666 Followers. :3
Took me way longer than I'd have liked, but I'm glad I took the time to reevaluate and rewrite. Things had been rushed and forced before... Next chapter will be quicker, I promise. You know, it's kind of ironic that writing a time loop story is actually harder—rather than easier, as I'd previously assumed. Having things happen in chronological order makes them a lot less complicated. Here, I have so much freedom that it's hard to settle on the right string of actions. xD
I've also finally finished the drawing for this chapter. It's called Arcfall and can be found on my DeviantArt. But read the chapter first, or you'll get spoilered. ;)
Enjoy!
"Ehm... what?"
"Are you stuck in the time loop too?!" Jaune asked, desperate. Please, please, ple—
"Time loop?" Ruby giggled. "What are you talking about, Jaune?"
Jaune collapsed back to the ground, deflating. Of course, she wasn't stuck with him... If she were, he would have found out years ago. Now that he thought about it, he'd rarely seen her at all aside from dinner. "Never mind then..."
"Jaune, are you alright?"
"I'm not, but you can't help me."
"Hiding away from your problems will only make things worse," she said, as if reciting it from somewhere.
"Not if you're stuck in a time loop," he grumbled.
"What did you say?"
Jaune started and shot into a seating position when her voice didn't come from above but was suddenly directly next to him.
"Sorry," Ruby said, grinning sheepishly, sitting on the grass by his side. "I am fast."
"I wish I had a useful Semblance like that..."
"So, what's up with the sulking?" Ruby elbowed him in the side. "Come on, you can tell me. From team leader to team leader."
"Well..." Jaune sighed. "I guess it can't hurt."
"Yay!"
He chuckled and leaned back in the grass, thinking about what to say. "You see, there's someone I need to kill." As expected, silence followed.
"Jaune," Ruby said after a few seconds. "I thought Cardin has stopped bothering you."
It took him a moment to comprehend her words. He chuckled faintly. "Not him."
"Hmm-hm?"
He thought for a long moment what to say. "Hey Ruby. You said you stopped a robbery and that's how you got into Beacon, right?"
"Yep."
"Can you recount the story for me?"
She did, lounging on her side.
"See," he said. "This mysterious woman that helped Torchwick escape. She's the one I need to kill."
"Jaune? Do you know anything about her? If you do, you should tell the headmaster."
"I already did. But nothing really came from it." He sighed. "I just hate being so useless. No matter what I do, it all feels so pointless, you know?"
"I understand."
Jaune didn't think she did. How could anyone understand what he was going through? "You sure you're not stuck in the time loop too?"
"Time loop? What does that mean, Jaune?"
"It means Hell. It means knowing exactly what will happen yet being unable to do anything about it. It means that I'm as useless and pathetic as always. Letting down everyone. Failing."
Ruby didn't respond. He relaxed in the grass and closed his eyes. She probably thought he was crazy and would leave any moment now. Surprisingly, she didn't. After a good few minutes, he glimpsed at her. She was also lying in the grass, staring up at the sky. Specks of light breaching the tree's canopy lit up the faint frown on her face.
"I had this really boring dream tonight," she said, eyes on the sky. "I think I was a fish. Looking up at the endless blue of the ocean. Or a bird. I think. Just...being mesmerized by the endless sky. Floating."
"Sounds nice."
"Yeah..."
"Sometimes, I wonder how it would be to be a bird. To just...fly away. With no worries. To be left alone by Grimm and anything. Simply...free."
She hummed in agreement.
"Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"What are we talking about again?"
"I don't know. Did it help you with your problem?"
"Well, no. But... I guess you managed to distract me, at least. How long are you going to lie there? You don't have to keep me company."
"I don't know," Ruby said with a sigh. "I'm supposed to be studying with Weiss right now, but I already completed all my homework yesterday. I mean, that's good enough, right? No reason to read it over, revise, and copy it in neat writing. Soooo unnecessary..."
"Yeah..." Peaceful minutes went by. Somehow, her presence was making him feel a little less hopeless. "Hey Ruby."
"Yes?"
"What have you been up to this day? I feel like I rarely see you around."
"Well, not much. I worked a bit on Crescent Rose earlier while Weiss was busy. We studied a bit. Then I snuck away, and I may have accidentally forgotten my scroll." She giggled, and he joined in.
"So everything's alright with your team?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I just thought... because I didn't see any of you at breakfast."
"Ugh, you can thank Weiss for that. She has this thing where she always gets up early. Even on the weekends." Ruby yawned. "And since Blake also likes to get up early, it's two against two, and we have to go along with it."
"Heh. I'm not even surprised."
"Yeah..."
They fell silent again. Sky-gazing in peace. The bushes rustled in the wind. Conversations floated past them as students traversed the grounds.
"Thanks, Ruby. It was nice talking to you."
"Likewise."
I should do this more often, he thought. Just relaxing and talking to people. So what if they didn't remember it? At least it kept him sane. And learning more interesting things about his friends was always a plus.
Motivation restored, Jaune thought about what he ought to do next. Train more? With Ruby? Someone else?
"Hey Ruby, any idea where I can find Blake or Yang?"
"Uhm... Blake's probably in the library. And Yang... hanging out with some of her friends from Signal, most likely. Sparring. Hitting the gym. That sort of thing. Why are you asking?"
"Just curious."
They kept lying there for a while longer, chatting idly from time to time. Eventually, Ruby said that she ought to get back to Weiss before things got out of hand, and they bid each other goodbye.
When Jaune jumped off the cliff to reset the day, he had a smile on his face. Free like a bird, huh?
Jaune went to look for Blake first. He wandered the library for a good hour but didn't spot the Faunus-in-disguise anywhere. With a shrug, he found himself a window to kiss the ground.
The next day, he went to the gym. As Ruby had predicted, he found Yang there. She was doing bench presses. An unfamiliar brunette girl, probably one of her friends, was helping her out.
He approached. "Hey, Yang."
"Lover boy?" Yang asked, panting, not looking in his direction as she kept lowering and pushing the weights.
"Yeah, it's me, Jaune, the lovable idiot."
She snickered. "One sec." After a few more repetitions, she placed the weight on the rack with the help of her friend. "Thanks."
"Call me if you need anything."
Yang sat up. "What's up? Having problems with the Ice Queen?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
Jaune tried not to stare at all the exposed sweaty skin on her muscular arms, her flushed cheeks, grinning full lips. "More like the Fire Queen," he mumbled, earning him a frown. "I'm actually here for you. Are you free today?"
Yang gasped in a playful manner. "Are you...asking me out? Like, on a date?"
"What? No! I..."
She snickered.
"I was going to ask if we could train. Like, hand to hand combat."
"Desperate to get your ass whooped, are you, lover boy?"
"Yeah." He shrugged. "Better to get smacked here by you than in combat class by Cardin."
That proved to be the magic word. Yang rubbed her hands together, fist into palm, and a toothy grin split her face. "'bout time you kicked the dick's ass." She stood. "Let Yang show you how to swing a punch that hurts."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"Don't thank me yet. You're in for a world of pain before you'll get better. Still sure about it?"
"Yeah."
"Alrighty." Yang led him away to some training room. Jaune didn't miss how she went past those that had some padding on the ground.
I have so many regrets right now, he thought after getting smashed into the hard, unforgivable ground once more. His Aura shattered.
"You alright there, lover boy?"
"Y-yeah," he croaked, wheezing for breath.
Yang was a very "hands-on" teacher. She believed that you should first experience the pain before learning the moves to inflict it. It would make you think twice before actually doing so.
At least, that's what she claimed. Jaune wasn't so sure she lived by the words she preached. He probably didn't know anyone else that was more trigger-happy. Well, except Nora. But that was so obvious you didn't need to say it.
Jaune grasped Yang's hand, and she pulled him to his feet, then gave him a pat on the back. She handed him a bottle of water.
"Thanks."
"Hmm... Sorry, didn't expect to break your Aura there. I need to keep better track of that."
"No worries. I'm fine."
"If you say so." She suddenly grinned. "You didn't answer my question earlier. How are things with the Ice Queen?"
"Well, cold."
Yang laughed. She really had a bad sense of humor.
"I mean, I've stopped bothering her."
"You... you have?
"Yeah. I've realized she's not the right one for me." He smiled, a little dopily. "Pyrrha is."
"Daaaamn. He finally noticed."
"Only took a Grimm attack and Beacon getting destroyed."
"Say what?"
"Nothing. Thanks for the training. See you tomorrow, Yang."
"Hey, Ruby!"
"Jaune?" She looked up from where she was polishing Crescent Rose, the large scythe laying fully deployed on a wooden work table. "What's up?" After a moment, she gasped. "Don't tell me you've finally decided to give that sword of yours an upgrade? N-not that there's anything wrong with how it is currently." She giggled, scratching the back of her head.
Jaune could only smile like an idiot. She had that effect on people. "No, I was looking for you."
"You were?"
"Yeah, I was." The words he'd planned to say escaped him.
"Sooooo?"
"Ahem, I... wanted to ask you... if you could teach me... how to use guns. Yep, that was it!"
"Oh. Sure!" She went back to polish the scythe blade. After a few moments, she looked up again. "You mean, now?"
Jaune shrugged. "Why not?"
"Okay! Let me finish here real quick. Just a few minutes."
He watched her work with interest. Perhaps I should try her weapon. It seems strong. Then again, perhaps it's more effective against Grimm—hybrids excluded—than humans.
"Hey Ruby, didn't you say that you were supposed to study with Weiss?"
She grimaced. "Yeah... Later. Weiss is at the CCT now. Calling her sister or something. But that studying can wait. It's only revising anyway..." She transformed Crescent Rose into its compact form, stood, and held it in a pose. She grinned. "Now it's time to teach you some proper Huntress manners. I mean, shooting. All the good stuff."
He returned her grin and found himself more excited than he could remember in years. How did I ever develop a crush on Weiss with this awesome girl around?
"So," Ruby said as they walked across the Beacon grounds. "What led to your decision all of a sudden?"
"Do I really need a reason to shoot a gun?"
She giggled. "I suppose not. I just thought..."
"You're right. This may seem a bit sudden. I simply realized that I need to become stronger if I ever want to become a full-fledged Huntsman. And that includes my weapon, even if it is an heirloom. I don't have a Semblance yet, so I need to compensate somehow."
They'd arrived at the shooting range. Ruby had a smug grin on her face as she held the door open for him. She dashed past him with her Semblance and gestured to all the weapons displayed. "Welcome to paradise!"
With a smile, Jaune joined in on the fun. They tried all kinds of weapons. From pistols, to assault rifles, to snipers. She even allowed him to take a few shots with Crescent Rose. He found out that he was quite the miserable shot. The countless times he'd blown his brains out with Milo had not improved that in the slightest.
The buzzing of Ruby's scroll interrupted them after what had felt like minutes but had probably been hours. Ruby shot him a guilty look and dashed outside. When he joined her a moment later, it was to find Weiss loudly berating her over the scroll call. He offered her a sympathetic smile, then reset the day with the pistol he was currently holding.
With a familiar ding, the elevator stopped and its doors opened. Jaune stepped into the CCT. People were sitting on the consols everywhere, making calls, texting. It took him a moment to find a shock of white hair among them.
"Hey, Weiss."
Weiss had her head in her hands and started when he called her, then groaned. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, Jaune?"
"Everything alright? You seem a bit...stressed out."
"None of your business," she snapped.
Jaune scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry for intruding."
Weiss crossed her arms and waited. "Well? Aren't you going to leave and bother someone else?"
"Actually, I came to ask a favor. I—"
"I'm not going on a date with you."
He snorted. "As I was saying, I wanted to ask if we could train sometimes. Like, sparring."
"Oh. Why, though? And why me? Go ask Pyrrha—or Ruby, for all I care."
"Why not? You probably had some very good tutors, and I really need to improve my swordsmanship."
Weiss stared for a few moments, as if hoping he'd just leave. "Jaune, what kind of weapon do I have?"
"Ehm. A Dust-rapier?"
"Yes, and what weapon do you have?"
"A sword and a shield."
"And what does that tell you?"
Jaune frowned. "That...you're rich?"
She facepalmed. "No, it means that I have no idea how to fight with your weapons. I can't teach you anything. Can you leave now, or do I need to remove you with my Semblance?"
He wanted to argue, but nearby people had started to pause in their activity. It was clear he'd be thrown out soon if he kept this up. "That's too bad. Perhaps another time. Good luck with your call." With a wink—he just couldn't help himself—he left and searched for a nice window to jump out of. He found one in a nearby corridor. It'd provide him with the opportunity to gain some speed for his flight.
In the process of opening the window, he halted, and his gaze got drawn to the entrance to the dorms that was not too far away. An idea began to form in his head.
Jaune walked back to Weiss, grinning.
"What?" she snapped before he had a chance to open his mouth.
"About you removing me with your Semblance. Could you actually do that?"
An intense frown worked itself on her face. "What in the world are you talking about, Jaune?"
"I mean, could you actually remove me with your Semblance. Like, throw me out of a window?"
"I still don't follow."
"I need to practice my landing strategy," he explained. "So could you help me? I'm sure it'll only take a minute."
"Let me get this straight. You want me to use my Semblance to throw you out of the window, so that you can practice your...landing strategy? Here, in the CCT, when you could just go to the cliff?"
"Yes."
"This is utterly ridiculous!" After a moment, a contemplative expression crossed her face. "Although, the thought of throwing you out of the window has some merit."
"So you'll do it?" He grinned.
"Fine, yes." She got up. "You'll be fine, though? You got your Aura and all? I don't want to get into trouble because of your idiocy."
Jaune fished out his scroll and showed her his Aura meter.
"Alright."
He led her over to the corridor. Weiss drew her rapier from her hips—for some reason, she carried that to the CCT—and aimed. White glyphs formed horizontally on the ground in a line, then a few more vertical ones outside the open window.
"Thanks, Weiss. You're the best."
"I'm well aware. Are you going to jump now or what?"
Excitement building up inside of him, Jaune got into a crouch, prepared to sprint off. A few students had gathered behind Weiss, watching the spectacle. With a wink—he really just couldn't help himself—he dashed off.
Woah, he thought as he passed the first glyph and a massive speed boost hit him. He passed another two. This is— "Ahh!" He lost balance, stumbled, and smacked against the wall next to the window. "Ow." He dropped to the ground. Immediately, his gaze shot toward Weiss, and he felt his face heat up with embarrassment.
Laughter was audible. Weiss had a hand in front of her face, her shoulders shaking as she giggled discreetly.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want." Jaune got to his feet.
When Weiss removed the hand from her face, the irritation was gone, replaced by a radiant smile. He'd done that. He'd cheered her up. A wave of warmth washed over him. Guess I'm not quite over her yet.
"So..." Jaune scratched his head. "Can we...try again?"
With a smirk, Weiss summoned the glyphs again. More students had gathered. "Go on."
Jaune readied himself. This time, he was prepared for when the first glyph sped him up, and even the second and third didn't throw him off balance. He practically flew across the ground, taking leaping steps, the window coming nearer. Then, just when he was about to reach it and jump, he got thrown sideways. For a second time, he smacked against the wall. It was just as pleasant.
Loud laughter broke out around him. Rubbing his side, Jaune got to his feet. He shot Weiss a glare, but it lost its heat a little at seeing her laughing so carefree. Usually, he only made her annoyed and irritated.
"I'm sorry," she said in-between giggles. "I must have lost concentration there for a second. S-so sorry." She put both hands in front of her mouth to muffle another outburst of laughter.
Ugh. I guess I deserved that, he thought and allowed himself to chuckle along. "Third time's the charm, right?"
Finally coming down from her sadistic amusement, Weiss gave a determined nod and summoned the glyphs again. Jaune took his position and shot into a sprint. I'm gonna be pissed if she fucks me over again. Thankfully, she didn't. Full-speed, Jaune jumped head-first out of the window. He dove through the first glyph, and it tugged at him, throwing him further and into the next one. He missed the fourth, though.
"Wooohooo!" He was spinning around wildly, tumbling through the air. Everything was a blur. It was awesome. He felt so fucking alive. Suddenly, everything seemed possible. He was free. Sooner or later, he was going to get Cinder. He was the one with infinite time, after all. She was practically helpless in comparison to him.
Jaune smacked against the ground. He crashed and bounced and slid across the unforgiving concrete. It wasn't very pleasant. He made sure to shield his head, but his elbows were smarting quite a bit. His Aura held. When he finally stopped, he found himself on the path that led from the dorms to the cafeteria, not too far from the entrance. He lay there, panting.
Ugh, hurts. Next time, I'll deactivate my Aura and spare me an extra jump. He didn't really feel like getting up. His scroll buzzed. Grimacing, he fished it out of his pocket. It was a wonder it'd survived the fall.
"Wha—"
"Jaune!" Weiss's shriek made him cringe. "Are you okay?! I thought you said you had a landing strategy. What was that?! Jaune?! Say something!"
"I'm fine. Fine." He found himself grinning. So she's not completely heartless, after all. "Sorry for worrying you." He caught her sigh of relief.
"Good. For the record, this was all your idea. I won't get in trouble for this. Got it, Arc?"
"Love you too, Snow Angel." Laughing at her indignant gasp, he ended the call. He brushed the students trying to help him off and went to reset the day.
"Hey, Ruby!"
"Hey, Jaune!"
Jaune frowned and checked his scroll, even though he already knew that he'd arrived at the exact same time as the last time. And yet, she'd said something different. And Crescent Rose was lying at a slightly different angle, if his eyes weren't deceiving him. How odd.
"What can I do for you?" she asked.
"I wanted to ask if we could go to the shooting range together. I could really need the help of an expert."
Ruby grinned. "Yep. Okay. Just a few minutes, then I'm ready to go."
"Hey Ruby, didn't you say that you were supposed to study with Weiss?"
She grimaced. "Yeah... Later. But I got some free time now!"
Jaune frowned the whole time he waited for her. Curiouser and curiouser.
When they walked across the Beacon grounds, Ruby didn't ask him what had made him change his mind. Instead, she said, "I had a feeling you'd finally come around."
"A feeling?"
She hummed, skipping along some rocks lining the walkway, balancing with arms spread.
They continued into the shooting range.
"Welcome to paradise!"
He was kind of relieved that this hadn't changed as well. He wondered what was up with Ruby, but then just went to train with her. Perhaps I did something different. I must have.
"Wooohooo!" Jaune was somersaulting through the air. When he neared his target, he brought his flight under control. Too high, he thought.
He deactivated his Aura, crashed face-first into the wall of the dorm building, and shot up in his bed.
Jaune ducked beneath Yang's punch and gave her a quick jab in the abs. "Hell yeah!"
A second later, he was on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs.
"Not bad, lover boy."
He grinned back. It had been the first real hit he'd managed to land on her. "Again."
Ruby whistled. "Wow, Jaune, you're actually not awful at this."
"Heh, thanks."
"I, I mean. That was a compliment!"
"I know, Ruby. All thanks to your help, though."
She grinned and scratched her head. "If you say so."
"Let's shoot some more."
"Yep!"
"For the record, if this goes badly, I won't take any blame."
"Got it, Weiss."
"By the way, why do you have Pyrrha's weapons? Don't tell me she put you up to this?"
"It's part of my landing strategy. I can hardly maneuver with my own weapons if I'm in the air."
"Hm."
"Can you put that one glyph a bit higher? And tilt the second one a fraction?"
"Are you the expert now?"
"Just do it, Weiss."
"Fine."
"Thanks, you're the best."
"I'm well aware. Are you going to jump now or what?"
"One second." 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
With a wink, he sprinted and jumped out of the window. The glyphs threw him into the sky. He grinned and did a backflip, relishing the sun on his skin, the air tugging at him, cooling him. He made himself into a ball and other silliness until he finally hit the apex of his flight, then it was all business.
Jaune drew Milo and transformed it into spear-form. The dorm building slowly became bigger and bigger. It took him a moment to maneuver into a stable position—head toward the ground. Grasped with both hands, he held Milo so that it was an extension of his body, ready to pierce something. He plummeted to the ground. Cinder and her goons had just exited the building. His timing was perfect.
In the last second, she noticed him, her head snapping upward. But it was too late. The speartip impacted her chest with all the force of his body weight and speed behind it.
"Argh!" Cinder got thrown off her feet.
"Cinder!" Emerald cried.
Grinning, Jaune grimaced past the pain of landing and immediately attacked Mercury. A quick thrust in the stomach took him out for the moment, and he advanced toward Cinder. He landed a few hits on her arms before she recovered. Emerald charged him, and he sidestepped, grabbed her, and used her momentum to throw her, so that she crashed into Mercury, who'd attacked from the other side. They both went to the ground.
"Hey!"
"Em! Get off!"
"Fuck you!"
Thanks, Yang. Jaune kept attacking Cinder. Suddenly, she materialized a curved sword out of thin air and parried. He was so surprised, he didn't even realize until she'd already buried the tip in his stomach. His Aura blocked, but she didn't let up. She got another hit in, then the sword vanished. She stepped closer, gave him a few quick jabs across his upper body to destabilize him, then flipped backward and gave him a brutal kick in the chin that rose him off his feet. Head spinning and white spots in his vision, the world was a blur as he fell. He crashed to the ground.
Fuck, she's so good... So much faster than Yang. Almost graceful. He tried to reach for Milo to reset the day but his hands only made contact with the rough concrete. "Fuck," he gasped when pain shot through his right hand. Cinder had stepped onto it. Dazed and tears of pain clouding his eyes, he looked up to meet her gloating face. She twisted her heel on his hand, tilting her head to the side as if asking whether he liked that.
Sadistic bitch. He glared, not giving her the satisfaction of showing just how badly it hurt.
Finally, others arrived to break up things, then Miss Goodwitch came to sort things out. To his reserved delight, Cinder also got in trouble. But sadly, it wouldn't lead to anything aside from detention.
"Jaune," Ruby said with narrowed eyes and hands put against her hips after he'd just nailed every single target with his rifle. "Why did you say you need help when you clearly don't?"
"I...well..." He scratched his head.
"Did you... just want to spend time with me?" She suddenly blushed and blurted out, "This isn't a d-date, is it?"
"What? No!"
Her face fell.
"I, I mean. It can be, if you want it to."
"Only if you want it to...too."
Well, this is unexpected. "Only if you want me to want you to want it to too."
"Only..." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "...if you want me to want you to want me to want it to too! Hah!"
"Only..." Jaune cleared his throat. "If you want me to want you to want... Nope, I give up."
They burst out laughing. The whole situation was so absurd. He couldn't stop laughing, wheezing for breath. He hadn't laughed so good in ages. Gunshots were echoing from the shooting range, and they kept laughing, wiping tears out of their eyes.
After numerous failed attempts, they managed to stop laughing.
"Sooooo...?"
"Ruby," he said, trying desperately to keep a straight face. "Let's just shoot some guns."
"My thoughts exactly."
He wasn't sure whether they'd agreed that it was a date or not, but they went back to shoot, chuckling and giggling occasionally. They even did a little competition. He lost. He wasn't that good yet. And perhaps he had been a little distracted wondering whether it was a date or actually not. Not that he had any intention to ever date her or try anything, but he was just curious. A mystery to occupy him along with the fact that Ruby sometimes behaved differently than on other days without any apparent reason.
As always, things got interrupted by Weiss's call. Ruby denied the call. A thing she'd never done before. By the third time, she shot Jaune a guilty look, mouthed, Weiss, and dashed outside.
He'd usually reset the day now, but he still had a question he desperately needed an answer to. Oddly, Ruby stood with a bit of distance to where she usually stood, back turned to him.
"Where are you?" Weiss's annoyed voice founded faintly from the scroll.
"On the shooting range."
"Of course. Haven't we agreed that academics are more important than senseless shooting?"
"It's not! I mean—"
He could practically hear Weiss's annoyed sigh. "Ruby, we talked—"
"I'm on a date!"
There was silence for a moment. "You are on a date... on the shooting range."
"Ehm, yes?"
"You are not on a date."
"I am! It's a shooting date!"
"With whom?"
"Jaune."
"Jaune? Jaune?! Jaune, who doesn't even own a gun. Jaune, who's incompetent in any way. Jaune, who—"
"Who is super nice and sweet and talented, opposite to some other people!" Ruby snapped. Actually snapped.
Wow, Jaune thought.
The following silence stretched for a good minute. "You're serious."
"I am, Weiss."
"I, well, then I...wish you the best of...success." She gave an awkward chuckle. "Sorry for the disturbance."
The call ended, and Ruby stared in disbelief at the scroll.
Jaune chuckled, and she whirled around, making a cute squeaking sound. The blush on her face increased in intensity. "Jaune! D-did you hear? I... Ahem."
He grinned. "So it is a date."
"I, hehe, I mean, if you want it to be."
"It's a shooting date," Jaune said. "Friends can go on shooting dates. It doesn't have to mean anything. Though it certainly can."
"Yep! A friendly shooting date! That's it!"
"So wanna get back to the shooting?"
"Yep!"
They had a few friendly competitions, some of which he won. Ruby was kind of flustered and distracted. It seemed she harbored a little crush for him. Or perhaps she thought she did or was simply confused.
When they finally called it quits, he walked her back to her locker, a thing they'd never done before, as Weiss's call always caused Ruby to dash off with her Semblance. He totally used her flustered state to peek and learn her locker combination.
9, 8, 7, 6... Crosshair aligning with the door of the dorm building, he waited, lying. The three villains exited. He zoomed in on Cinder's face. As always, her hair was perfectly styled, her little grin in place. He waited for a few more seconds until they were more in the open. Then he shot.
The boom of a sniper rifle being fired was quite loud and had his ears ringing. Birds suddenly took flight from the nearby trees. He took the next shot, knowing already where the hit would make her stumble, then the next. He got in three headshots—all making her Aura flicker orange—before she managed to raise her hands in the correct direction. After another shot in her stomach, Emerald blocked the trajectory as they took cover.
He doubted he'd even gotten a third of her Aura.
Jaune sighed. Shooting himself with Crescent Rose was a bit difficult, but he managed. He wasn't planning on letting himself be arrested.
Jaune got thrown against the wall, and his Aura shattered.
Yang halted mid-punch, her fist just a few inches from his face. "Damn, nearly destroyed those good looks, lover boy." She wiped the sweat from her forehead, panting. "You're not half-bad, I gotta say."
"Thanks." He leaned with his smarting back against the wall and slid down until his ass impacted the hard floor. "I'm getting there..."
Yang procured them some water and joined him on the floor.
"Hey Yang, can I ask you something?" It was hard not to get distracted by how good she smelled, the glistening sweat on her skin. Fuck, he was hard and hoped desperately that she didn't notice. Perhaps he'd developed a bit of a crush on her during all those training sessions... It was just lust, though. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Sure."
"You're very protective of Ruby, right?"
"Ehm, yeah. What gives?"
"Let's say there was someone who wanted to date her. What would you—"
"Who wants to date my baby sister?" Yang all but growled, and her eyes flashed red for a moment. She grabbed him by the hem of his hoodie.
"N-not me!"
"Yeah. I figured." She released him. "Heh. How someone can have their head so high up the Ice Queen's ass, I'll never know..." She shook her head and drank from her bottle.
Jaune chuckled. "Fuck Weiss."
Yang spit out her water. Coughing, she asked, "W-what did you just say?"
"Fuck Weiss. Not that I hate her, but she's really not worth it."
"Good for you to finally realize it." She narrowed her eyes. "So you've set your eyes on someone new? We're better not talking about Ruby here."
"No." He looked into her lovely lilac eyes. "I'm talking about you, Yang."
She seemed stunned for a second, then chuckled. "Dream on, lover boy."
"Yeah, I shall..."
"Hey Ruby!"
"Hey Jaune!"
"Could we train? Like, with your weapon. I'm thinking about upgrading my weapon, and I wanna try out all kinds before I decide on what I'll go for."
"Uhm. Sure! Just give me a minute to finish up here."
Jaune entered the combination and opened Ruby's locker. He'd already reached inside when he noticed that it was empty. Huh.
As always, he'd sent her a text to ask her to meet him in the library. Since that was a weapon-free zone, she stowed Crescent Rose in her locker before going there. Well, usually.
He still had no idea why Ruby sometimes acted differently. She wasn't in the time loop—he was 99.9999% sure of that—so what could cause her fluctuation in behavior?
An anomaly, he concluded. If she really triggered the time loop with her Silver Eyes somehow, it makes sense, I guess. It didn't bring him any closer to the real problem though. And she obviously never believed him about the time loop, so it was no real help to him anyway.
Weiss crossed her arms. "Why are you carrying Ruby's and Pyrrha's weapons?"
"I need to practice my landing strategy. And perhaps I made a little bet with Ruby."
"Of course, you did." Weiss gave a long, suffering sigh. "I swear, this kind of harebrained scheme is exactly why I should have been team leader."
"So will you do it? Don't tell me you're concerned for my health."
Weiss huffed. "Of course, not." She went to summon the glyphs and adjusted them to his liking.
"Thanks, Weiss. You're the best."
"I'm well aware. Are you going to jump now or what?"
"One se—" Now! Jaune sprinted and jumped out of the window, the glyphs shooting him into the air. He deployed Crescent Rose and stepped onto the blade, as if it was some kind of aerial surfboard. He saluted the air, grinning. "Here I come, Cinder! Get ready to eat dust!"
"Woohooo!" He leaned forward and started spinning in the air, readjusting his grip on Crescent Rose. Gravity stopped his ascent and reversed his flight. He kept spinning with practiced dexterity. He fought with the impending nausea as he neared the ground, the world spinning around him, blurring. The door opened, and the three villains stepped outside. Jaune counted his heartbeats as he fell the remaining distance, his stomach doing flips. Then he struck.
Fuck yes, he thought and smiled at Cinder's cry of pain. Almost a scream.
As planned, the tip of Crescent Rose had hit her at the base of her neck, packing the force of his spinning fall. The blade slid down her back until the shaft hit her shoulder. Vibrations coursed through his body. She was hooked. As he landed, he fired in quick succession, driving the blade into her back with the force of each shot. Loud booms echoed across the ground, followed by the distinct sound of sniper bullets impacting the bullet-proof glass of the dorm building entrance door, mixed with Emerald's cry of alarm. He moved along with the recoil, putting some distance between him and Emerald and Mercury.
Cinder's scream of pain shifted into an enraged growling sound. Moving along with his momentum to avoid further pain, she grabbed the shaft of Crescent Rose, and her hands lit up. After a second, the weapon snapped in half, melted, and she was free. She shook off the scythe blade and fixed him with an enraged expression. Jaune threw the shaft from Crescent Rose at her, then drew Milo, shifted it into rifle form, and covered her in a barrage of shots. He shifted it into sword form and attacked, drawing Akouo from his back.
He didn't last very long. The three villains were all on the same page and took him out with ease. Once he'd lost the element of surprise, there wasn't much he could do.
Crescent Rose is a no, he thought as he got kicked a few extra times while already on the ground and immobilized.
"Hey, Blake." He'd finally found her. She'd hidden away in some secret nook on one of the upper floors of the library. He hadn't known there was any room there, but well, after failing another few hundred times to kill Cinder, he'd camped in the library and waited until Blake left, then repeated that the next day until he found out her exact position. You basically had to squeeze yourself in-between two bookshelves to get there... It was quite the hiding place. She even had a bean bag there.
She lowered her book, shot him a frown, peeked past him toward the entrance of the secret nook to confirm that he was alone, and met his eyes. "Jaune? How did you find me?"
"Good book?"
"Yes." Blake blinked, staring. "Well?"
"I was wondering...if you could help me out. You see, I'm—"
"Not interested." Blake raised her book to half-cover her face.
"Hey! I haven't even said what I wanted."
"No, Jaune, I'm not helping you win over Weiss. Her heart is as cold as ice anyway."
He snorted. "That's not what this is about."
She looked at him again. "It isn't?"
"No. You see. I'm planning to get a new weapon. And I want to try out others before I decide. Your weapon is really cool and awesome and ninja-like, and I thought you could show me how it works? Please?"
She stared for a few seconds. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because, I'm busy... reading. If you want to try out weapons, I'm sure there are others that would be willing."
"I'll not tell anyone about your hiding place. And... I'll owe you a favor! Big big favor. Anything!"
Blake thought for a second. "No. Maybe next week. This book is really good, and I'll go back to reading that now. I'm sorry, but Sunday is my reading day. Next week, okay? I promise." She ignored him, reading. "Please don't tell Yang where I am."
He sighed. "Fine fine. Only trying to save the world here..." Grumbling, he squeezed himself past the entrance. Her weapon really would have been a nice addition to his arsenal. If only I had a useful Semblance like her, perhaps I would stand a chance...
"Hey!"
"Em! Get off!"
"Fuck you!"
Jaune kept attacking Cinder. When she materialized her curved sword, he let her parry and stab him in the stomach. She let the sword vanish, and he discarded his weapons as well. When she struck him with her fists, he was ready, blocking and batting them to the side. They went into an elegant and fast-paced fistfight. It was so different than fighting with Yang. Quicker and more precise. Not quite as strong, but Yang's strength—especially with her Semblance—was hard to top. He preferred this style.
Jaune found himself smirking when he managed to last a few seconds longer than usual and even landed a hit in her abdomen. The little gasp that escaped her—plus her surprised expression—was forever burned in his mind. He wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point, he'd given up actually trying to kill her—he knew he wouldn't succeed here—and only trained. He studied her moves. Her technique. Countering them became easier and easier each time.
He hadn't given up. Far from it. But for now, there was another fight he was training for.
Jaune ducked beneath Yang's punch and gave her a quick jab in the solar plexus. She grunted. He ducked to the side, already anticipating her next strike, and struck her in the side, making her flinch.
She growled, and her eyes flickered red. Her punches became more reckless. He almost got a bit of pleasure from seeing her so worked up. After the many times she'd beaten the shit out of him, it was some sweet revenge. He mostly dodged, landing a few hits here and there in some rather painful places. He'd improved quite a bit. Even so, things wouldn't go quite so well if he didn't know all her moves beforehand.
He allowed her to back him against the wall, then just barely managed to dodge out of the way of a brutal strike. "Argh!" The force shook the wall and left a big hole and some cracks. He punched her in the toned stomach, then dashed around her, dodging a horizontal swing, so that she was the one with her back to the wall now.
He smirked at her and made a come at me gesture.
With a snarl, she did. Jaune also attacked. He fainted a dodge, dodged the other way, and landed a hit against her solar plexus again.
"Ugh!"
He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved with all his might, making her crash into the wall, then grabbed her arms and pinned them in place.
Yang seemed shocked for a second, not even resisting his hold. She greedily gasped for breath.
"Not bad, huh?" he asked, smiling in triumph.
Her eyes flickered red, and she seemed a second away from losing full control of her Semblance and making flames explode around them and on her hair. Perhaps she was deliberating whether she should give him a headbutt or knee him in the balls.
Her warm, sweet breath brushed against his face. Her eyes returned to the usually lilac. "You going to kiss me or what?"
Cliffhanger! :3
I've also (finally) started writing my Fallen Petals (Ruby/Cinder) story. So keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks. I'm quite excited about that story. It's a bit depressing, but that's kinda fitting for the current times, wouldn't you agree? ;D