eyes bulge slightly out of his head once the sound reaches his brain, as he quickly gapes at both guns. That's a one-in-a-billion chance for both guns to break the exact same way, at the exact same time. But there it is. He shoves both to the side, rushing to take out his scroll and tapping the keys for a very specific number. Thankfully, there are only two dial tones before the other end picks up.
"Cascade AeroDust Incorporated, this is Jason speaking, how may I assist you today?"
"You still accept walk-ins, correct?"
"Oh, Lie Ren! Yes, we still do. What seems to be the problem?"
"The springs are broke. In both guns."
"Both of them broke? At the same time?"
"That's right. Both of them are useless now."
"That's incredibly bad luck. So I'm assuming you are coming over to get them fixed."
"Yep."
"Are you bringing your little hammer girl? She's a fun one."
"I don't think I'll have much of a choice."
Taking a quick once-over at the two guns, and thinking about the amount of work and time it would take to disassemble them, he quickly decides that one Nora is not going to be enough.
"Actually, I'll bring another one too."
The potential for yet another customer piques Jason's interest. Sure, Nora is more than enough fun to watch spin around and such, but another person buying some product and improving the atmosphere can never hurt.
"Sounds good. See you there soon."
"Oh, you will." Ren hangs the call up quickly. He's not wasting any time on getting down there.
️
He quickly grabs StormFlower, putting it back on his sides as he stands up, spinning his head around to the inside of the dorm. With him are, off course, the rest of the members of Team JNPR. First is Pyrrha, who is lounging around on her bed with Miló and Akoúo̱ sitting next to her, leaning on each other for support. Next is Jaune, who is sitting in his bed playing some scroll game. He must be doing well, because he's looking pretty pleased. Finally, only about a foot to his right, is one Nora Valkyrie, currently scrolling through what can only be presumed to be some memes or other funny things. Maybe cute little puppies being woken up with a treat. Honestly, it's impossible to know for sure with her.
Ren really doesn't want to distract from the peacefulness, but getting those guns back in working order is much more important. Definitely don't want them broken during a surprise Grimm attack…
"Hey guys, I have to go down to the weapons shop to get things fixed. Who wants to go with me?" He barely gets the sentence out before the first volunteer makes herself quite clearly known.
"I do!" Nora jumps right off her bed and quickly takes her spot right beside Ren, cradling Magnhild with both hands. He smiles a little bit at her delightful antics before eventually realizing there are no other volunteers.
"I need one of you two as well, Jaune, Pyrrha." He looks at both of them expectantly while they process that important sentence. Jaune looks at Pyrrha. Pyrrha looks back at Jaune. He quickly realizes that Pyrrha isn't going to sacrifice herself like he is hoping, and is about to plead his case to her when she suddenly holds up one finger, stopping that thought dead in its tracks. She puts down her hand, digging into her left pocket for a single Lien coin.
"Heads."
Jaune can barely look over in time before she snaps her fingers, sending the coin high into the air. He watches it slowly succumb to gravity, as it perfectly lands on the edge of the bed. She looks at the coin and smiles just the tiniest bit as she announces what it has landed on.
"Heads. Have fun, Jaune." Pyrrha shows the coin to Jaune, and sure enough, there it is, Lien-side up. Jaune has lost this battle. She puts the coin back into her pocket, waving a goodbye to him as he begrudgingly starts to move from his bed. Ren can't help but start cracking a smile either, as Jaune turns his scroll off and grabs Crocea Mors, walking over to Ren's left side.
"Thank you. Now let's go. You've got your 'motion sickness' bag, right?"
Jaune pats down his pockets, sighing in relief when he hears the unmistakable crinkling of a folded-up paper bag.
"Got it."
"Yeees! Let's get going!" Nora suddenly seems to vanish from the room, clearly leading the charge.
"Nora!"
Both Jaune and Ren barely get the cry out before having to run after her toward the bullheads.
️
Pyrrha is left to watch them go. She waits for a while before getting up and closing the door to the room, leaving her completely alone. She sighs in distaste before returning back up to her bed, looking for something to keep her occupied on her scroll. Unlike the others, who would be entertained by something quick and fun, this girl is a bit more picky. She opens up a few apps to check around for something interesting.
New flavor of Schnee shampoo coming out… Pumpkin Pete shockingly revealed not to be a pumpkin… This orange tabby Persian cat was put near a plate of lasagna and you won't believe what happens next…
It's not looking like anything interesting is coming up this time around either. Well, there is always one thing she can do… train. The art of fighting is one thing that always gets her in a good mood. One wouldn't keep at it for years if they don't like it, after all… But who to battle with? Those bots in the training arenas are nowhere near engaging enough to catch her interest. She does know a group of students across the hall that could provide a challenge… Pyrrha opens up her contacts and picks out Yang's name from the bunch.
Hey… are you free?
The typing indicator pops up almost instantly, already giving her a slight bump of satisfaction.
Hell yeah! What's up, Invincible Girl?
Stop calling me that! The rest of my team went out for something. Want to go train together?
Why not? I'll bring the whole team!
Whole team?
Yeah? They aren't doing much either. Just studying.
The more the better!
Alright! See you at the arenas!
With the conundrum of what to do now solved, Pyrrha grabs her shield and javelin and makes a beeline straight for the training room.
She is the first one there, but she doesn't have to wait for too long. Yang quickly pops up behind her, rapidly followed by Blake, then Weiss, and finally Ruby, lagging behind a little thanks to the metal machination that is Crescent Rose.
"So, what's the plan?" Yang, of course, has already got her gauntlets out, ready to blast someone.
"All I want is some quick sparring, nothing that'll make me too tired or anything."
"Alright Pyr, how about just some quick 1-minute fights? That'll get your blood pumping!"
"Yang, please promise us you won't push too hard. Remember last time?" Weiss quite clearly remembers the last time Yang promised to do just a few quick fights… the scorch marks took ages to clean off of Myrtenaster. And what happened to Coco's clothes? Let's not go over that.
"Relax, Weiss-Cream! I promise to the gods of Remnant that I will not accidentally burn anyone! Now get up here Pyr!" Tired of having to wait, Yang has already entered the arena, and is currently setting up all the parameters for the upcoming fights. Oh yeah, there's gonna be quite a few.
"Pyrrha, I personally hope you win. Maybe it'll take her fire down a notch." Blake certainly doesn't want some overexcited flames to singe anything of hers.
"I'll try my best." With that, Pyrrha walks straight into the waiting jaws of the fire queen.
"Let's go sis! You can do it!"
Yang merely waves her arm in thanks as she focuses on the opponent that now stands just feet away from her. A single harsh beep radiates throughout the arena, and instantly the two are off, blazing toward each other.
️
It's one of the most action-packed 60 seconds that either of them have ever felt, but in the end, Pyrrha is the one who stands on top. Both Yang and Pyrrha are hyped up now, looking to go another round.
"Yeah! Way to go, Pyrrha! You looked so awesome out there!"
"Well thank you too Rubes! ...*sigh* Even my own sister!"
"Hey, she thinks you looked just as cool, right Ruby?" Blake really wants to protect Yang from feeling too bad about talking a loss. Ruby, though, might be having other ideas… She clearly thought Pyrrha was cooler, and while yes, that might have been proven true on the battlefield, someone can't just say that Yang wasn't nearly as stunning. Especially if that someone isher sister. Blake quickly whispers into her ear the right thing to say.
"Say yes."
"em...uh- Yeah! You were fierce out there sis! Yeaaaaaaah!️!"
"That's what I thought! Now get up here and spar with me!"
As if that previous indecision never happened, Ruby rushes up into the arena, Crescent Rose standing at the ready.
"Let's do it, sis!" The both rush straight for each other without even waiting for the starting tone.
Weiss and Blake both watch the two chase each other around, but soon Weiss is tapped on the shoulder by Pyrrha, who's just as ready as Yang is to get another match going.
"How about over there?" She points to a training arena that is right next to the one currently in use, which is now illuminated in all kinds of bright colors thanks to the epic fighting that is painting the inside.
Weiss thinks for a moment before deciding to give in. "Sure, why not."
…
️
20 minutes later…
Yang, Ruby and Pyrrha have all decided to hang up their weapons after no less than 10 battles for each of them. Pyrrha has a perfect 11-0 record in these battles, while Pyrrha turned out to be Yang's only losses at 10-2. That second one was decided by a razor's edge, though. Not to say that Ruby's record isn't also respectable, however, sitting at a cool 8-4-1. But that's enough about their records.
"God… I'm tired." Yang is first to vocalize her exhaustion, almost immediately after sitting down.
"You think?"
"Me… too… haa-…" Ruby is the most exhausted out of all of them by far.
"Well, this is the best I've felt in years! I should really do some mock spars more often."
"I'm feeling the same way, Yang. I'm so glad I invited you to do this."
"So how about another then? Let's say… Sunday?"
"I'm...good...thanks…" Ruby runs off for a bit to get a drink of water.
"Aw come on, Rubes! It's not that bad! Don't be like Jaune!"
Pyrrha's mind immediately goes to Jaune trying to do these kind of quick battles, and almost immediately an involuntary snort pops right out of her mouth.
"Hah! Imagine him doing 13 battles against any of us. He would die of dehydration."
"Thirteen? By the second one he would collapse."
"You got that right."
"Actually, I bet I could take him down in one."
"You know… with how bad he is… maybe you could."
"Really? I know he lost against Cardin, but Jaune's that weak?"
"Yes, he is that bad… remember how I agreed to help him out with his training earlier?"
"Yeah."
"You're training that rascal?" Weiss joins the conversation, finally finished with her last bout vs. Blake.
"Well… yeah…"
"How disappointing is he?"
"Uhhhhhh..."
"Hey, don't hold back anything from us, Pyr. You can be honest."
"He's absolutely terrible."
️
"How so?" Weiss is the one to ask, but everyone is now intrigued, their ears open waiting to hear the explanation.
There's silence for a bit. Pyrrha finally clears her throat and launches her explanation.
"He is too predictable. It took me barely any time at all to figure out where he would try to strike. When I went out there last night to help him train, we spent over an hour out there while I tried to teach him some basic sword-handling moves. Do you know how many times he hit me? Two. It took so little effort on my part to get in front of his strikes that I could still focus on counting how many times he tried. Two-hundred and seventy-six. And he got two hits in. That is just embarrassing. I've had little practice spars versus people off the street that were more difficult. I thought he was just bad in a pressure situation, but no, he is just bad."
Pyrrha's eyes are vibrant as can be as she finishes her little tirade.
"Well, I can't say I don't believe it."
"Neither can I."
"Oh boy do I have another story for you guys then…"
"Really, Weiss-Cream? Tell us!" And just like that, all eyes are squarely on Weiss.
"Alright, Yang, alright! I was in class a few days ago, and Jaune was in there. It was something really simple, about the Great War. The topic was about famous people who have fought in it, and the teacher asks 'Does anyone have a relative who fought in the war.' He raises his hand. Apparently his grandfather fought in one of the battles. So, naturally, the teacher asks "Which battle?" And I could see his eyes roll into the back of his head. He knew nothing about any battles. He could barely even remember the four kingdoms that fought in it! I couldn't bear to watch him anymore after that, but I doubt he could understand much of anything that was talked about afterwards."
"Oh my god..."
"Hey!" All eyes turn to Ruby, who has long since come back from her water expedition, and caught almost all of both tales. "He might be a little slow…"
*cough*
"And he might not be very smart…"
*cough cough cough*
"Getting sick over there, Blake?"
"Uhhh… Of course. Sorry about that. Keep going, Ruby."
"Thank you. As I was saying, who cares if he is not as good as us? That's what Beacon is for, to help him to get better! And besides, you two may not see anything in him, but I do. Just look how he dealt with that Ursa that almost killed Cardin! He was perfect out there!"
"Perfect?! I was there with you, remember! He was nowhere near perfect in that battle."
"Damn, you sure are going after him, Weiss-Cream."
Yang goes completely ignored as Ruby responds back.
"He was good enough to win, and that's all that matters."
"That 'win' was luck."
"So?"
"What we are saying, is the only way he can possibly win any form of battle is by luck. And honestly, calling it 'luck' is a massive stretch of the truth. Remember?"
"Of course I remember, Pyrrha put up his shield and all that. But he got the win."
"Let me tell you something, Rubes. I saw him swing his sword in sparring class against Cardin, and it looked like a kid with a blindfold swinging at a piñata."
"Pff-hahahahaha! That was a good one, sis! There's no way he can be tha-" Ruby doesn't even get to finish her sentence.
"Tell her, Pyr."
"He is that uncoordinated."
️
"...fine. Maybe he isn't that good at swinging his sword. He's still got his shield, and his decision-making. I know that will carry him to victory in the end."
"Anyone can have a shield, Rubes!"
"You can be the smartest person in the world, but you'll never win a game of chess if all you have are pawns."
Pyrrha cuts in as she realizes that's going to be a bit over her head. "Weiss, I think you need to translate that into English."
"It doesn't matter how smart he is, it means nothing if he has no attack!"
"...does that really matter that much? You guys can just cover for him! Do all the fighting while he leads everyone in the background!"
Blake finally decides to speak proper words this time around. "That's not going to help him in sparring class… He's going to lose 10, 20, 30 times before he even gets a single taste of victory because of how unskilled he is. And I can tell just from her eyes that Pyrrha does not want to essentially baby him until then."
"No, I don't. And I would also like to improve here too. No way I'll be able to do that carrying a 200 pound blond anchor on my back."
"well…"
"Would you like to deal with that, Ruby? Having to kill all the tough Grimm out there in the battlefield while one of your partners is essentially as useless as a cardboard cutout?"
"no, but-"
"Having to see him get repeatedly thrown around by almost anything that attacks him?"
"w-"
"Watching him get most of the glory, despite doing the least? Because he is the leader of JNPR."
. . . . . . . .
️
The silence is deafening.
️
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Ruby walks off toward her dorm, the harsh words clearly having burrowed right into her skull.
"I'll go cheer her up. See you guys." Yang quickly follows behind with Crescent Rose in hand, leaving just Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha in the very uncomfortable room.
️
"Okay… That just happened."
"Yep..."
"Yep…"
"Alright, Pyrrha, what now?"
Pyrrha's eyes are noticeably dimmer now after that conversation. She struggles to stand up as she begins to head for the door.
"Well… *sigh* I'm gonna go think about things for a bit. Jaune and the rest should still be gone. See you guys tomorrow."
"Alright, Pyrrha. See you."
️
And then there were two.
️
"What do you think she is thinking about, Blake?"
"I have a feeling I know."
"What?"
"Transcripts."
"Transcripts?"
"I have a strong hunch that Jaune cheated his way in here. It would explain everything; the bad fighting, the low knowledge, the fact that he didn't have his Aura unlocked…"
Weiss suddenly starts to blink several times in rapid succession as the pieces begin to come together in her mind.
"So you are saying that Jaune Arc forged some transcripts, sent them in to Ozpin, and he somehow not only let him in, but made him leader of one of the strongest teams in Beacon?"
"Yes."
"How could he possibly make that big of a mistake?"
"I have no clue. Maybe he got forced by Jaune's parents?"
"They can't be that powerful."
"I know. Maybe he just overlooked them. I have no good answer."
"Neither do I. But that does explain a lot about Arc, that is for sure."
"It does. Want to spar again? Get our minds off of this?"
Weiss thinks about it, but the fact that she had lost two out of three earlier, combined with the tiredness still set in her body, is enough to push her firmly on the 'no' side.
"No, I'm not interested. Let's just go back to the dorm. Yang and Ruby probably want us back over there anyway."
"Alright."
Blake and Weiss walk out of the training arenas, leaving the room completely and totally barren.
️
️
"You know, this is the fifth day in a row that I have not had a single complaint by someone regarding Cardin. Maybe he has actually changed after that incident with Jaune and the Ursa." Ozpin looks at the stack of the papers that lay on his desk. Well, for some of them, the more accurate term may be 'flattened', as the tower stands well over a foot high. But he'll get to them tomorrow.
He takes a sip out of his coffee cup, looking around and smiling in satisfaction. Another day with no massive issues. He then proceeds to almost choke on said coffee when the door is thrown open. In comes Pyrrha Nikos, walking up toward the office with her eyes shining emerald once again.
"*clears throat* Hello Miss Nikos. What brings you here today?"
"I would like Jaune Arc to be removed from my team, please."
"Oh?" Ozpin scans up and down her body for a moment, looking for some sort of hidden camera, or potentially a hint of laughter being locked away behind her face, but nothing juts out at him. "Why do you want him removed?"
"I recently found out his transcripts were completely faked, and am no longer comfortable with him being on my team."
How did she… Ozpin quickly opens the drawer that contains information on all students that are enrolled in the academy. Yep, Jaune's is still there, completely sealed, just as it has been since initiation. It might be a breach of privacy… but he just has to know.
"How did you find out about this, if I may ask?"
"He told me. I came over here as soon as I heard about it." Pyrrha flashes the best disarming smile she can possibly manage, hoping that it is enough to cover up the little white lie.
Ozpin sees her smile and instantly something in the back of his mind tells him to keep note of it. He files it off for the time being.
"That is quite unfortunate that you had to discover something like that about your leader. I completely understand your decision. He will be taken off the team by the end of tomorrow. Your new team will be called 'Pincer' (PNR) led by you, of course. I hope this clears up any and all issues you are facing."
"Yes, it does. Thank you for this Ozpin."
"You are welcome, Miss Nikos." He watches as Pyrrha almost jogs out of the room, shutting the door behind her with a firm thud. After a few seconds spent staring at the door firmly in thought, he raises his hand up in the air, and smacks it right against his face. Unfortunately, this interaction was not some sort of odd dream.
"Oh."
️
Ozpin wishes he could just put this on top of the tower along with everything else that is hard to trudge through, but even he knows that this kind of thing has to be dealt with both quickly and carefully. Having a team where the members have no bond together is worse than not having a team at all. And, for some unknown reason, the bond between Jaune and Pyrrha, at the very least, if not the rest of his team, looks to have been shattered into bits.
But now another question arises: What to do with Jaune? Obviously he's not going to stay leader of Team JNPR. He could just be expelled from the academy. It would be a better break than some others have gotten in the past, that's for sure… And it would nip any potential problems in the bud. Just another student who proved to not have what it takes.
️
That would be the easiest option. But also the wrong one.
️
Has he really proved to be completely useless? It's clear that at least Pyrrha seems to be thinking so, but he knows otherwise. For one, there is the extremely large Aura reserve. It's easily in the 99th percentile, maybe even the highest amount of Aura he has ever seen on one person. Two, his leadership is surprisingly competent, especially for someone who lied their way in. Even those fake transcripts didn't mention him holding any leader positions. Initiation did more than prove his worth on that front regardless, with the takedown of that Death Stalker with NPR being a shining diamond, and the reason he was made leader in the first place. Third, and most importantly, his motivation is through the roof. Ozpin can just see it in his eyes, those pure, vivid blues just oozing out drive everywhere he goes. If he was given a chance, any chance, there is absolutely zero doubt that he would succeed. And expelling him now would just be ripping that away. Ozpin is not that heartless.
️
Alright, so he's staying around. But how? There's not really an empty spot on a team to put him on… And giving him a new team to lead isn't going to work either. It's already hard for chemistry to be created when teams are formed, doubly so if they are started midway through the year… Maybe he could go solo? It would let everything flow naturally… but there's also the elephant in the room. What if he becomes bitter to the world? While he might- no, would become a great huntsman, there's also a non-zero chance that he would also become a permanent "lone wolf". Like Qrow. And that would be a massive waste of his potential. But then again, he does have a propensity to go talk to just about anyone he meets…
Ozpin chuckles to himself as he remembers some of the happenings before going into the forest. That was some hilarious words to listen back to…
Maybe… he might just turn out alright then? There are other teams besides PNR, there's people he'll almost certainly see out during his adventures, there's the extra students coming in thanks to Vytal this year… He'll have more than enough chances to get some extra friendships going.
He breathes a sigh of relief. This is all going to work out. Just have to put him somewhere that isn't the PNR dorm… He gets up from his seat and walks toward the back of the office. Almost immediately he sees Glynda Goodwitch, over at one of the many computers that line her specific room. She notices him as soon as she walks in, quickly pausing the recording of that day's sparring class.
"What is it this time, Oz?"
"There are a few dorms that are being left unused this year, right?"
She returns back to the monitors, giving the keyboard a major workout as she looks through some files to find the answer.
"Yes. Three to be exact."
"Good. Because I am going to put Jaune Arc in one of them."
Well that wasn't the answer Glynda was expecting. Her look shifts to one of curiosity. "And why is that?"
"He can no longer stay on JNPR. Miss Nikos came in and told me to kick him off the team."
Glynda just looks at him for a while. Her eyebrows wrinkle a little bit as she finally locks her eyes directly on Ozpin.
"You can not just tell me something major like that without more explanation."
"She said that Jaune told her about his transcripts, and as soon as she was able she came over to tell me about it. She was not comfortable having him as the leader of the team."
"I suppose that is… understandable. Rather that than have the two at each other's throats."
"Yes. What really interested me, though, is that she almost seemed happy to tell me this information. I saw her smile while she was talking about him."
"Smile? The only way one would be smiling is if the person being removed is a misbehaving jerk. Or someone malicious. Mr. Arc is definitely not the most well-rounded huntsman, but he is not a bad person."
"That is what I was thinking. Get him transferred off the team then, please."
"Hold on a minute. How do you expect him to get better without any help from anyone? He is so far behind the curve that I doubt just keeping him in his current classes will be enough to catch him up. Especially with the tumult that he is about to go through."
"I'm aware."
"And? Something needs to be done."
"Why not have you train him then?"
Glynda stares at Ozpin for a minute, trying to comprehend just what he is meaning to accomplish.
"Oz. Are you sure that is the right move for him? You know I am not one to mess around when it comes to helping students."
"It's probably the best thing for him. Besides, he would benefit quite greatly from such a push. You will be given full control over how he learns."
That little bit of sweetener gets her interested.
"How much time will I have to teach him?"
"Oh… how about an hour or two. I'll even let you decide the frequency of such sessions."
"That does not seem to be a bad plan. I'm sure this would help Mr. Arc out greatly. As long as he lets the process work, he should quickly start to show progress."
"He will."
"Anything else you want done, then?"
"No. That is quite enough. Other than maybe some more coffee, mine is already getting cold."
"You can take care of that yourself."
Glynda does not waver on this point, and Ozpin is eventually resigns, heading toward the coffee machine. She might concede on other things, but one thing that will always remain constant is that Glynda Goodwitch will be no one's coffee lapdog.
️
After making sure Ozpin is safely out of earshot, she brings her attention back to the monitor. But instead of going back to the sparring class, her mind is focused on something else this time around… That smile. It doesn't make any sense for Pyrrha to be so happy to have Jaune gone. There has to be something more to it than a simple transcript. She starts to move beyond the sparring class, looking through various feeds. After quite a bit of searching, she finds one from around two hours ago covering the training room. All of Team RWBY and Pyrrha are inside, currently doing what look to be some quick practice spars. They look impressive as always. But that's not what she's here for. She skips around a bit, watching both the video and audio for anything notable.
*skree-pew-boom-nooo!-whack-psssh-haa-wow-woom-Jaune-battle-*
That was easy. She moves the slider over to around where Jaune was mentioned, and lets it play out.
-could take him down in one.
You know… with how bad he is… maybe you could.
Really? I know he lost against Cardin, but Jaune's that weak?
Yes, he is that bad… remember how I agreed to help him out with his training earlier?
Yeah.
You're training that rascal?
Well… yeah…
How disappointing is he?
Uhhhhhh...
Hey, don't hold back anything from us, Pyr. You can be honest.
He's absolutely terrible.
How so?
He is too predictable. It took me barely any time at all to figure out where he would try to strike. When I went out there last night to help him train, we spent over an hour out there while I tried to teach him some basic sword-handling moves. Do you know how many times he hit me? Two. It took so little effort on my part to get in front of his strikes that I could-
Glynda watches the rest of the conversation, even having to go back a few times to make sure she got everything. With each rewind, she grows more and more annoyed. By the time her expedition is finally over, she is very unhappy with all she has heard. One thing is clear: None of them have any problems with painting Jaune in a bad light. Maybe send them out somewhere? It would certainly be a good thing to not have them around Jaune for a while. And, more importantly, it will humble them a bit to have something difficult to press through. She closes down the camera feed, and quickly replaces it with a long, long list of all the missions that students could be sent on. It's going to take quite a stretch of time to select the perfect one for this particular bunch…
️
️
The next day…
"And I hope all of you remember that next week there will be a test covering everything you could possibly know about Grimm evolution."
*ring ring ring ring*
"See you all next week!" Mr. Port watches as all his students flood out of the room. One of them is the third-blondest blond in all of Beacon, that being Jaune Arc. He's grateful, not only because classes are finally over, but also because now he can finally do something fun again. Not to say that the little trip to the weapons store yesterday wasn't interesting… but there's only so many times one can count the number of specks on the ceiling tiles before the day turns into a long, unending blur. And then there was lunch… pretty much nobody, save Ren and Nora, wanted to include him in any conversation. Whenever he tried to talk to the others about something, even if it was only about the history class that they had together not five minutes before, all he got was just one or two word answers. Just some "That's nice." or "Pretty good." and other boring answers. Maybe it was that mission they were sent on? Of course, they didn't tell Jaune about that, Nora had to pry it out of them, but it can't be that bad, right? Whatever. School time is over, and today could be anything! Just have to let Nora decide where to take him this time.
He makes it back to the JNPR room first, setting his sword and shield down, quickly stuffing all of his books in a cabinet. Nora and a very unimpressed Ren follow close behind, with Pyrrha finally completing the quadruplet after arriving a few seconds later. Not having anything in particular drawn up at the moment, Jaune quickly pulls out his scroll, looking around the net for something eye-catching. And oh boy, does he have it! The new Grimm Wars 2 is finally out, this one featuring new Grimm types, more weapon variety, new locations, and an ultra-super-secret final boss?! Before he can even think, Jaune has already pressed the download button, watching that progress bar ever so slowly begin to fill. While he is waiting, he steers his eyes over to some gameplay trailers.
Yeah! This looks awesome! I can't wait to drift around smashing skulls with that monster truck! Wait- you can even ride Grimm? What?! This is going to be amazing! I can't wait-
Suddenly Glynda opens the door, completely ruining his focus.
"Mr. Arc, The headmaster wishes to see you." The door quickly closes as Glynda walks back toward the office.
Curse you, Beacon! ...It's not that bad, this still has to download anyway.
He quickly checks the progress, which is barely over ten percent, before closing his scroll up and heading down. "Good luck down there, Jaune." Jaune can barely speak out his thanks to Ren before going out the door. Almost as soon as he is gone, Pyrrha suddenly jumps from her lounging spot, quickly moving over to Jaune's section of the room. In seconds she is over at the cabinet, grabbing those books and putting them all too conveniently on the edge of his bed. But that's only the first of a long line of places that she is going to go through…
️
Jaune makes it down to the office in less than a minute, steeling himself a little as he opens the door. Inside is Ozpin, clearly sitting in wait for him with his hands crossed.
"Sit down over here, Jaune."
He quietly makes his way over.
"Alright. Do you know why I called you here?"
"Nope."
"That's unfortunate, as it would have been easier. But never mind that."
Ozpin doesn't talk for a bit, trying to figure out the best way to break the news.
"So…"
"I have found out about your false transcripts."
Instantly, his deep blue eyes begin to lose their color. Jaune's arms quickly start to un-tense, releasing their grip on the desk and rapidly falling away toward his sides. His mouth drops open in shock. Ozpin realizes that he is about to go completely limp, and says something fast.
"Wait! I am not expelling you!"
This seems to work, as Jaune's hands shakily return to their former resting spot on the desk.
"Y-y-you're not?"
"No, you are not being kicked out of this academy." Ozpin waits for a few seconds to make sure Jaune is alright before continuing on. "However, I am going to be kicking you off of your team. The reason for doing this is so your… let's just say 'lacking' physical abilities can be brought up to snuff more quickly. Glynda will be helping you out with that by holding some special training sessions that I assure will help you improve quite fast. The first one will be on Monday at 8 AM."
"That's… great and all, but why did I need to be kicked off my team for this?"
"Because… Glynda is the one in control of your schedule from now on. She will be the one to decide how long your training sessions will last, and what classes you will have. You can still hang out with your former teammates during lunch and in between classes if you so choose. This is for your development, Jaune. Everyone at this academy wants you to be a better huntsman. And I know you do as well."
These are pretty soothing words to tell someone who thought they were about to be expelled just a minute prior, but Jaune isn't very happy. He really liked his team.
"I know this is a lot to take in, but trust me, it will be very much worth it in the end. The staff here at Beacon fully support you. Now hand over your scroll so I can get your new room dialed in."
Ozpin holds his hand out, waiting for the scroll.
"New r-room?"
"Yes. You are going to be staying in a new room from now on. I apologize if I forgot to mention that earlier."
Sorry, Glynda, for throwing you under the bus… I hope he doesn't ask any more questions.
Thankfully for Ozpin, Jaune seems to be satisfied enough for now, as he hands his scroll off. He's still not happy, though. He waits at the desk, pulling his head over to the wall to stare at some picture frames. He is quickly forced out of his melancholy by the sound of a scroll rolling around his desk, coming to a stop right as it touches his right hand.
"There you are. I hope we will talk again soon. Preferably about something more joyful." Ozpin looks away from Jaune, taking a sip of freshly-brewed coffee out of his cup. By the time he is done, Jaune is gone, the door already shut without so much as a sound.
The walk back is one of the most depressing walks that Jaune has ever had. He can barely muster up the effort to sigh. Even keeping his head up is a constant battle. What took just a minute one way around takes three minutes back, as Jaune finally makes it to the door.
Well… here goes nothing.
He opens the door to see Nora's head swivel around as if it was magnetized toward him.
"Finally! What happened, Jaune-Jaune?"
Nora shines brighter than the sun. There's no way he is about to dump rain all over that right now.
"...*sigh* I gotta leave this dorm for a bit."
"Where?"
Pyrrha interrupts Jaune long before he can get the motivation to answer. "He's going on an adventure."
"Adventure? Can I come?"
"No, this is Jaune's special adventure that only he can take. I've already packed everything up for him. Have fun, Jaune!"
"yeah… sure… adventure…" He grabs all of his things, which just happen to be perfectly aligned to carry with two hands, and leaves the room, barely able to keep himself upright.
Nora starts to pout just slightly at her former leader's disappearance. But Pyrrha even manages to beat Ren to the punch this time around.
"Don't worry Nora, I'm sure Ren will take you on an adventure!"
"You will?!"
Nora looks up at him with that classic puppy look. Ren realizes what Pyrrha just did and narrows his eyes at her before responding.
"Fine. We'll go on an adventure. Tomorrow. I'm too tired to go today."
"Yes! It's going to be so amazing! Me and Ren are gonna go do something, and it's gonna be the funnest thing ever! I can't wait…"
️
Far, far away from the raving words of one electric hammer-wielder, a door creaks open. The still air is suddenly tossed about as a large clump of stuff breaks through the atmosphere, landing with a soft thud on the nearby bed, the clump staying together as it comes to a stop on the right pillow. A few footsteps break the quiet, with only the blues of his eyes and the slightest tinges of blond hair able to be seen. Light breaks into the room, but only for a second, as the figure quickly closes the door shut. The light from the Beacon halls quickly fade off into nothingness, throwing the room into complete darkness, save for a few tiny rays of sunlight busting through the window. The boy in this room, however, does not notice it. Without a care in the world, he falls onto the bed and instantly is grabbed into a deep sleep, one that his mind is desperately craving.
Even the cheerful *ping* of a completed download is not enough to rouse him from his slumber…
I'm not good at titles. Or summaries.
I also don't really have an image for this one. So you get Jaune's constipation face until I somehow get something better.
When I established my FFN account in early April, there was one fic that I didn't port over.
It was called Brinkmanship. I didn't bring it over for two reasons:
1. I did not like it.
The fic was my second ever fic, and it was bad. The writing was pretty much incompetent, every one of the first few chapters was essentially just dumb, stupid idea after dumb, stupid idea, the update schedule was horrible… really, I could write a whole chapter alone dedicated to its flaws. But I always liked the idea of it, and how it wasn't to be the usual betrayal fare. I thought that that alone would make it good. It didn't. But I didn't completely disown the whole thing because:
2. I wanted to redo it someday.
After Chapter 11 or so, I figured out a plan for that story. I tried my hardest to execute it in the following chapters, despite all the mistakes that were already written in. It was a futile effort, and I eventually got tired of having to deal with working around the broken beginning, so I abandoned the fic. The chapters in the second half are objectively better than those before it, but the foundation was unusable. I knew that once I got better and more practiced in how to actually write properly, I could give it, and that story plan, the treatment it truly deserved, and today is that day.
I will make one thing quite clear: this is a remaster, not a completely new storyline. Since the basic plot is going to be similar between the two, and I'm not wanting anything to be spoiled, I took Brinkmanship down from there. I'm not ashamed of it, however, so I left a way to access it, which you can see more about on its page:
️www.️archiveofourown.️org/works/29245824/chapters/77217788/
I also put the first bit of it (what roughly corresponds to this chapter) back up, just so you all can see how much I have improved in just three short months.
I do have one ask for you all: Do not judge this based on the original work.
Don't expect all the chapters to be this long, either. This is essentially Chapters 1 and 2 of the original combined together into one, so future chapters will be half as long, or a little less, depending on what it contains.
Leaving this chapter untitled. Can't think of anything good.
That's all I have. Hope you all enjoy! Sorry for the long author's note at the end, but I hope you can understand why I have to do it.