Downtown Vale – Two Weeks Later
"So, how exactly are you and Jade related again?" Ren asked.
Jaune and his team were in Vale for the weekend, their sister team RWBY having agreed to watch after his sister Jade while they went out to shop for supplies and gifts for her birthday. Jaune's gift for her had already come in, having been delivered to their dorm once it was finished. He'd quickly hidden it within their closet, keeping it out of view of everyone (especially Nora) so as to keep it a secret. He'd also received the scroll from Miss Goodwitch and was planning to use it as a secondary gift alongside his own. His teammates had already figured out what they wanted to get her as well with most of their shopping done and the preparations for the birthday being their main concern.
"We're not actually related. Jade and her mom lived in our village. Her father was a Faunus and a huntsman, I think. I never actually met him, only her mother. Jade would occasionally play with some of my younger sisters who were around her age so we knew her for quite some time. After the fire, once we made our way to Vale, I registered myself as her legal guardian."
"So the fact that she considers you her older brother is mostly due to having spent so much time around you and your family back home," Pyrrha concluded.
"Exactly. We're not actually siblings but we're close enough that such small details don't really matter."
"That makes sense," Ren replied.
"Yea, like how Renny and I are together but not really together-together," Nora commented.
"Sure, something like that," Jaune agreed despite having no idea what Nora was going on about.
"You two do seem to be very close," Pyrrha pointed out.
"Well, spending a year on the road ensured we would always be around one another. Jade didn't have anyone else she could rely on."
"You mentioned that she had a father. What about him?" Ren asked.
"He's dead, unfortunately. He apparently went on a mission and was killed during the operation. I remember when it happened, my mother spent a great deal of time over at their house, helping to console her. Jade even spent some time over at our place. I don't think she really understood what was going on at the time."
"And then she lost her mother as well," Pyrrha mussed in a depressed tone.
"Yea," Jaune agreed, not sure of what he could say to lighten the mood.
"So, what else do we need for the party?" Nora asked, expertly shifting gears without realizing it.
"I'd say we have everything we need. Why don't we head back so we can wrap these gifts and get everything ready for next week?" Ren suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Jaune agreed as they began making their way back to Beacon.
/-/
"How was your day out with Team RWBY?" Jaune asked his sister.
After returning to Beacon, Jaune and his team took the time to wrap up Jade's presents and hide them in their closet. Stowing them inside their luggage, they were certain she wouldn't notice them unless she actively looked for something and, given that there were four of them in the room plus her, it would be difficult for her to sneak it by them. With everything prepped and ready for her birthday, including a chocolate cake that Miss Goodwitch had chilling in the schools fridge for them, they were set to throw Jade her first ever birthday party. It was obvious the little munchkin was excited for the event. She was seated between Ruby and Yang today, the two girls having taken her under their wing while watching her. Yang, already experienced as an older sibling, had easily slide into the role of a caring older sister while Ruby took to the role as well, reveling in the fact that she could act as a sort of mentor figure to a younger girl, a role she'd never had given that she was the youngest of two in their family.
Blake, who was usually engrossed in one of her books, showed surprising interest in Jade's conversation with her teammates. While she still had a book with her, it had long been forgotten as she listened to the girl talk excitedly about her upcoming birthday. Weiss was, as always, the exception though to be honest Jaune's opinion of her had risen from hostile to neutral, a fair bit better than it was the previous week. After his talk with Ruby she'd later told him how Weiss had begun making strides to be a better partner and teammate. He'd even noticed her mood around Jade improve with her even acknowledging the girl at meals and being downright pleasant. It was a nice change and, while she'd never made a formal apology to Jade regarding her attitude during initiation, he'd decided to let it go. She was already showing signs of improvement and that was enough for him to believe that the girl wasn't as bad as his first impressions had led him to believe.
"It was really fun," she said adamantly. "We went to the comic book store and had ice-cream."
"It was Weiss' treat," Ruby commented.
"Really? Did you thank her for treating you?" he asked.
"She did," Weiss replied. "She was very polite."
Jade preened under the girl's praise and even Jaune couldn't help but smile. It was a small thing but one that showed how much their relationship was improving. Hopefully, in time they might even consider each other friends. It was something that would make their time here easier, giving Jaune more and more people he could trust Jade around when they entered into the upper years and found themselves taking on missions in preparation for their lives after.
"What did you get?" he asked.
"Chocolate ice-cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate sprinkles," she said proudly.
Jaune starred at her for a moment, considering just how much sugar that was.
"In her defense, she had a small bowl," Yang said. "She likes chocolate almost as much as Ruby. If I didn't know any better, I would think they were sisters."
"What? Chocolate is the best," Ruby argued.
"Yea," Jade replied, the two girls high fiving one another before giggling.
"Well, with all that sugar you should have plenty of room for the rest of your vegetables," he replied, scooting her plate closer to her where only carrots and broccoli remained.
"Hmmm," she whined, glaring down at the greens like they were a hated enemy.
"Come on, you need to eat everything," he chided.
"Don't wanna," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest in an act of defiance.
"Don't fight me on this. You need to eat everything to grow up strong," he said, ignoring the feeling of embarrassment at realizing just how much he sounded like his parents.
"But Jaune, you haven't finished your vegetables either," Pyrrha pointed out.
Jaune glanced down at his plate, noticing the offending subject sitting there, before shooting an annoyed glare over at his partner. Ruby and Yang giggled alongside Jade, taking some enjoyment out of the debacle, while Pyrrha smiled at him sheepishly and mouthed "sorry" to him silently. Taking his plate, he lifted it up to his mouth, quickly scrapping the last remnants inside, before chewing them down quickly and swallowing.
"There," he said triumphantly, "now it's your turn."
Jade's smirk quickly disappeared, replaced with a defiant frown. Jaune's eyes narrowed, suggesting he was about to do something drastic. Ruby recognized the gaze, knowing all too well what was coming.
"Jade, if you don't eat your vegetables, then you won't get dessert either."
The young girl's gaze quickly shot up to him with shock painted across her features. Yang whistled, obviously impressed while Ruby cringed, recalling similar situations she'd been in with her sister Yang when they were younger. What was worse was that Jaune's expression and tone suggested he was done playing around and was serious about seeing his threat come to fruition.
"But that's not fair," she argued.
"You want to lose story time tonight as well?" he threatened.
The young girl's face paled, realizing just how serious the situation was becoming. With a thoroughly disgusted look on her face, Jade stabbed a piece of broccoli with her fork and brought it to her mouth. She chewed it, twisting her face in discomfort, before swallowing. She did the same for the other offending vegetables, taking a long swig of her milk when it was all done to wash down the after taste. One she was done, Jaune nodded his head in satisfaction, content with the end result.
"May I have a dessert?" she asked, her voice full of hope.
"Just one dessert," her brother replied, holding his finger with for emphasis.
Jade beamed, quickly dismounting from her seat before rushing over to the dessert table to pick out her treat.
"Nicely done there big bro'," Yang commented.
"Not my first rodeo," he replied.
"I'm curious Arc, even if Jade had continued to refuse, would you have made good on your threat?" Weiss asked.
"It wasn't a threat Weiss, it was a promise," he replied, "and I keep my promises."
Weiss smirked, obviously amused with his comment. It was the first real genuine look of amusement he'd seen the heiress show and, if he was being honest with himself, looked rather nice. Their smiles quickly soured, however, when they heard of cry of protest a few tables over.
"Stop it!"
Their attention was drawn to a table across the cafeteria. Four boys, all members of the notorious team CRDL, were gathered around a young girl with long bunny ears. Their leader, Cardin, had a firm grasp of one of them and was tugging on it with a satisfied smirk despite the obvious distress the girl was under. His teammates goaded him on, laughing at the girl's plight while he made the comment that he was surprised to find they were real. He continued to harass her, her pleas for him to stop and leave her alone going ignored while most of the other bystanders either gave her sympathetic looks or glared daggers at the offenders.
"How disgusting," Weiss snarled.
"Someone needs to go over there and teach those boys some manners," Yang commented.
"Can I? I'd be more than willing to break their legs," Nora chirped excitedly.
"Nora, don't," Jaune said, surprising everyone, including Ren as he was typically the one to rein in the energetic girl. "We should leave. It's getting late."
While his teammates wanted to protest, they held their tongues. The look plastered on their leaders face was unusual, showing distress and even pain. Considering that his younger sister was a Faunus, it wasn't difficult to assume he'd been in similar situations choosing instead to leave rather than confront the offenders. Given their position outside the walled Kingdoms it wasn't difficult to understand how little support the might have had.
"Let me just grab Jade and- "he stopped short, looking over towards the dessert table only to notice no little girl toddling back with a chocolatey decadence in hand.
"Where's Jade?" he asked, glancing around.
Everyone glanced around, suddenly brought to the reality that their table was now one member short and had been for some time. Jaune quickly looked at each of the food stations, wondering if she had gone back for seconds, before turning his gaze towards the other tables. The moment his eyes fell back on Cardin and his teammates his eyes grew wide in panic.
"Jade!" he yelped, moving quickly to try and intercept her.
/-/
Several minutes earlier…
Jade skipped happily over to the dessert table, her eyes roving over the various treats laid out for students like her older brother and his friends. Her disgust at having to swallow some horrible tasting vegetables had been quickly forgotten, as well as her brother's well-meaning threat to deny her a dessert as well as a bedtime story if she didn't eat them. She knew better than to let him make good on his threats. She'd done that once when they were traveling and it was something she'd come to regret. She'd refused once to eat the vegetables on her plate with Jaune threatening not to read her a story that night. She'd refused, standing her ground, expecting him to relent. Unfortunately, her brother had not, letting her ignore the vegetables but, after her bath, he took them to bed early. She'd begged and pleaded for him to read her a story but soon stopped when he threatened to do the same thing tomorrow night.
From then on she tried not to argue or complain about eating her vegetables. She did on occasion but, once Jaune made the threat to take away her bedtime story, she would quickly fold. Her sleep seemed to be much less restful to her if she didn't have one of her brother's patented stories to help her along. He was very good with them, even to the point of acting out certain scenes and giving each person their own voice. She really liked it. It was very entertaining.
As she gazed up at the desserts laid out on the table, ranging from pudding to pie to even cake, she found herself having a hard time deciding on just one. She wanted to take at least two or three but, knowing her brother, he might just take it away as well as her bedtime story. She was still undecided when she heard someone crying out. Jade turned to see a Faunus girl with ears on her head just like her except they were rabbit ears instead of wolf. Four large boys were standing around her with the largest one yanking on her ears. It was obvious from the girl's cries that she was in pain but the boy didn't let up.
She knew what that was like. More than once when they were in one of the small towns outside of Vale someone would make a face when looking at her ears and make a comment. They always seemed to anger her older brother, especially the ones who smelled like too much alcohol. On a few occasions he'd gotten into fights and when she asked him why he'd always say "I couldn't sit back and let them hurt you. It wouldn't be right." Her mother had even done the same, telling her there was nothing wrong with her ears, that her father had the same ones and he was a huntsman, a hero fighting to protect people like her.
Well, her brother was studying to be a huntsman and she wanted to be a huntress when she got older. The girl was obviously in distress and those boys were hurting her. They were bigger though, much bigger than her and mean looking. Still, she couldn't just stand by while someone was in trouble. No one else was helping her. Someone needed to do something. Someone like her.
Jade was shaking as she made her way over. She was afraid, that much was for certain, but it was okay to be afraid. Her brother always told her that he was afraid when he went out to face the Grimm but he did it anyway because choosing to fight, even when you were afraid, was an act of courage. As she drew closer the boys seemed to get larger and she realized just how much taller they all were than her. Still, they hadn't noticed her yet so, taking a firm stance, she raised her voice as loud as she could.
"Hey!" she said, her voice squeaking slightly.
She must have gotten their attention as the boys stopped what they were doing, looking around with confused expressions. It was a while before they glanced down, their expressions neutral as they gazed down at her.
"What do you want kid?" the bigger teen with his hand grasping the girl's ear asked.
"Leave her alone," she said.
"Who's going to make us? You?" He asked, his snarky grin returning to his face as his friends laughed at his question.
"Leave her alone you big meanie," she said, giving him a swift kick to the shine. She cringed, her attempt to attack him doing her more harm than him.
"Buzz off kid, this is none of your business," he said, leaning down before flicking her sharply in the head.
Jade toppled to the ground, his finger, boosted with aura, hitting her hard and forcing her to the ground. Her forehead throbbed, the pain already causing tears to form in the corners of her eyes. She stifled her sobs, doing her best to keep herself calm. She wasn't going to cry. Huntresses didn't cry. Despite her attempts, the other boys noticed, laughing at her expense.
"Look at the little Faunus crybaby," the older teen laughed. It quickly died in his throat as a familiar voice, angrier than she'd ever heard it, roared out his name across the cafeteria.
"Cardin!"
/-/
Jaune had watched the scene unfold before his eyes. Even as he attempted to close the distance and intervene before Jade did something stupid, he wasn't quick enough. He watched as her attempt to help the Faunus girl worked against her, her swift kick to his shine doing next to nothing with his aura active. He would have been fine with that, knowing there was nothing Jade could do, until Cardin flicked her in the forehead so hard she fell to the ground. Seeing his sister being bullied, especially by someone who was supposed to be a huntsman, enraged him. No one hurt his sister. No one.
Throwing caution to the wind, Jaune charged forward. With a snarl escaping his lips he roared the boy's name.
"Cardin!"
The boy had just enough time to look up and register Jaune's fast approach before an aura charged fist connected with his face, echoing with a satisfying crack! that told Jaune he'd broken his nose. Unprepared for the assault, he flew back across the floor, his grip on the Faunus girl's ear having loosened as a result. His teammates starred at him in shock, glancing back towards Cardin on the ground and then back to Jaune. At some point their brains caught up with them as the boy with the Mohawk, Russell if he remembered correctly, attempted to avenge his fallen leader.
"Hey!" he yelled and that was all he got out.
Jaune saw his attack coming, giving the boy a swift kick in the gut before he had a chance to assault him. The air was force from his lungs as he flew back, skidding across the ground and into one of the other tables. By now the other boys had regained their composure and decided to gang up on Jaune two to one. Unfortunately, they'd taken too much time figuring out what had happened. Already, his teammates as well as the members of their sister team had them surrounded and loomed over them.
"Go ahead, see what happens," Yang said, eyeing Dove as she cracked her knuckles loudly.
"Hey, he started it. He attacked Cardin," he tried to argue.
"Yes, after he attacked Jade and was harassing Velvet," Weiss piped in, hands on her hips in a disapproving manner.
"What do you think, fearless leader," Nora asked, eyeing the two boys.
"I don't know," Jaune said, purposely taking his time to think things over before asking, "Nora, didn't you mention something earlier about breaking their legs?"
"YES," she said, her smile broadening to such a degree that both boys seemed to shrink from her gaze.
"Arc!" they heard someone yell, interrupting their discussion.
Everyone turned their gaze to see Cardin, already on his feet but with his nose looking slightly crooked. He was seething as he stomped his way over, his hands clenched into tight fists as he eyed his opponent.
"You're dead."
Jaune took a defensive stance, as did most of his friends. Cardin, ignoring the large group of people opposing him, charged forward, ready to pummel Jaune's face into paste. He didn't make it far before his joints seized up, stopping him mid stride while somehow managing to stay upright. It soon became apparent why.
"And you, Mr. Winchester, have a weeks' worth of detention, along with your team," Miss Goodwitch said, holding her riding crop out as she kept him firmly in place with her semblance. "I should think someone of your caliber would know better than to attack a civilian, a child no less, who doesn't even have her aura unlocked. I shall endeavor to impart that knowledge to all of you while you spent an hour each day after classes in my office."
Whatever fire Cardin had quickly died under her gaze. Without waiting for an answer or releasing him from her semblance, she marched out of the cafeteria, Cardin floating after her with his team in tow. Satisfied with the end result Jaune turned his attention back to Jade. She was back on her feet, starring at the ground while occasionally sniffing as she attempted to hold back her tears. Jaune slowly lowered himself to one knee, ensuring he was level with his sister as he fixed her with a firm look.
"Jade," he said calmly.
The girl didn't move, her gaze firmly on the ground.
"I need you to look at me," he said.
Slowly, she brought her eyes up to his, her irises glistening due to the moisture still present there.
"I need you to understand something. What you did, attacking Cardin like that, was very stupid."
"What!?" Yang snapped, her irises shifting from violet to crimson in an instant.
Jaune ignored her outburst, keeping his gaze firmly on his sister.
"I understand you were trying to help but you can't fight someone of Cardin's caliber like that. He's bigger than you, stronger too. You should have asked for our help instead. We could have done something without you getting hurt."
"I know," she said softly, her gaze shifting to the ground. "But they were hurting her and, and I had to help. They were being mean and you say Huntsman are supposed to help people not hurt them," she said fervently.
"I did say that, didn't I," he said, chuckling to himself. "You're absolutely right. I'll need to do better from now on. And next time, when something like this happens, I want you to go get our help, alright?"
"Okay," she agreed.
Jaune pulled her into a hug, earning some "awws" from the bystanders. Picking her up, her turned look at Velvet who was looking at them with a mixture of admiration and affection.
"You're names Jade, right?" she asked.
"Yep, I'm Jade Arc," she said proudly.
"Thank you Jade," she said, rubbing the girl's head affectionately. "And thank you Jaune."
"I should actually be apologizing to you," he said, earning a confused look from the girl. "I didn't actually interfere until Jade decided to pick a fight with Cardin."
"Well, you at least finished the fight and it looks like Cardin and his team won't be bothering me for quite some time," she said, giving him a quick peck on the check before quickly exiting the cafeteria.
"Whoa, Jaune the ladies' man," Yang joked, causing the already blushing blonde to blush harder.
/-/
Time slipped by quickly with the weekend just on the horizon as well as Jade's birthday. Everyone had already gotten their presents for her and were eagerly waiting to throw the girl her party. They'd decided to hold it in team RWBY's dorm as it would be easier to hide everything there and set things up, making it more of a surprise for the five year old. Jaune was surprised to find he was just as excited to celebrate it as Jade. The girl's excitement was contagious and, even while doing his best to pay attention to Prof. Oobleck' s lecture, he couldn't help finding his thoughts drifting to Jade's ever nearing birthday. He was quickly roused from him thoughts when a well-aimed paper wade was thrown at his head. Jaune turned to see who had thrown it and was unsurprised to see Cardin leering down at him.
Since his debacle in the cafeteria, Cardin hadn't found many opportunities to exact his revenge against Jaune. Of course, combat class was something altogether another matter. Miss Goodwitch often paired him in bouts with Cardin using it as an excuse take out his frustrations on him. While Jaune wasn't as skilled as the rest of his classmates, especially considering he'd never been to a prep school, he'd still spent a year working alongside Professional Huntsmen, honing his skills and perfecting his abilities. He was good, and improving, but not as good as some others. Still, it enabled him to know better than to try and go toe to toe with Cardin, batting him around with his shield and taking swipes at his exposed legs when he had an opening. He worked the long game, choosing to exhaust Cardin rather than tank his hits, and often came out on top. This of course only helped to further anger the teen.
Picking up the paper wade, he unfolded it to find a message written within. He wasn't at all surprised to find a threat scrawled within and he quickly crumpled it up before dropping it to the floor. He then turned to Cardin, making sure he could see his hand and not Oobleck, as he scratched his eye using his middle finger. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the large teen who snarled and slammed his hands on his desk angrily. It was a poor move on Cardin's part as he quickly drew the attention of Oobleck.
"Mr. Winchester, so good of you to join us," he said, singling him out. "Would you care to answer my question regarding the Faunus Rights Revolution?"
"Why the hell would I care about a bunch of dumb animals?" he asked in retort.
"That is quite enough," Oobleck said, quickly silencing some of the chuckles. "I'll not have such blatant racist remarks in my classroom. You're already on thin ice as it is, Mr. Winchester. Don't think I won't add on my own detention alongside the time you owe to Miss Goodwitch."
Cardin sneered, leaning back in seat but otherwise staying quiet.
"Mr. Arc, would you care to answer my question regarding the battle of Ft. Castle?"
"You mean about the failed sneak attack?" Jaune asked, having actually paid attention to what was being discussed.
"Exactly. Your thoughts," Oobleck prompted.
"It was a colossal military disaster. Gen. Lagune foolishly believed he could take the Faunus forces by surprise through a sneak attack at night. It might have worked, had they been human, but Faunus have perfect eyesight in the dark, ensuring they saw his forces approaching despite their attempts. It ended in an ambush that left his forces in disarray."
"Excellent. Preciously what happened. Now, Mr. Arc, if you were in the General's position, what would you have done differently?"
"I would have used flashbangs or, considering the times, flares. The bright light would have turned the Faunus' strength into a weakness, turning the tide and presenting them with an opportunity to either retreat and come up with a new plan or continue the attack, using the opportunity to gain a victory over my foes."
"Interesting, very interesting," Oobleck said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I am correct in saying that you're relationship with your younger sister Jade has enabled you to gain greater insight into the Faunus and our relationship with them currently?"
"More than you know," Jaune admitted, "though, how a little girl with night vision can still be afraid of the dark still puzzles me."
The off handed, good natured joke caused quite a few people to chuckle, Oobleck included. The rest of class went by smoothly, with Cardin's threat becoming more of an afterthought. As soon as it was over, however, the burly teen reminded Jaune of his natural disgust for him in a much more personable fashion. As they were making their way out of class, Cardin forcibly shoved Jaune aside, the blonde catching himself shortly after as the teen made his way down the hall with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"What a jerk," Yang commented, snarling after him.
"Indeed," Weiss agreed.
"Should I go after him and break his legs?" Nora asked excitedly.
"No, Nora, leave Cardin alone," Jaune replied.
"Aww," she said in a disappointed tone.
"We have bigger things to worry about like Jade's party tomorrow. Seeing as we have some time before I have to pick her up why don't we head back to the dorms to set everything up?"
"I'm game," Yang said, leading the charge back to their dorm room.
/-/
The weekend dawned bright and early and would have included a welcome couple extra hours of sleep had Jade not woken up at the crack of dawn, jumping excitedly on his bed while shouting "it's my birthday, it's my birthday." As cute as the sight might have been, Jaune wasn't at all eager to get out of bed, instead managing to talk her down to allow him to sleep another hour before dragging himself out of bed. Getting himself dressed and cleaned up, he sent a quick text to Team RWBY letting them know Jade was awake and keen to start opening presents. He figured it would be better for him in the long run if he warned them now rather than knocking on their dorm door, being greeted by the sight of four half-awake girls scowling at him in their sleepwear. Taking her to breakfast he got her a large stack of pancakes, opting to let her go a little nuts for her birthday. By the time they were finished and arriving back at their dorm, his team were already dressed and ready to begin.
"Alright, we just have to make a quick stop at RWBY's dorm and then we'll have your party," he said.
"Okay," Jade replied excitedly, completely missing the knowing glances Jaune and his teammates shot each other before knocking on the door.
The moment it swung open Yang and Ruby jumped out yelling "SURPRISE" with Weiss and Blake giving more subdued reactions in the back. It took a moment for Jade to realize what was going on but once she noticed the HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner strung from one bed to the other with a large chocolate cake with a big 5 candle sitting on top amongst a pile of presents, her brain quickly caught up with her as she began to jump up and down excitedly. Her mood was contagious as everyone quickly ushered themselves into the room and began singing "Happy Birthday" to her before she blew out her candle. Soon after they began opening presents beginning with Ruby's team and working their way towards his.
Ruby went first, giving Jade a thin box wrapped in colorful wrapping paper. The newly turned five year old tore into the paper with gusto, opening the box to reveal an X-Ray and Vav comic. While Jade had seen their like in some of the bookstores they'd visited, she'd never had the chance to read one, let alone own a copy, and she excitedly thanked Ruby and hugged her, begging Jaune to read it to her tonight as a bedtime story.
Yang went next, handing her a large bag with colorful tissue paper stuffed in the top. As soon as Jade pulled that aside she extracted a large leather jacket, complete with the stoic image of a wolf on the back. Yang winked at her, letting her know she bought her something large enough for her to grow into and keep around for a while. It would also come in handy during the colder months making it a definite plus both in practicality and fashion.
"It'll look really cool if we get you a helmet to wear when I have my bike Bumblebee here to ride around on," she casually threw out.
"Cool," Jade said excitedly, looking to Jaune for his reassurance.
"We'll talk about it," was all he said, shooting Yang a glance that said her suggestion was not appreciated.
Blake went next, handing her a package that was in the shape of a book. Sure enough it was exactly how it looked although this was noticeably less thick than the other volumes precariously holding up her partner's bed. Blake explained it was a starter book, one meant to help Jade learn to read and open her up to the world of literature. It was part of a series of adventure novels, something which, should Jade take an interest in, would encourage her to increase her reading skills so she could finish it on her own.
"And here I thought she was going to give her some of her smut," Yang joked.
"It's not smut!" Blake snapped, her cheeks taking on a particularly rosy hue to them.
"What's smut?" Jade asked, turning to her brother for answers.
"Why don't we see what Weiss got for you?" he said, completely dodging the question while shooting a nasty glare once more at Yang.
As it was quickly becoming apparent with the girl, everything she did and owned came in something that looked incredibly expensive and pristine. The same could be said of her gift which came in shiny wrapping paper adorned with her family's seal on it and wrapped up in the most professional manner Jaune had ever seen. Even Jade seemed to have taken notice as, instead of tearing into the gift like she had the others, she instead took great care in unwrapping it, attempting to not tear any of the paper as best she could. She eventually uncovered the large white box hidden within and opened it to reveal Weiss' gift. A second later Jaune's jaw hit the floor.
Inside was a beautiful green dress with gold trimming and a matching tiara that had several emeralds set into it (all of which were fake, or so Jaune hoped). Jade starred at it in wonder and all the other girls gasped at the sight of the beautiful gift. Jaune, with his mouth still hanging open, attempted to calculate the cost of such a thing in his head but only managed to cause his brain to Blue screen instead.
"It's an evening dress," Weiss explained. "It's mostly meant for formal events and special occasions."
"And dry clean only, I assume," Jaune muttered.
"Pretty," Jade said, running her hand across the fabric.
"Jade, um, be sure to thank Weiss for the, uh, gift," he said, his mind still working to regain his composure.
Jade did just that, walking over to Weiss and motioning for her to kneel down. Weiss did so, cocking an eyebrow in confusion as she lowered herself to her knees. It was quickly replaced by a look of shock and surprise as Jade quickly wrapped her hands around her neck in a hug.
"Thank you Weiss for the pretty dress. I love it," she said.
"Um, y-you're welcome Jade," Weiss said, giving the girl a light pat on the back before she was released from her hug.
She rose back to her feet, her cheeks a slight shade of pink as she attempted to ignore the shit eating grins her teammates were shooting her. Jaune quickly boxed the gift back up, carefully setting it aside while Jade unwrapped the other gifts from his teammates. Pyrrha had given her a couple sets of casual clothes, something Jaune was grateful for considering the girl's humble wardrobe throughout their travels, not to mention the favor she'd done him in taking Jade to the girl's section to pick out some cute underwear for her to use. While Jaune wasn't above getting Jade the necessities, it was still difficult for him to not feel at all creepy about purchasing little girl panties at age Seventeen.
Nora had gotten Jade a pretty pink skirt with a matching jacket, something which he figured aligned with the girl's own personal tastes, while Ren had gotten her an assortment of bubble baths and flowery scented bath bombs for her to use during bath time. Jaune could already see how things would pan out, with him exiting from a steamy bathroom oozing with the scent of lavender. By the end only two gifts remained, both of which were from Jaune.
"This is a gift from Miss Goodwitch," he said, handing Jade a small box.
The girl pulled off the top and gasped when she saw what was inside. A scroll sat within, tucked neatly into its case and ready for use.
"You got her a scroll?" Yang gasped.
"It's more simplistic than ours. I asked Miss Goodwitch to remove all the other features yours and mine might have. It's essentially made only to send and receive calls," he explained. "Now Jade, this is for emergencies only. I've already put my number into it along with everyone else's. This is so if we're not around or you're lost and need help you can call us or the police, understand?"
"Mm hmm," she said, nodding her head excitedly. "Thank you!" she said, enveloping him in a tight huge.
"You're welcome," he said, hugging her back. "We'll have to make sure and thank Miss Goodwitch later. Now, this gift is from me."
He held out a long white box, reminiscent of Weiss' gift in a way. As he handed it off it became apparent of just how heavy it was as Jade hefted it to the floor. Slowly taking off the wrapping and opening it up, her eyes widened in surprise at what she saw inside. Tucked inside, set snuggly into its leather sheath, was a short sword reminiscent of Crocea Mors.
Jade picked it up gingerly, pulling the sword from its sheath and listening to the Dust infused metal sing as it was released. Light from the open window reflected off the blade as she gazed at her new weapon, looking at it with a sense of aww and wonder that left her questioning whether this was reality or a dream. She looked to her brother for confirmation and he nodded his affirmation.
"This is yours. It doesn't have a name yet, something you can come up with later, but it's what I'll start training you on in my spare time," he explained. "Understand Jade, this is a real sword. It's a tool, not a toy. That means, outside of training, it stays in its sheath, understand?"
"Yes Jaune," she said, quickly putting the blade back in its leather sheath.
"Very good, now that's just one part of the gift. This is the other," he said placing his hand on her head.
Jaune closed his eyes and Jade, sensing the seriousness of the situation, followed his lead. In a solemn tone he began reciting an oath, the same one spoken to him when his aura was unlocked. A white hue enveloped him, shining brightly as he spoke the words from memory. Before long a grey hue began to envelope Jade as well until it sparked as Jaune finished the oath and wavered for a moment before fading. Jaune smiled, seeing how Jade was standing a little bit taller and her smile somehow more serious for the experience.
"Who wants cake?" Nora yelled, completely dispelling the seriousness of the situation.
/-/
The all sat in a circle in team RWBY's dorm with Weiss and Ruby on their bed, Yang and Blake sharing her bed, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha in chairs near the door and Jade sitting with her elder brother on the window sill. It was, in Jaune's opinion, the safest place to sit, all things considered. Yesterday, before entering the room, Ruby had warned them that they had turned their beds into bunkbeds and that it might be slightly messy. Jaune had tried to imagine how'd they accomplished such a task and, upon entering the room, felt his heart plummet to his feet.
To say that they had "tried" to make bunkbeds was an understatement. Ruby's bed hung precariously above Weiss', held to the ceiling through a series of ropes, while Yang's bed balanced atop four stacks of Blake's books, wobbling slightly every time she ventured up to it. Jaune's first reaction was to move the party back to their dorm for safety reasons. His protests went unheard by the girls, with Ruby insisting that everything was fine, but considering they were standing between a guillotine and an avalanche, he felt he had a much stronger argument in his court. As a compromise he'd kept them as closely situated to the door as possible, occasionally shooting glances towards the beds every time something moved or swayed. Sitting where they were now Jaune was confident he could grab Jade and roll backwards out the window should anything decide to fall in their general direction.
"Hey Jaune, I'm curious about something?" Yang asked out of the blue.
"What about?" he asked, completely missing the smirk on her face as well as Ruby's attempts to silently ward him away.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" she ask.
Across the room Pyrrha choked on her drink with Nora quickly coming to her rescue with a napkin and softly patting her back.
"Girlfriend?" he asked, completely oblivious to Pyrrha's reaction.
"Yep," she replied, a predatory grin forming on her face.
"Nope," he replied matter-of-factly before returning to his cake.
"No one waiting for you in one of the towns you passed through?" she asked, her smile slipping slightly from the bluntness of his response.
"Not as far as I'm aware," he admitted. "I didn't really socialize much. Aside from taking on a few missions and some odd jobs, Jade and I kept mostly to ourselves."
"Alright, anyone at Beacon catch your eye then?" she asked, cocking her head a little as she came back around for another attack.
"Not really, no," he answered.
"Are you sure? No one's caught your eye at all?" she asked.
"No one in particular," he said. "Why, are you asking me out?" he replied.
Weiss seemed to choke on air, her face scrunching into a disgusted expression while Ruby glanced worriedly between Yang and Pyrrha. Even Pyrrha's completion had seemed to pale while Blake looked up from her book with a curious expression.
"And if I was?" Yang asked, her smile broadening.
"Then I'd say 'thanks but no thanks,'" he said before returning to his cake.
"What? Why not?' Yang asked, sounding almost hurt by his answer.
"I'm honestly not looking to start a relationship or date anyone for that matter. Right now, my priorities are school and Jade. With how much is riding on me graduating from Beacon, I don't want any outside distractions to keep me from accomplishing my goal."
"Oh," Yang said, both surprised and impressed by his answer.
Weiss nodded her approval, finding his drive and reasons for being here acceptable and even admirable. Pyrrha regained some color in her cheeks but her expression didn't change from the neutral stance it had taken. Jaune didn't seem to notice though whether that was due to him being completely oblivious or simply being focused on his overall goal was anyone's guess.
"So no one's really caught your eye?" Yang asked, content with his previous answer but still somewhat curious.
"I'm not completely oblivious to the women that roam Beacon's halls. I'd have to be blind not to notice how attractive they all are," he admitted.
"Keep talking," Yang said, a smirk forming on her lips as he leaned back in her seat.
"That said, I have to keep my focus on the end goal. Everything else would just be a distraction otherwise. That doesn't mean I'm completely against having a relationship at some point. Honestly, it would be nice to have a mother figure for Jade to look up to and hangout with, especially when she starts coming into her teenage years."
"Why? What happens then?"
Jaune gave Yang a deadpan look, one that said he didn't appreciate how blatant her question was or the overall nature of it.
"Some very awkward conversations that I don't want to be saddled with," he said.
"Such as," Yang asked, goading him on.
"You know what I mean, I don't have to explain it," he said, completely ignoring her shit eating grin.
"Don't sweat it, big bro. Even if you don't find yourself a girlfriend you still have six other women here who can more than help her figure things out once she reaches that point," Yang said. "Well, five women, considering some of us are currently lacking in the 'womanly' department," Yang added, glancing over at Ruby and Weiss respectfully.
"Yang Xio Long!" Weiss snarled, her face turning bright red.
"Hey, I'm still growing," Ruby pouted. "I drink milk, after all."
"You're going to have to drink a hell of a lot more if you want to catch up," Yang said, bouncing her assets for emphasis.
The two sisters quickly fell into an age old argument as the party waned on and Jade, tuckered out from all the excitement and gross mounts of sugar, fell asleep on her brother's lap.
So, have to say that the reception I've received for this story has been monumental. I had over 2,690 views for the last chapter alone and I'm looking to break the 3k marker sometime soon. This has honestly become one of my most popular fanfics, overtaking Archangel which was my number one for quite some time.
Just so you're aware I always enjoy reading your reviews and I do take into account any questions you have for me. One of which was regarding Jade's last name an whether or not she goes by that or Arc. As I've shown in this chapter, due to Jaune becoming her legal guardian, she calls herself Jade Arc. Her parentage, including her original last name and some of her parent's history, is something I plan on exploring in later chapters. There will be some interesting reveals coming up so stay tuned.
As always, I try to keep things fresh and introduce story points that many people, parents and older siblings alike, have dealt with. I'm an older brother to two younger siblings so some of this is based off my own experiences but I also take inspiration from "If It's For My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord." The most current episode, episode 4, dealt with some HEAVY issues regarding race and identity and boy was it powerful. It certainly gave me somethings to think about and some plot points I'll want to explore moving forward.