Authors Notes: Don't Stop, Don't stop, we're in luck now. Don't stop, there's so much to be found!
… At this rate I'ma get copyright striked or some shit.
A soft glow was the first thing he noticed as he opened his eyes. The early morning sun lighting up their room and serving as an effective alarm.
Jaune sat up in his bed, today was finally the day. Team JNPR would be put to the test, he would be put to the test.
He shifted over, planting his feet on the floor. Taking a moment to stretch, feeling the stiffness slowly melt away as his body finally started to warm up.
Today was the day.
Jaune looked around the room, surprised to find that he was the first of the group to truly wake up. Though he supposed it made sense, he hadn't slept much the night before. To concerned about the upcoming mission and other recent events to focus on sleep.
His mind drifted to said other events, to one blonde brawler. His cheeks growing more red by the second as he thought of the nights previous events. The dopey grin that soon found its way onto his face only serving to enhance the effect.
With a deep breath he brushed such thoughts aside, he had to focus.
He stood up, and grabbing his clothes from his closet, headed to the bathroom to change.
It was going to be a long day, he knew that much. He decided to enjoy the extra few minutes he had in the shower. It was anyone's guess how long the mission would take.
From what he had heard from the upper year students, these missions could last anywhere from a couple days to weeks, one group had even been gone a month and a half a couple years back. It all depended on your mission.
Shadowing was the easiest he had heard, just tagging along with an official hunter and some kind of law enforcement. Having them teach you how to work with your civilian counterparts.
Escorts were longer, typically helping VIPs get to some remote settlement out in the wilderness.
Guarding a village or settlement were the most common though. A sudden surge of grimm could spell the difference between life and death for people far from the safety of the kingdom. They could last anywhere from weeks to months for real hunters, but the students typically only got the small ones.
The most dangerous were the hunts. Grimm didn't always just throw themselves at you, which meant you had to track them down. Those were the most dangerous and had the highest casualty rates, but they also paid the best.
There were a couple other dozen types of missions they might have been sent on, sadly there was no way of knowing which one until later this afternoon. Which sucked, he really wanted to know what he was getting into, if for no other reason than to prepare.
All he could do for now was prepare the bare essentials and enjoy his shower.
He took a deep breath of the steam, releasing it with a sigh. He would have his team, his friends, and when he got back… he'd have a girl waiting for him as well.
The blush from earlier returned once more as he let out a soft chuckle. She already had him wrapped around her fingers and they hadn't actually gone on a date yet.
Yang must never know.
Yang watched with amusement as Ruby lead their team down the hallway. Her sister practically vibrating with anticipation.
"Ah, It's finally here!" Ruby yelled. "Our first mission!" she paused a moment, "Well… out first real mission."
Her sheer excitement seemed to be infectious. Weiss hadn't even snipped at her partner yet. Well, less than usual anyways.
They walked to the main hall, along with every first year student at Beacon. Yang thought it said something that more people seemed excited with the idea of fighting grimm than worried.
Beacon was crazy like that.
The students had gathered to check the mission board, a large screen set up to display what each team had been assigned.
There were a number of side terminals meant to allow people to look up their teams, something very few of the students seemed to notice. Most watching their team names appear on screen. They made it into some kind of spectator sport.
She spotted team JNPR standing by one of said side terminals, or rather she spotted Nora jumping and waving at them.
Weiss tried to step in a different direction but ruby had already grabbed her friend and began to drag her in their direction, much to the heiress' protest.
Yang hid her laughter behind a fist before following with her own partner.
Nora and Ruby seemed to be having a rather energetic conversation, one which Weiss was desperately trying to escape from judging by her pointed glares at anybody to come help her. No one did.
A distracted Nora was a perfect Nora.
She turned to her scraggly young suitor, Jaune, who was looking up their team on the terminal.
"Maybe there was a mistake?" She heard Pyrrha speaking to her partner.
"Whats up Pyr?" Yang wrapped an arm around them both.
"Our team wasn't given a mission." Jaune answer for her.
Yang turned her attention to the screen where team JNPR was displayed. True to his words the mission assignment was left blank.
"It's probably just a glitch. Pull up our team..." Jaune nodded at her words as he brought up team RWBY's screen, which was also broken. "See, this terminal must be broken."
"It's not broken, kiddo." The three of them standing at the console jumped at the sudden words.
Yang knew who it was before she even looked. There was only one person who called her that.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled before Yang had a chance to. She also moved at him with semblance enhanced speed. Qrow only stayed on his feet due to practice, as Ruby gave him a hug that might have been classified as lethal by sheer momentum. "Hi."
"Hey to you too." Qrow turned to Yang. "The computers not broken, headmaster wanted to give you your mission in person. Sent me to retrieve ya."
The two teams shared a few looks of confusion between one another before turning back to him. Yang was the one to voice their confusion. "And why did he send you?"
/-/
"I can't believe we are going on a mission with Uncle Qrow!" Ruby's excitement from earlier had somehow doubled since they had been told the news. "This is the coolest!"
Yang couldn't help but agree. She was excited about the missions of course, just like every other student. That wasn't to say she hadn't been a little worried too.
With Qrow though? She knew they would all come back.
Yang knew Qrow wasn't as badass as he no doubt thought he was, but even with that in consideration he was still probably one of the best. To hear that he would be leading team RWBY, it had been something to calm some of her nerves.
It also raised a few questions. Such as what kind of mission they were about to be sent on that it required such as skilled huntsman? Or why Jaunes team was here with them?
Questions the headmaster would no doubt answer, just as soon as he stopped drinking coffee and generally acting like they weren't there!
Qrow coughed into his fist. A sound serving to emphasise how awkward the silence had become.
Even with his flawless technique it still took a minute or two before any actual words were said.
"No doubt you want to know why I brought you all here." The headmaster rose from behind his desk, taking a few steps around it to address them in a more direct manner. "As I know you all have noticed, the White Fang have become a rather uncomfortable presence within the city." Nobody missed how he looked at Blake, nor how the faunus girl winced slightly at the words.
"We know that you found something out, no doubt that's why Ruby was trying to edge us in the direction of Mountain Glenn." This time it was Ruby's turn to wince, even as the group looked to her. "In the future, it would mean far more if you could be a little more direct about it."
There was a moment of silence before he continued. "I understand however. You fear we are not doing enough about these recent developments, or worse yet that we are choosing to ignore them all together. Am I far off?" Nobody could speak as the headmaster looked at them. "We take these matters very seriously, and we understand how frustrating it can be to be patient."
Again the headmaster paused. "That is why we you have been assigned with this mission. You are going after Torchwick and the White Fang." Their confusion must have been evident. "I will not force this upon you however, if any of you should not wish to be involved you are free to go. You shall be given full credit and nobody will think less of you for it."
They all looked amongst themselves, before they all seemed to come to the same conclusion.
To no one's surprise, it was Ruby who spoke for them. "We'll do it!"
The Headmaster finished telling them about their mission, as well as who would be leading both teams, and then dismissed them allowing them to make any last minute plans before heading down to the bullhead that would shuttle them to Mountain Glenn.
Jaune had gone straight to the bullhead, not wanting to get distracted… ok, in truth he was concerned he might try to run. The hope was that he could talk to someone in private, sadly it seemed he was the only person to do so.
He was left alone with his thoughts. Mountain Glenn was not an unfamiliar name to him, his mother had mentioned it once or twice. She had been one of the children orphaned by the disaster. It made him sick to think that he was heading to the place where his grandparents had died.
His breath left him in uneasy waves, his hands shaking as he thought on. It took all his willpower to attempt and force a calm over himself. Resting a hand on the hilt of Crocea Mors, the leathery grip giving him at least something else to focus on.
It didn't do much for his overall mood, nor did it stop his body from shaking, but… it helped.
The quiet atmosphere was finally broken by a voice. "It is not uncommon to become nervous before a mission." The sudden voice made him jump slightly.
Winter Schnee was… intimidating, to say the least. She projected an air of confidence, but also one of terror.
"Sorry, I'm probably just over reacting." He attempted to reason with his own logic.
"I think not." The elder Schnee positioned herself beside the bullhead. "Missions such as these can go wrong quite easily."
Jaune waited for her to go on, sadly she didn't. "Ah." It was all he could say, what really did she expect.
Maybe it was because his response, or maybe it was her plan. Whatever it was, she added one final comment before disappearing into the Bullhead.
"Your team is strong however, and you are not alone." The words were simple and they didn't really have the profound meaning he had hoped they would, but he knew she was right.
It was the presence of a very different woman that finally put him at ease.
"You ready Vomit-boy?" Yang appeared by his side.
A smile fought its way onto his face at the rather… unique, monicker. "When am I going to get a different nickname?"
Yang brought a finger to her chin. "Hmm, I don't know. Let's see how you do on the flight over there." She sent him a look that was both teasing and threatening him if he dare throw up near her, or rather her hair.
"I look forward to it being written on my tombstone." The two of them laughed softly, the stress finally starting to take a back seat. His body stopped shaking, his breathing returning to normal.
He glanced over to her subtly. Her short hair blowing in the wind as the sun seemed to reflect off it. For a second it looked like fire had engulfed it. The bright smile on her face stole his breath away.
She noticed him looking and blushed slightly before asking with uncertainty. "You… still like the haircut?"
Jaune tried to speak, only to find that he still hadn't taken a breath.
"Who's ready for some fun!" Nora ruined the moment, slapping a hand on his back.
Yang looked away for a moment, regaining her composure before turning back. "Ready to knock some heads?"
Nora turned her attention away from Jaune. "I can't wait!"
Ren shook his head at the display, Pyrrha hiding her laughter behind a fist. It seemed that they had chosen their moment of interruption carefully.
Jaune wasn't sure how he felt about that, thankfully he wasn't given time to.
The rest of team RWBY approached from behind a nearby pillar.
Had they been watching too?
"Nora!" Ruby griped playfully. "Why did you have to ruin the moment?"
Nora looked towards the smaller girl, before looking back at Jaune and Yang. "Oh…Oh!... Ooooh." She took a few steps back. "Go ahead, continue. Just act like we aren't here!"
Jaune sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead. He was fairly certain he heard a few sounds of hands slapping into faces in disappointment.
The smile that came to his face was still an honest one, however. Trust Nora to lighten the mood. It was nice and allowed him to think on Mrs Schnee's words.
He had his team, not to mention Yang's team as well. They weren't alone, they had each other, and he was fully confident in their ability.
They would not only survive, they would return victorious.
"Alright kiddos, everyone on board the bullhead." Mr Branwen pulled his flask out and took a drink.
Jaune stretched his muscles a little bit before turning to the bullhead.
This was going to be an interesting mission...
Authors Note: Not really a lot to say here, stuff happened, things are underway.
I've got the plot line and end goal of the story lined out now, so that's good. All that being said your suggestions can still make a difference so… suggest away.
Sadly my really really good editor is no longer available for editing so that means the story may get a bit more… rough. So reviews are more important than ever… hint hint.
Real quick I want to mention that I have a pat reon (Fanfiction sensors this word) now! So… if you want to donate and help me with further projects I would appreciate it. It supports more than just my fanfiction writing however, it includes an original project that is in early development.
If you're interested simply look up my username on pat reon. (Like, of all the words to refuse and allow. Thats the one? not swears or hard core porn? self promotion is where you draw the line?)
Merry Christmas, Happy holidays, Happy New Years. Cant believe I forgot to say this on the initial upload, my bad.
Sincerely SE