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"So long as someone made it with care," Jaune repeated as they made it to the dormitory. "Something expertly done, not exactly cheap..." He didn't have a lot of lien from his sister and between a suit, he planned to buy with his own money then this was going to drain all the funds he had fast. Wearing his scroll uniform felt lazy after thinking about it for a while.
He did not want to be overly indebted to Linzy of all people.
Jaune took up Rubens Vitae and tried to make some excuse to go alone but Yang insisted everybody should come along to train. So Jaune needed to wait until he was in the relative safety of the locker room to speak with Amber. There were a few people in there so he needed to whisper, a side effect of not training when the sun went down.
"What do you need?" Amber said before he could get a word out, she had long come to understand when Jaune wanted to talk.
"Well, I asked Pyrrha what she wanted and I'm back down to square one." Jaune tried to not make that sound accusatory, Amber's suggestion to just ask was the best option then and how it turned out wasn't her fault.
"It doesn't have to be something expensive and I doubt she meant it as such. Get her a card and some chocolates. Preferably soon you have barely a week before the dance comes up."
"A card? Doesn't the seem a little cheap?" Wasn't the point of getting her a gift was to say thanks? "A little card not even made and written by me almost feels disingenuous in a way."
"Oh, what kind of nonsense is that!" Amber cried annoyingly. "Everyone buys a card they didn't make, birthdays, retirement, Get Well cards are all in the same boat. I don't think cards are about you making it but picking the one worded in a way that expresses how you feel about them."
Jaune stood there and thought about it for a moment, he had been getting Juniper a card for mother's day each year. Everyone did as well as make breakfast but it's not like his mother ever seemed disappointed or faked any of the gratitude. "Think she even likes chocolates?"
"It's rare to not love it," Amber assured. "If you're not sure then find something else to get her. I don't mean to be rushing you on this but it needs to be ordered as well as a suit and they need to get it all shipped here."
There had to be more students doing the same, Jaune knew what she was getting at. It will get harder to get anything the longer he waited because there will always be geniuses who thought to wait until the last minute to order something. Then he'd have nothing to give to Pyrrha after he just unsubtly told her he was getting something.
"Trust me Jaune, staying with Pyrrha is going to make her the happiest woman in Beacon." The sheer sincerity in Amber's voice did help ease his nerves as the locker closed. "Now let's get back to my staff. It far harder than it seems but you shouldn't go replacing your shield with it."
"So better to incorporate my shield with it for better defense." Jaune suggested.
"While that sounds good having your shield out will make it harder to aim. This is a medium to close range weapon. I supplement martial arts to make up for a lack of melee capacity the staff provides." She explains. "You said you wanted to learn how to redirect fire-based attacks. So we need someone who can throw some at you to practice."
"Weiss?" Jaune asked and Amber nodded.
"She has the tool to send fireballs to waves of it. Perhaps we should ask her some other time. Best to try and ask her soon with the Vytal festival coming up," Amber suggested. "For now get used to activating the crystals and making a strong gust of wind."
The next day was more of the same at Beacon but there were a lot of foreign students going about the school now. Having arrived for team missions only to find them mainly canceled for first years and now confined to the school grounds with everybody else. The cafeteria alone was pack in and around, tables were set up outside to hand out food in an attempt to lessen the problem. While Jaune and his team had congratulated themselves on getting here to avoid the lines all three ended up getting sandwiched in the tables with no elbow room. Pyrrha had grabbed her food and left on an errand or something, so she was at least safe from the crowded building.
"You want me to what?" Weiss called out, even if she was right across the table, the booming voices crashing around them made it near impossible to hear.
"I just wanted to know if you could give me a hand using my wind dust!" Jaune leaned somewhat over the table and shouted. "I want to practice redirecting fireballs with it in case I need to deal with... That lady that wants to kill me!"
"You mean Cinder?!" Ruby added killing any chance of subtly, he didn't want to broadcast what was going on in his life to the entire school.
"Yeah, think you can help mimic how she fights?"
Weiss took a far longer time than he would've thought thinking about it before shaking her head. "I'm busy trying to prepare my team for the tournament. It being moved up has placed a stronger emphasis on the preparation time, especially now that we have less."
"You know," Yang began before pausing to swallow. "We also need to do some actual group training."
"Cinder or the tournament, one is a murderer that has no problem killing hundreds for power the other is a tournament Jaune." Amber said, she had a point there and he brought it forth.
"Yeah, that is a problem," Yang sighed. "More important than winning a game..."
"The White Fang is broken at the moment," Weiss added. "With Atlas and Hunters roaming the streets I'm sure the festival is safe. Look I can assist you just once then give you some dust and weapon to take my place while you train with your team. Being prepared for that woman trying something again is important."
"I'd say that would work," Amber added. "What do you think Jaune? Your family is going to be watching from Vale you know."
"Yeah, all my sisters are guaranteed to be judging me."
"Yes, that would be fine, and group training today sounds good."
Weiss then gave a small smirk. "Besides it's not as if any of you have a chance in the tournament."
"Is that a challenge Schnee?" Blake asked, a soft grin on her face.
"Oh, I doubt there will be any difficulties beating you all. I have been preparing my glyphs to counter any tactics our opposition will come across."
"Like what?" Jaune's question was about to be answered by Ruby before Wess could elbow her partner.
"You will all have to wait and see." Weiss bared her teeth in a vicious grin as well as Nora.
"We need to prepare..." Amber said cautiously. "This doesn't look like empty bravado."
Jaune was getting much the same feeling, he didn't doubt Weiss would have some tricks of her sleeve. From the way she reacted with Ruby, they might be bad for them.
"Hey, Pyrrha's back." Blake pointed out to the redhead approaching them with an unusual spring in her step.
"Hello Jaune!" Pyrrha said in a sing-song voice, not that it was easy to tell with the noise. Her hands were held behind her back barely concealing something.
"Hey Pyr," Jaune waved with a fork in hand. "Sorry we don't have space here, where have you been."
"It's fine I have something for you Jaune." Her hands came around to reveal a small book, titled Moonlight in that typical font people use to make the words look as if it's in cursive. "I ordered it yesterday. They got it here as fast as they could. Being a celebrity has some perks." She smiled.
There was an image of a bunny Faunus with a thick green cloak and thick leather clothing that clung tightly to his chest and legs. Staring across from him was a woman in a suit of metallic grey armor, the kind one would picture when the word knight was involved and had no helmet. They appeared to be staring the other down, not in anger or as a challenge through.
"Oh, yeees." Amber said hungrily for some reason.
"Must be an interesting read." Jaune thought in passing.
"Hey thanks," Jaune squirmed his way out from Yang and Blake and felt relieved not being sandwiched anymore. He put an arm around Pyrrha in a quick hug. "I need to cancel my order now, but you have saved me some time in waiting and money buying this."
"I knew you never got it and saw it on sale while shopping, thought you would like it." Pyrrha's smile seemed to hold a bit of relief behind it when he let go of her.
"We were just talking about group training for the tournament, maybe sometime later or tomorrow." He shouted. "Best if we all put up a fight in the tournament."
"A fight where our lives are not in danger sounds lovely right now."
Jaune couldn't blame the relief Pyrrha held in her voice. She wasn't there all the times he and Blake had to deal with the White Fang but after that huge fight at the hotel and the massive kidnapping of kids. Jaune was also longing for something that didn't have lives on the line. After that last battle, he was glad the White Fang had quieted down, there wasn't even news of a robbery from Torchwick after he robbed a cargo ship. Although the dust he took could be considered minuscule compared to what was lost at mountain Glenn it was still worrying.
There was still the thought of Cinder scraping at the back of his mind, constantly grinding at his nerves. She was out there and the tournament looked like a juicy target from where he was standing.
"I should put a little more faith in Ozpin and Ironwood. It's not like they've been letting all this happen."
The General had Emerald and Mercury as well, so there was a chance they could give the man something to work with. Right?
Mercury kept his eyes glued to the floor of the cell he was in, everything about Cinder's plan had gone so wrong and he was now dealing with the consequences. The door opened and in stepped General James Ironwood alone. Emerald always got more than one guard in the room, they knew her semblance and were taking precautions to counter it. Not that Emerald thought she could escape with it, neither of them knew the layout of the ship and would never get away without help. Emerald was a no-go, even with the fact they removed his legs. His only choice here was to withstand everything thrown at him and wait for Cinder if she was even in a position to do anything.
Ironwood pulled a chair out and even seated he still held an imposing look towering a foot over her slouched formed. His eyes darted back to the floor, trying his hardest not to make eye contact with his stone-cold eyes. Mercury had expected to be interrogated as soon as he boarded the airship so this wasn't too surprising a situation, if still extremely uncomfortable when you had stubs in place of your legs.
"Mercury Black, age twenty, born and grew up in the Mistral countryside. Father was found dead in at the scene of his burning home and his son missing, presumed dead months later." He recited as if it was from memory, and likely had to dig through a few records with her face and fingerprints to get it all.
"There is a lot we can charge you for, forging documents, armed assault, an attempt at murder of minors, conspiring with terrorist elements with the city of Vale." He leaned back into his seat and allows the words to sink in. "You'll be lucky to get what amounts to a life sentence from the rest and especially cooperating with terrorists is grounds for treason against the kingdom of Vale."
"Just let me have a phone call." He didn't have anyone to talk to really but anything that got him out of this conversation would be fine.
"You are not entitled to one." He said sternly.
"Doesn't the law say I can-"
"That only applies if we cannot provide you with a legal representative, and even then you're being held here as a prisoner not even pending trial. You aren't even going to see a courtroom for now."
Emerald didn't know or understand the nuances of the law to rebuke his claim and decided to remain silent.
"Much of this can be dropped, but that requires full cooperation from you Mr. Black."
"I don't know anything." Even if he knew of places Cinder might go to hide he doubted she was stupid enough to still go to such places anymore. At best they might find some items they didn't have time to more and at worse and empty building or room.
Ironwood sighed, it's likely he's heard that phrase a thousand times in his career. "Cinder Fall is your figurehead, and I wish to see her behind bars. All I need to spare you from a similar fate is information."
Mercury's gaze trailed up to met his, Emerald instantly regretted locking gazes with his cold expression. Mercury managed to hold himself together long enough to speak. "Not gonna happen."
He remained silent for a moment. "This is not an offer uniquely made for you, your companion may be more understanding of his situation." He warned.
Mercury had little doubts that Emerald would never sell Cinder out in some kind of plea deal so he was safe from that and had time to think. Except all hinged on the idea they had much to offer and neither of them did. All the information Mercury had on safe houses and storerooms for the White Fang was outdated. It especially wasn't a good idea to talk when Cinder was still out there to take retribution on him. So the threat Ironwood made was an empty one at best.
"Vale's council has given me custody over you, take some time to really ponder this choice. We have plenty of time to speak later."
Mercury watched the cell door closed and he did ponder his position because there was something both he and Emerald knew. There was Leonardo, it might be better to keep that close to the chest for now. Emerald wouldn't betray Cinder, so there was no need to worry about that.
Give up the lion now or wait to see if Cinder acts, those were the only options Mercury had, good thing he wasn't on the clock about this...
My ears twitched as her steady breathing washed over my face, she had accepted death the moment I straddled her. The dagger I had pressed hard enough to draw a thin drop of blood from the underside of her jaw. Armor hugged her chest tightly, shaping around her amble breasts, an expert Craftsman had to be involved. Unlike the mass-produced equipment given to the grunts of the army. The Knight still didn't fight back, and I could detect no scent of fear emanating from her.
"Interesting." I thought, usually there was an intense musk of fear before the kill came.
That alone cause me to pull the dagger away and stare into those violet eyes. Wondering what could be going on just beyond them to create such calmness. Were the drinks she had moments before giving her the courage to hold fast? Bravery? She is a knight and the title and human a don't merely hand that title out to anyone.
The unusual moment had him distracted long enough for his captive to deliver a sharp jab to his throat. In one swift motion, she had thrown him off and plated her own rear on his crotch as he did. There was no flash of steel though and both his arms were pinned above his head. Her face was now mere inches from his and she had a sly smile, not one of malice but a more kindly one as she surveyed him from a position of strength. Her strong arms keeping him pinned to the floor. Her warm body a nice contrast to the cold wooden floor beneath me, I felt foolish to let her get the upper hand on me and sneered at her plump face.
I know what humans did when a Faunus trespassed on their territory and I had no interest in spending my days in a cage. Struggling against the iron grip of the human I tried to shoved her off only to get a hearty laugh in return.
"Get off me you damn human-"
My voice was cut off, not by a cold blade, a sharp strike, or a strong vocal command to close it like so many times before. But by the knight's warm, soft, lips. The surprise he felt from the initial contact soon gave way to the enrapturing taste of the human, there was a hungry passion behind it. Like a starving man finally getting a meal as her lips peeled back from the kiss.
Amber what the heck am I reading?
Jaune had decided to get started on the first chapter by Amber's insistence, they were still in the cafeteria but he had to ask this.
"It's exotic literature now hush!"
As Jaune dig into the book he increasingly began to get suspicious of its contents. This was supposed to be a romance and this was the end of chapter one. He was not familiar with books of this nature but he was pretty sure there was something off about how it mentions how sexually repressed the rabbit Faunus Lequane was.
"It's a good read!" Amber called out, guess correctly what he was thinking. "I only ever got a few chapters in but it gets better as the story progresses."
"What exactly gets better as it goes on?" Jaune's question was disregarded as Amber ordered him to flip the page. As he turned onto chapter two a single thought raced through his head.
"I hope this doesn't get weird..."