Authors' note:
I'm just sharing my thoughts here. Please read on if you do not wish to know them.
Hello, This is AniDi here. I'm a new member joining the already impressive force of writers here. While I've read hundreds of great stories here, this is my first foray into writing myself, and I'm sure my work right now will reflect the same. Also, English is not my first language, had to get that out of the way.
And what better way to develop a thick skin against Internet criticism other than this wonderful site? I'm sure ill face a couple of deal threats along the way too.
Anyhow, please know that any constructive criticism will always be welcome. Be it from the writing style, content and the ideas themselves.
This chapter lays a foundation to how AU this particular piece is. So please take any changes from canon to be my decision. You can make your thoughts about those changes be known by all means. I might have contradicted myself somewhere.
For those purely interested in the reaction part of this fic, read the next chapter.
As this is a reaction fix, and it needs a host, I'll be including an OC. But don worry, his involvement will be minimum at best and he will not lord over the characters. Never liked that particular concept myself. NO drama about the OC too.
Obligatory Disclaimer: RWBY and its legal assets belong to its owners. I claim NO credit in in either its making or marketing. Excluding the OC of courses, that is all me!
P.S: I love puns, but am bad at them. Also, I don't have a Beta, so don't expect perfection.
On to the story!
—
After the start of Vytal Festival, First round;
Jaune Arc was a lot of things, he was a coward, he was brave, he was dense as a brick, he was keenly perceptive at times, he was weak, he could be strong when it matters, he was average and he was attractive all the same. Right now though, he was dead tired, even a full night's rest couldn't alleviate that.
The not-so-blond noodle stretched his body as he got out of the bed. He then looked around the room to check upon his team-mates. Ren was cosplaying a dead body as usual- if a bit worrying. The hyperactive bomber was sprawled every which way snoring loudly, they had gotten used to that. His dear partner Pyrrha was snugly covered in blankets as she hugged her second pillow, a decompression tool apparently. He took a moment longer, more than appropriate perhaps, to look at his amazing partner. He decided to get up and shake off such things.
He did NOT want to wake up this early today, yet, the habit had been drilled into his body, by himself no less. All so he could improve himself, as he had promised to his wonderful partner that fateful night on the roof top. Right after that much needed wakeup call in Vale.
"I better get the breakfast ready before Nora decides to raid the pantry to make Pancakes again." He muttered to himself as a slight shiver passed his spine. He did not want to explain to Miss Goodwitch how THAT attempt ended with their dorm on fire and sloth Grimm populating the kitchen. He didn't even KNOW sloth grimm existed. Trust Nora to find and get stuff like that. Ren told him not to ask how, as his brother-from-another mother, he accepted.
He finally got up to freshen up himself. As he entered and looked at the mirror, his sunken eyes and tired face reminded him of just WHY he was so tired earlier.
They had just gone through the first stage of the Vytal festival and the after party was a bitch and a half to deal with. The fights themselves were very hard on the novice hunter, the well wishes and Nora's enthusiasm there-after were a nightmare to handle, add Yang to the mix and he felt fire dust in literal fire could be less volatile.
He was just so thankful that Ren could rein in Nora at times.
'Oh gods! I'm spending too much time with Yang, that was terrible!'
Finally done with freshening up, he looked at his face once again. His hair had grown a bit longer, not by too much, just past his shoulders. He had taken up to pushing his hair back and tying it into a low pony tail that sat neatly between his shoulder blades. He looked at the hair band that he used, a gift from Yang, seeing as he decided to grow his hair out.
"Hmmm, should I just cut my hair back down?... On second thought better not do it, Pyrrha said she likes it and Yang would definitely be upset." And an upset yang was waaaaaay worse than an offended lioness.
He disposed of his special bunny onesie into the hamper, cant let it get dirty after all. And no mater what other said about this, he would not stop wearing the onesie. it was a gift from his adorable sisters for Oum's sake! Even were it not, it was incredibly comfortable to wear. His team could attest to that, the thought bought back an memory of Pyrrha in the same onesie. It was an alluring image really, her bright blushing cheeks, her incredibly shy demeanour and last but Certainly not the least, her sensuous figure in the figure hugging soft clothing….he decided, as he looked down, that he really needed to calm down right this instant. Thankfully, he was still in the bathroom.
Still, he had been having these thoughts a lot lately. Maybe he was looking for a rebound after deciding to get over Weiss? He hoped not. All his lady friends were amazing and didn't deserve such feelings, especially y not Pyrrha. Definitely not. She was such an amazing woman that had been with him through a lot and helped him more than he deserved. Also, he felt she was way out of his league.
For just a moment, he entertained the fantasy- for it most certainly was- of his red-haired partner having a crush on him. Then he laughed it off quietly.
As if.
Really, Titanium has Nothing on this guy.
She seem to look at his more as a worried mother looks over her often bullied- true here though- child. Maybe he should call her Mama Pyrrha next time?
" Thats a great way to get polar-tied by my champion of a partner….Gods! Not again!" He mused quietly before gripping his face hysterically at the final thought.
Well, enough of this introspection. He'd been thinking a lot thinking this morning, almost as almost as if some higher entity had been forcing him to do so.
With a final snort he started to the common area to start cooking for his team and that of Ruby's. not like anyone else uses it anyway.
—
With Pyrrha;
As the land of Morpheus released its hold on the red-headed champion for the day, she slowly opened her green orbs to look at the now familiar ceiling. As she slowly got up and tried to completely she looked at the bed that was beside her.
As usual, her dense partner was already up and about, as he had been for the past month. Probably getting more of his filling breakfast ready for the beasts that were JNPR and RWBY members' stomach's.
Jaune had shown an incredible change a month ago. The change was as remarkable as it was suddenly burst into the room one weekend evening, after spending a whole the evening by himself mind you, with the most intense and self-repentant expression they had ever seen on his face. It was so unlike the likeable goof that sh-they had come to know that it had been hard to process for a second. She was worried that Cardin had started the bullying again- despite what had occurred in the forever fall forest. Nora was even muttering about breaking some legs, she might just help this time around she thought.
She got up and proceeded to do a couple of stretches to loosen her sleep addled muscles. With that done, she went to freshen up. As she went not the bathroom, just past the hamper inside, she stopped to look down at the blue fabric that she was very familiar with- They had decided with only two hampers for the team. Ren took care of both Nora's and his own clothes And Jaune had been adamant bout the part of his job. Something about being a sibling to seven sisters giving himself incredible house skills.
She stood there for a couple of seconds and gingerly picked the soft fabric with her hands, she could almost smell his scent on it. Her Mind wandered back to the time she wore this same onesie, she had to admit that the fabric was incredibly comfortable. And the look in Jaune's eyes as she wore it…..it was something else alright. She had gone through a lot of scenarios from Blake's books that instant.
She sighed and cleared her mind and let the fabric fall in to its previous position.
What was she thinking about earlier again? Jaune, right.
Snort, what else really.
All the thoughts of leg breaking turned for nothing. Her adorable partner had immediately started apologising for being incredibly self-centred team mate, an incompetent leader and a selfish person all around. He then went on to promise that he'd try and be better. He even apologised to her personally for not giving his all in his training, that he'd let his stupid ego hold him back. he even added that there would be more effective training for all of the team, something about refining themselves. He'd been incredibly serious about that, secret notes, locked scrolls hiding slips and the whole nine yards.
Still, it felt…nice to see him so passionate. The flame in his eyes was so mesmerising that she could get lost in it for an eternity…..
Sigh, as the warm water cleansed her toned body, she thought that she really needed to temper her liking of the blond goof. She didn't think shed let go of him that easily, still she needed to one down her focus- by now an obsession- by quite a bit.
Looking at her water laden reflection in the shower mirror, she was proud of her body. The little peaks- and the not so little peaks Jaune took at her while he thought no one was watching was gratifying. A toned core, trained but graceful neck, a magnificent pair of firm mounds on her chest, the fit hips, thick thighs, full claves and a perky rear. And the beautiful face on top. She had the full package- if she said so herself.
All that and she couldn't hook in the stupid, dense blond, she huffed with a pout.
Still, shed give him some time. He was just moving on from his crush on Weiss after all. They had started to be friendly too!
She dressed herself and moved over to rouse her remaining team mates. Nora would throw an epic fit if she missed out on Jaune's perfect breakfast. She was almost salivating herself.
Inwards she moved to claim what was rightfully hers. She would do so in all sense of the word eventually. A goddess won what was hers after all. For now though, breakfast awaits.
Common Lounge;
Beacon had a common lounge with a decently stocked kitchen so that students can relax and enjoy. While the academy itself didi not provide the media, the students that walked its halls in the past surely did. Boatloads of games rang from the oldest classics to the new AAA games. There even a few old trash games too for nostalgia's sake. There were a lot of movies too.
Dr. Oobleck was a certified nerd with all things gaming and classic action movies. The student body was thankful for him for that at least, what with all his nigh untraceable speech sped and what it does to students in classes.
There was also a rumour that half the games and classics were secretly put here by Professor Ozpin himself. Age really has no bearing on being a nerd huh….
Then again, that was probably just a huntsman thing.
In the common kitchen, Jaune was serenely cooking a number of different stuff for both the teams- well, more like putting to get her stuff. If you ask him, making a sandwich should not count as cooking, along with boiling instant noodles or getting a pre-mix batter to flip pancakes or…..you get the point.
Still, people might ask;
"Jaune, isn't it hard to make different food for different people?"
To them he'd say as such;
"Imagine living with eight other Yangs, down to the temper and the culinary skills. That is a fiery temper and non-existent cooking skills. Add the 'time-of -the-month for a bunch of them every month. Now try imagining denying something they crave. Yeah, mate. Good knowing you too."
Not that anyone had asked him as such. Damn, and he'd secretly prepared lines in case anyone had asked. What a waste.
Anyways, it was a mixed fruit salad with a glass of orange juice for Weiss-very cliched classic indeed. A tuna sandwich and sauce for Blake-what else did you think? A couple of cookies with bowl of flakes in milk and another bowl of strawberries- he'd made sure to watch so that she started eating healthy. And last but certainly not the least, a few Bacon strips cooked in butter with sunny and a couple of eggs with their sunny sides up and a glass of orange juice for Yang- for a person who was as bombastic as she was, it was a surprisingly tame breakfast, shows that you can't judge a book by its cover. Also, sunny sides or eggs? Really, puns here too?*Snicker*
Nora went with her usual stack of Pancakes layered with honey and syrup- just looking at the thing gave him a few rotten tooth. He was just grateful that there was a large pan that was built intro the counter to flip at least half a dozen pancakes at once. He'd be here till noon If not for that. While he'd like to help Ren with his food,, he'd been firmly rejected by the placid boy. With all the herb smoothies that he eats, not sure Jaune could make them himself. Pyrrha and Yang had a surprisingly similar taste in breakfast. Just that she liked her bacon a bit more thoroughly cooked. And he himself heaped his plat with a few pancakes, a few thorough cooked strips of bacon, a cup full of scrambles eggs and a glass of orange juice.
Now multiply all the above with at least three. That was the amount they ate for breakfast.
What? They had a higher than normal metabolic rate and would go through a serious work out as all days. They needed the energy. His apparently ridiculously high aura demanded a higher calorie intake. A wonder his parents could feed a family of ten hunters and hunters-in-training and still maintain their family estate. His father sure made a lot huh….their again, that could just be the royalties from various stuff that they collect.
Well, better speed up and get ready for others.
The dorm dining hall;
He set everything up on the surprisingly large table and sat down waiting, knowing that people will start coming in any minute now. Right as he thought that, in walked a dark haired, amber eyed resident assassin of RWBY and the no-longer-secret-feline Faunus.
This happened quite regularly these days, ever since he had that ruse but much needed awakening, she'd be the first to come down with some book and feast on her tuna sandwich. It was mesmerising in a way really. The grace with which she does even simple things leaves people around her a bit fascinated and more than a bit envious.
"Good morning Jaune." She greeted me curtly as usual. Yet, the rapid flicking of her fluffy looking ears told him that she was just as enthusiastic as the others to have his breakfast.
With an amused smile he too greeted back.
"Good morning to you too Blake." A thought suddenly stuck him as he looked at her covered sandwiches. He Grinned mischievously on the inside, he went for the bait.
"Though, I'm sorry to say that the Tuna were spoiled-"
The muted look of horror on her face was something to look at alright.
"-so I had to make do with a cheese sandwich. Hope you don't mind it for today."
The progressive lowering of her ears with each word was adorable, as was the slow down turn of those usually placid eyes. It was amusing really, the flat on head ears, sad mournful eyes and an almost non-existent pout. It was so cute.
Almost…..puurrrrfect really.
…gosh darn it!
'Still, the good part is yet to come.' He thought with a hidden smirk.
Then suddenly, her nose twitched and her ears went ram-rod straight. Her once sad eyes turned accusingly at him.
Seems the kitty didn't want to be joked around with today.
He raised his arms in surrender as she she slowly sat down, almost petulantly, completely ignoring him.
Besides, he got what he wanted. He looked at the secret scroll that was hidden, recording the whole thing. He was sure to get appropriate stills of it later. This kitty needed to cheer up.
Still, he was mostly sure that she would forgive him, thanks to his- according to her- delicious sandwich.
They settled into a comfortable silence and the rest of both the teams followed.
He took a moment to wonder why the other teams didn't use this lounge, well their loss.
As if adventurous blood thirsty teenagers who are training to kill soul less monsters of Grimm are capable of cooking and other such.
Nora straight up jumped onto her stacked up pancakes. At least she to have freshened up this time. He looked over and nodded at the rest of his team mates for a job well done. Ren went on to the mixer-grinder to get his daily dose of disg-uhmm-healthy smoothies. Good thing he corrected himself, he could feel the piercing stare from the usually calm on.
Pyrrha just thanked him with her now usual-but nonetheless bright - 'Hello again' smile and sat down to . The day just got a good bit brighter with that.
Ruby, much like Nora just zoomed past everybody to get to her cookies. Only to deflate like a burst balloon upon seeing the flakes in milk, but that quickly turned back upon seeing the bowls of strawberries. It was a sight to see. Though, she was behaving a bit weirdly no-a-days. Come to think of it, she was behaving just like Pyrrha does all the time.
'Does she have a celebrity crush on Pyrrha? Awwww….that's so cute!' He decided with a decisive nod of his head. Though, Yang was bound to be jealous.
With the others, Pyrrha and Ruby had the sudden urge to bang their heads against the table, quite vigorously at that. Weird, must be because Jaune was being dense again. Sigh…..
Looking at all of this with a amused smile, yang just let out an amused snort. Seeing lover-boy being a dense idiot on the level of Shirou Emilya was too good( so sue her, Ruby had forced her to watch that Mistralian show. I mean, Ruby and a guy that can make weapons. Figure it out. Though, shed secretly taken a liking to the show herself). Watching P-money and little Rubes trying and failing to hook-in the blond-no-longer-noodle was way better than any of those Atlesean drama that Weiss watches with watery eyes.
She could understand them though. Lover-boy was a great catch. He was improving his skills drastically and his academics were good. Better than hers at least. The way those eyes light up when he is determined is an almost mystic sight, and did she mention the way his now muscular body flexed when he went gymming with her? Well she should, he struck a good balance between muscle bulk and the slenderness that was attractive. Good thing that he couldn't exercise with that hoodie of his.
Though she had to admit. The hoodie and the onesie were growing one her. Thunder and P-money had nothing but the best when it comes to those things and she had to say, the onesie looked incredibly cute on the blond.
Also, he was incredibly kind and a great friend to Ruby. He knew how to take care of people and his family suggest stoat he was quite healthy. With that random change that he went thought a month ago, he was looking like a better catch day by day. She just has to wait and observe a while to make a move. To be fair to Ruby and Pyrrha of course. Also, he seems to be getting over his crush on Weisscream, gotta give him some time. After that, well, you snooze you loose.
She dug into her bacon and she had to admit once again, a really good catch indeed.
With Ruby, that evening;
After that fun breakfast the day had progressed as usual. With training going on and the tournament in progress, they had to sadly split up from their sister team. Which was sad really, team JNPR was awesome-not as awesome as RWBY of course- and its members were almost complimentary to her own.
And you couldn't forget about their weapons of course! Jaune had his Corcea Mors, and it had this air of an experienced old man that could tell you all sorts of awesome stories, kinda like Prof. Port actually. Just better, WAY better. Ren's storm flower was just like him, unassuming and silent but went it activates, it is silent And deadly.
Nora's Magnhild was just so cute! And the pink heart grenades were awesome. It was like a baby bear that was playful!
Don't ask how she knew how baby bears behave. Dad would just get angry all over again.
And Pyrrha's weapons, Akuo and Milo were the male-female twins that just work so great together! Akuo was the male twin obviously. She could just hear Milo scoff at anyone suggest that she was anything less than graceful and versatile like she was. Not at all like that brute Akuo that only knew hoe to be a shield and smash stuff. Neanderthals! Regardless of the fact that he was a shield and that is what he was to do.
Uhhh…sometimes, she just wishes other females were less complicated, like her! All that time female politicking could spent on something better, Like Weapons!
'Yes, way better." She nodded sagely to herself with folded hands.
This action got her weird looks from others in the hall way. She just blushed so red Pyrrha's hair would bow in shame and blurred past all the others with her semblance.
She better get to others to calm down.
With teams WBY and JNPR;
Weiss watched as their teams walked together towards the gardens behind the school. It was a place that was seldom visited by students. Not that Prof. Peach would allow them to. It was only because Jaune helped the mostly-absent teacher along with their senior Velvet that they had even been allowed to go there from time to time. And her dolt of lol a leader still hadn't come back from her visit to the ammunition supple here in Beacon.
The academy tries to relieve the students burden however it possibly can and supplying a packs worth of ammunition for up to three kinds of dust was very generous. The only other academy that could match this and go beyond was the Atlas academy, and that was because of a contract signed wit the SDC to train security in exchange for lower costs. There was much more and better stated, but that is what the exchange boiled down to. She should know, her father had a lot of stake in Atlas, including its huntsman institute.
But all of this was just a distraction. While the past month had been pleasant- Ruby was stepping towards being a better leader and student, Blake was Blake, Yang was Yang, she even got to eat pleasant breakfast every morning, finally, Jaune arc, the one who had been after her the instant he had laid eyes on her, the one that was a bad student with no potential had suddenly transformed into this incredible man.
Yes she would admit that he was an incredible man now. It surprisingly hadn't taken her much time to figure it out that he wasn't trying to woo her for some monetary or political gain, he was genuinely attempting to court her. As bad as those attempts were. It should have been obvious really, he was partners with Pyrrha Nikos for Atlas'es sake! If he was after fame and money, he only needed to look at her with desire and she was sure Pyrrha would have folded right away. Well, not like that, but it would have been much more easier than to try and impress her.
Besides, Yang was a good judge when it came to people that she allowed Ruby to interact. If he was as ignoble as she'd initially assumed, she would have surely cut Jaune in half!
And now, she was missing those genuine but hilarious attempts to woo her. The feeling of a persons genuinely being interested in you as a person and trying their hardest to show that was surprisingly flattering. Even to her, who had received countless gifts from rich young men of Atlas and beyond, it was very new to her. And slightly addicting if she was being honest.
She look ahead asks she saw him laughing to something Yang had said, with Blake to his left looking on with an amused, but exaggerated smile and Pyrrha to his right with her pleasant smile and the glittering in her eyes every time she looked at him.
She truly had missed a very good opportunity. She doubted she would have many opportunities to have a normal courting life as she moved ahead through her years.
Not unless she got out of her fathers' shadow and ended the problem at its root.
She moved forward in silent contemplation.
With Ruby;
She hid behind a pillar as she watched her friends walk past. It was to watch her friends play around each other like this. More like the girls play around and the guys were denser than hard list dust infused titanium. Very dense. She could even see those longing looks Weiss shot Jaune. Hmmph, serves that meanie right!
Still, she cold see that Weiss was regretting her earlier behaviour. That was better than how she was before.
Again, she was incredibly frustrated.
Dad had two wives and no one said anything about it. In fact, from what she'd gotten from Uncle Qrow that one night he was veeeeery drunk, it was that dad was quite the player back then. And Yang seems to know and accept all of it.
Why was she hesitating now? Couldn't all of them just say they like Jaune and be with him together? What was so worrying about it?
Was she the only one who thought this way? Was it because she was two years younger and the reason was thought in the years that she missed?
Stupid grown-up people. Stupid Stuff, all of it. Meanies the lot of them.
And why wasn't Jaune doing anything about them? Ah! Of course Jaune and Ren were a bunch of hard headed bricks.
Shaking her head with a sigh, she went on to join them.
As she joined up with Weiss in the back, they had already reached the gardens.
Great, and there she had been planning to talk about this with Weiss?
Maybe it was the tournament and her friends did not want to complicate their relations right now and break their dynamic? Ughhh, she couldn't get it at all!
Ganbarre Ruby. All you can do is try harder and harder.
Suddenly Jaune started started going back into the building after whispering something to Pyrrha.
Surprisingly, it was Nora who asked the question that was on everyone else's minds.
"Pyrrha is Jaune-Jaune alright? He's not off to get bullied again right?"
She was true though, the group started be sensitive of the Arc knight's absence after the whole bullying fiasco.
Pyrrha just placed a hand on her chin, thought for a bit and resolutely shook her head.
"No, I doing think so. Jaune has really changed through these last days, he promised that he would share with us if something like that was happening again. I choose to believe him on that unless something to prove otherwise , he just said that he wanted to use the rest-room, he wold have used some other reason if something like that was happening." She said with a firm tone but started blushing at the end. She should have just stated the last part instead of extolling her leaders' virtues.
Nora nodded but still maintained a worried expression. Ren just put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"I think P-money is right. Lover-boy has grown a back bone these past few days and looks like he can stand up for himself now. We should believe in him."
Everyone looked at Yang and nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well, we came here to talk about the festival, but now that Jaune is not here yet, does someone have something funny to share?" Ruby asked in a chipper voice.
Everyone thought for a second and just as Yang started to say something, a green earthly light started to shined under them. Both RWBY and NPR started at that and got ready to deal with whatever was going on.
They shouldn't have bothered, as the light intensified to blinding levels and they disappeared from the clearing.
All across Remanant, similar disappearing were occurring almost simultaneously.
Let's see what fate has in store for them.
Finishing notes;
Edit: Just made a few corrections to the spellings and a few hings that slipped by.
Chapter content excluding the A/Ns: ~4,800 words.
Well peeps, please review on what you feel. I can't predict the length of coming chapters, I just go with the feeling of completing what I've mentioned to write.
Signing off,
AniDi.