HEEELLLLOOOOOO! I'm glad to see everyone enjoyed the last chapter, especially the battle of Jaune and Talon against the Paladin. I did my best to make it awesome, and I feel like I did a fairly good job with it. I like how a number of people sympathized with our blonde hero on his feelings for Weiss. I think it's safe to say that all of us, regardless of gender, have experienced unrequited love, so we can all sympathize with his plight more or less.
Not much else to say except a big thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially gdvp111 who helped me out with some stuff that'll take place later.
With all that out of the way, ON WITH THE STORY!
Jaune frowned in concentration as he focused on Brillant Mors, willing energy to flow through his weapon. He knelt on the roof where he used to train with Pyrrha and clutched his halberd in both hands with the weapon laying across his knees. Every day for the past week Jaune had awoken before the dawn to come out to the roof and attempt to draw out the Lady's Light. He knew it was possible, as he had seen Nathaniel could do it with ease, having had been trained since he had been a little boy to fight for Vaya. Jaune didn't have this advantage, but both Nathaniel and Talon had told him that being Vaya's champion meant he had a natural affinity with Her Light, which meant he should be able to draw it out with only a couple months of training instead of the years it normally took.
Which was why Jaune was kneeling on the roof as he waited for the sun to rise. Nathaniel had told him that it was at the dawn that a Gryphon Knight's powers were at their greatest, and that at dawn his chances of successfully imbuing Brillant Mors with the Light would increase. At first Jaune had been skeptical, but over time he came to realize that when the sun rose he felt invigorated. When those first rays of light broke through the darkness Jaune could feel strength flowing into his limbs, confidence and levelheadedness flowing into his mind, and courage flowing into his heart. After about an hour this power faded back to normal levels, but he could understand what Nathaniel meant by the dawn bringing strength to a knight of the Order.
His eyes still closed Jaune smiled and took a deep breath in as he felt the first rays of the sun caress his face as a new day dawned. Immediately the grogginess he felt from waking up so early disappeared as though it had never existed as he breathed in deeply and focused on his halberd laying across his knees. Silently he bade Vaya's Light to come forth and give him the strength needed to combat the forces of darkness. He felt warmth like a mother's loving caress cloak his body, and when Jaune opened his eyes he looked at Brillant Mors. Ever so faintly the halberd was glowing with an inner white light, as were his armor plates. The glow was dim, and had he not been looking for it he wouldn't have even noticed it, but it was there. Jaune had successfully drawn out a small portion of the Lady's Light.
He smiled as the glow dissipated and pushed himself to his feet. He stretched his arms and took in a deep breath of crisp dawn air before turning around and walking back inside, whistling a little tune.
Weiss groaned as Jaune sat behind her with the rest his team. They were in the first year combat class, which was one of the few times Arc was actually with his team. "Hey guys, girls." She didn't have to turn around to know that he was smiling at her in that way that was so damnably charming. "Hey Snow Angel. Miss me?"
She crossed her arms and refused to turn around. "You know I didn't, and stop calling me Snow Angel."
"Why? You let Neptune call you that, and I'm actually the one who used it first. If anyone should stop calling you that it's him."
She could detect the slightest bit of jealousy in his voice, but it was buried under that false confidence he put on. It had to be false. No one got that confident in themselves as quickly as the blonde boy had without becoming completely arrogant, and as much as she disliked him she had to admit that he was anything but arrogant. He was the first to admit that he was still the weakest fighter between the members of both teams, and he never boasted about anything he did. Even after he had gone and battled Torchwick's Paladin on his own Jaune hadn't so much as brought it up, even though she knew he must have been dying to. He was probably just trying to seem humble in front of her. He probably talked his teammates ears off about it when she wasn't around. She'd ask the other members of JNPR after lunch when he wasn't around.
"Well Neptune is charming when he says it," she shot back, still refusing to look at him, "unlike you."
He laughed. "Sure. And you aren't blushing right now, which is why you refuse to look at me."
She grit her teeth, and tried to banish the pink tinge on her cheeks. Damn him for being so observant...
"No," she growled, "I've just been having a very pleasant day, and I don't want to have to ruin it by seeing you."
"Oh Snow Angel," he sighed dramatically, "why must you be so cold? Is it because deep, deep down in your heart there is a little, tiny bit of you that can't help but wonder just how wonderful of a boyfriend I'd be? Afraid I'd ruin all other men for you?" She heard him shift in his seat as he leaned a bit closer to her. Not close enough to invade her personal space, he didn't do that anymore, but close enough that she knew his entire focus on her. As though some outside force were acting on her Weiss turned to look at him against her will. When she turned she could see Pyrrha's stricken face as she watched Jaune shamelessly flirt with the heiress. She suspected Ruby's face probably looked fairly similar to Pyrrha's. However the azure eyes of the squire quickly grabbed her attention as he stared at her with something that she knew couldn't be blatant adoration. "My beautiful Snow Angel," he crooned, "I give you my word that if I was yours you wouldn't have to worry about me ruining other men for you, because I would be the only man you'd ever need." He smiled earnestly and sat back in seat as she felt her face turn a few shades of red darker. "And an Arc never goes back on his word darling."
Her heart beat reached an all time high, and her face was so red that she could have hidden it in Ruby's cape. "I- I...," she stammered, "I hate you Arc!" she shouted and turned back to the front, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I know you do Snow Angel," he said so softly that she wasn't even sure she had been meant to hear it, "I know you do."
Weiss's eyes desperately darted around the room as she searched for Neptune. If she could convince him to come sit by her then maybe Jaune would stop saying things that made her heartbeat skyrocket, and the bluenette would start saying them.
"Hey," Yang said as she bumped Weiss's shoulder, "even you have to admit that was good Weiss."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Weiss said defensively as she continued to scan for the object of her affections. Seriously, why was he so hard to find? She knew he was in here!
She could actually hear Yang grinning maniacally. "Okay then. What about you two, Rubes? Pyrrha? Don't you guys think what Jaune said was sweet?"
Even if she had wanted to there was no way that Weiss could have made herself look away from what she knew what about to become a train wreck. She looked at Ruby, then at Pyrrha, both of whom were blushing madly. "I... Um... Well..." stammered the leader of RWBY. "I-it was really nice. Yeah."
Yang's grin doubled in size. "And what would you have done if he said that to you?"
Ruby didn't answer. Instead she yanked the hood of her cape down over her head and kept mumbling "I don't like him," to herself over and over again.
With one down and one to go Weiss watched as Yang turned her predatory gaze on Pyrrha, whose eyes were darting around the room as she desperately searched for a way out of her predicament. All the while Jaune simply stared on in befuddlement. He tapped Ruby on the shoulder. "Ruby? You okay?"
She jumped when his finger touched her shoulder. "Eep! Don't like- uh, I mean, I'm fine. Just a bit... hot. Yeah. It's just a bit hot in here and I'm trying to cool off."
"By pulling your hood over your head?" he asked. All the while Yang was whispering to Pyrrha, and though Weiss couldn't hear them she could tell by the growing blush on the champion's cheeks that the blonde bombshell was probably trying to talk her into asking Jaune out.
Weiss was on the edge of telling Jaune about Pyrrha and Ruby's feelings and just getting it over with when someone on the floor of the combat arena cleared their throat loud enough to be heard over the din of talking students. All other conversations forgotten, every student in the room turned to the front. Standing in the middle of the arena was Professor Goodwitch, and Jaune's mentor Nathaniel. "class has begun," she said simply as she pulled out her scroll and and triggered the random selection process that would determine who would be fighting in the first round of class. Two portraits appeared on the on the overhead hologram that displayed both the combatants and their aura reserves. Weiss's mouth dropped when she saw them, not sure if she was the luckiest or unluckiest girl in all of Remnant.
"Jaune Arc versus Neptune Vasilias."
"Wow," Jaune said, apparently just as surprised as she was, "I was starting to think I'd never get a fight." She heard him push himself up out of his seat. "Wish me luck guys."
"You'll do wonderfully," Pyrrha said earnestly.
"Break his legs!" shouted Nora.
"Fight well," advised Ren.
"Win one for teams Juniper and Ruby!" shouted Ruby.
"If you win, maybe Weiss will give you a kiss," teased Yang.
"As if!" shouted Weiss as her cheeks darkened. "Besides, without his Gryphon Jaune doesn't stand a chance against Neptune."
Finally Weiss could see the bluenette. He was on the other side of the room, just standing up to go change into his combat gear. Weiss noted with more than a little irritation that he had been sitting next to and talking to another girl, but she tried to squash those feelings. He was probably just being friendly.
Jaune stepped down the aisle until he was even with the row team RWBY sat on. He smirked at Weiss and leaned against his halberd. "Willing to bet on that darling?"
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are your terms?" She didn't believe for a second that Jaune could actually beat Neptune, but she wasn't willing to risk anything major on that.
"If I win, you have to give me one kiss on the cheek."
She scowled. "And when you lose?" she shot back.
He shrugged. "Whatever you want."
Whatever she wanted? Oh she knew how she was going to use that.
"When you lose you have to stop flirting with me. No more nicknames, no more asking me out. In fact, you stop talking to me entirely unless you absolutely have to."
It was a steep bet she was putting forward, and she knew it, but she was counting on him being foolish enough to go through with it. He frowned, and that false bravado of his disappeared, but then it was back less than a second later. "You're on Snow Angel. Just remember your part of the deal when I win." He winked at her and walked down the steps towards the arena, his halberd slung over one shoulder as he used his free hand to ensure his armor was fitted properly.
"Weiss," whispered Ruby, "don't you think that was a bit much?"
"Please Ruby," scoffed Weiss, "do you know how long I've been trying to get him off my back? All my life boys have only ever been interested in my name and the money that comes with it. Jaune's hardly any different."
"What about Neptune?" asked Yang as she placed a hand over an indignant Pyrrha's mouth to stop the champion from saying something she might regret.
"Neptune is different," retorted Weiss.
"Oh really? I think I know boys pretty well Ice Queen, and I can tell you with confidence that Neptune isn't as special as you think."
"You just haven't given him a chance is all."
Yang rolled her eyes. "Weiss, you do remember that he was with me during our investigation right? He's sweet enough, but he's not all that bright, and he's a total flirt. He tried to hit on two girls who worked at my friend's place."
"He was probably just being friendly," Weiss responded, a little less sure. "W-well what about Jaune?" she asked, eager to get the subject off of Neptune. "He flirts with me all the time."
"Exactly," said Nora as she leaned forward and poked Weiss's nose. Had it been anyone else Weiss would have been upset by the poke, but Nora... was Nora. "He flirts with you Weiss. No one else, despite the fact that he's got just about every single girl in the school falling all over him. I don't think Jaune even really talks to other girls outside of our teams."
Pyrrha, who had managed to move Yang's hand away from her mouth, leaned forward too. "I think we've more or less given Neptune a chance Weiss. After all we did let him and Sun help against the Paladin. Didn't we Blake?" Blake, who hadn't taken her eyes off of whatever book she was reading the entire time, grunted in response. Pyrrha sighed and continued. "My point is that maybe you need to give Jaune a chance Weiss. If you did you might see that he's nothing like the other boys you've had to deal with in the past."
Weiss was taken aback by the challenge in Pyrrha's voice. The champion had never been the confrontational type, but there was something almost approaching anger in her voice. Though why was she helping Yang anyway? Wouldn't she be better of if Jaune wasn't trying to flirt with Weiss? She was stopped from asking however, when Glynda's voice filtered up from the arena floor. "Combatants, are you ready?"
The seven teens turned back to the front. They had been so focused on their conversation that they hadn't realized that Neptune had already changed for the fight and returned. Weiss settled back in her seat confident in Neptune as Pyrrha, Nora, Yang, and Ruby started cheering for Jaune. The blonde and the bluenette stood across from each other with Glynda in between them. Both nodded that they were ready, and Glynda stepped back. "Begin!"
Jaune stepped back and allowed Neptune's first swing to whistle past his face, then stepped forward and jabbed at his opponent, forcing the bluenette to jump back. Jaune stepped forward and thrust again, then brought his halberd up and blocked Neptune's return swing with the haft of his weapon. The squire swung the axe head towards Neptune and just barely grazed his aura as the boy jumped back. The axe head hit the ground and split concrete as though it were rotten wood. Jaune wrenched his weapon free and thrust at Neptune again, who jumped back again and swung his guandao at Jaune, who raised his arm and took the blow on his vambrace. The impact jarred his arm, but Jaune grit his teeth and shoved the blade of Neptune's weapon away, which destabilized the bluenette's stance and left him open. Taking his chance the squire slammed the spearhead of Brillant Mors into the vulnerable stomach of Neptune, who doubled over and gasped as the air was driven out of his lungs. Jaune wrenched the weapon free and raised it with the intention of bringing the hammer head down on the exposed back of Neptune. Brillant Mors flew down towards Neptune, but at the very last moment he jumped back and the hammerhead of Brillant Mors slammed into the ground with enough force to shatter the concrete. Jaune looked up just as the guandao slammed into the side of his head with enough force to almost send Jaune to his knees, but the squire kept his feet and shook his head clear of dizziness, not even stunned by the blow. Neptune hit fairly hard, but that strike was nothing compared to the force Nathaniel put behind his own blows.
Jaune rushed towards Neptune, who yelped in surprise at Jaune's immediate recovery and backpedaled as Jaune advanced. If he could just get the bluenette up against the wall he would take victory...
Neptune seemed to realize what Jaune was trying to accomplish, and at the very last second he jumped to the side as Jaune's halberd slammed into the wall instead of Neptune. Jaune turned to follow Neptune, and immediately tried to scramble out of the way as Neptune aimed his weapon, now in rifle form, at Jaune and pulled the trigger.
Jaune snarled in pain as the bolt of electricity hit him and froze him up. He tried to move, but his nerves refused to respond. The squire's eyes widened as he watched Neptune's weapon light up as he charged another shot, and with a shout of pain Jaune forced his body to roll to the side as another bolt passed by his head, missing by only inches. Again and again Jaune just barely moved out of the way of another bolt of electricity, but he knew he couldn't keep it up forever. At range Neptune had every advantage, and was quicker and more agile than the squire. However Jaune knew he was stronger and could take more damage than Neptune, and knew how to use that to his advantage.
He waited until Neptune's weapon was charged again, then charged directly at him, . The bolt of electricity hit Jaune, as he knew it would, and and sent shocks all throughout his body, but Jaune doggedly charged towards Neptune and ignored the pain lancing through his body. The bluenette's eyes widened in shock as Jaune charged through the pain and rammed the spearhead of Brillant Mors into his stomach again. Still charging Jaune drove Neptune before him and with a roar raised the edge of his weapon and lifted Neptune with it, suspending the Haven student two feet in the air on his weapon as he continued to charge forward, and then slammed him into the wall of the ring, pinning Neptune in place. He pulled his weapon back and let the boy fall to the floor and gasp for air as he looked at the board displaying both their auras. "Wow," Jaune muttered to himself as he saw Neptune's aura. The boy was just outside the red. One more solid blow from Brillant Mors would not only knock him into the red, thereby securing victory, but almost certainly drain all of Neptune's remaining aura. However that also meant that if he hit him too hard Jaune would run the risk of really hurting the boy. Jaune wanted to win, especially considering the cost of losing, but he didn't want to actually hurt Neptune.
He dropped Brillant Mors on the ground and marched towards the bluenette, who was pushing himself to his feet and shakily raising his own weapon, now back in its guandao form. He swung weakly at Jaune, who grabbed the weapon by the haft and wrenched it out of Neptune's hands. He flung it aside, grabbed Neptune by the collar, and pinned him to the wall. Jaune pulled his arm back, curled his free hand into a fist, and smashed it into Neptune's face once, then released him and stepped back as the lights in rest of the arena came back on and a loud buzzing filled the air.
"The match is over!" shouted Glynda, who sounded more than a bit surprised by the outcome, "Jaune Arc is the victor!"
Jaune picked up Neptune's weapon and held it out to him as the bluenette stumbled to his feet and shook his head to clear the dizziness. "Thanks," he said as he took the weapon from Jaune, "man, you hit hard, even without your weapon."
"I'm not the only one," said Jaune as he pointed at their auras, which were still displayed on the board, "if you had hit just one more time with a lightning blast this fight would have gone a lot differently." Indeed Neptune's shots had done a number on Jaune's aura, which was well below the three quarters mark. That Jaune could take a missile at point blank range and still have some small measure of aura left attested to just how powerful Neptune's weapon was, and how good the bluenette was with it.
Neptune grinned at Jaune. "Thanks. That means a lot coming from someone as famous as you."
Jaune looked away and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, well... don't mention it, alright? I didn't ask for all this attention. I'd prefer to pretend I wasn't popular." Though that was kind of hard when a number of students were holding up signs that ranged from "Go Jaune!" to girls' scroll numbers.
Neptune laughed and shrugged. "Whatever you say man, though if I were you I'd be using my new found fame," he pointed at one of the girls holding up a sign and winked at Jaune, "if you know what I mean."
Jaune turned to hide his scowl as he knelt to pick up Brillant Mors. He knew what Neptune meant alright, but that didn't mean he approved of Neptune flirting with other girls and effectively leading Weiss along, who honestly thought he was interested solely in her. Jaune didn't dislike Neptune, but if he broke Weiss's heart he and Neptune would be having a talk, and it wouldn't be a pleasant one for the bluenette. "Let's just get our evaluations from the teachers," he said without turning around, "I need a shower to wash off the smell of ozone."
The two boys walked over to Professor Goodwitch and Sir Nathaniel and waited for both teachers to evaluate them. Naturally Glynda spoke first. "Mr. Vasilias, you showed that you're capable of adapting to your foe and keeping them at range when your weapon in it's melee form won't be sufficient. However when your opponent does something you do not expect you freeze up, which leaves you open to a counter attack. Your human opponents often won't react the way you think they will, and older Grimm can be intelligent enough to adapt to a situation. You must learn to react immediately to anything your opponent throws at you. Even the wrong reaction is better than no reaction at all." She turned her attention to Jaune. "As for you Mr. Arc, you understood your strengths and weaknesses as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent, and used that to your advantage, putting Mr. Vasilias into a situation where your greater strength and aura reserves gave you the advantage you needed to win. However your methods are crude. The way you fight is self destructive, and if you're not careful you could suffer permanent damage simply because you chose to block or take a strike instead of simply avoiding it. Should you find yourself in a situation where you can choose to avoid or take a blow, always choose to avoid, understood?"
Jaune shrugged and looked away, trying to ignore the fact that his left arm was still spasming from the bolts he had taken. "Yes ma'am," he muttered.
Next it was Nathaniel's turn to speak. "I don't have much to say that Mrs. Goodwitch hasn't said already Vasilias. You're adaptable, but you freeze up when something you don't expect happens. Fix that, or you're a dead man. You understand me?"
Jaune couldn't help but smile as Neptune's mouth dropped. Most people weren't ready for the extremely direct approach that Nathaniel took in teaching. Indeed it had taken Jaune a couple weeks to get acclimated to it. "Uh... y-yes sir," stammered Neptune.
"Good," he turned and pointed at Jaune, "as for you boy, what was your first mistake?"
Jaune ran the battle through his head. "When I let Neptune get out of my reach and use his weapon's rifle form against me."
"And why was that a mistake?"
"Because my weapon isn't mechashift and I don't have a ranged option."
"Precisely. Brillant Mors can't change forms, which means as far as durability goes its got every other student's weapon beat, but almost everyone in here can take you on at long range, which is where you're weak. You either need to make sure they can't get to range, or failing that close the gap, which I will admit you did manage to do reasonably well. However you should have known better than to take a shot from a lightning gun while wearing plate armor. Don't think I don't see the way your arm is shaking boy. Go to the nurse, and make sure there's no permanent nerve damage."
"Yes sir," Jaune said and turned around and walked to the stairs. He slung Brillant Mors over his back and rubbed his still jittering arm, hoping the annoying tingling feeling would go away soon. As he walked up the stairs and ignored all of the people telling him good job (and girls asking him for his number) he looked up and saw his friends cheering for his first victory. Well, most of them. Ren was simply clapping, Blake was still reading, and Weiss had attempted to stand up and walk away, but had been stopped by Yang's arm around her neck. The heiress was blushing furiously as she tried to look everywhere except at Jaune, no doubt thinking about that kiss on the cheek she now owed him. Jaune sighed and shook his head. As much as he wanted to, and he really wanted to, he wasn't about to make Weiss go through with their bet. If she was ever going to kiss him then Jaune wanted it to be because she wanted to, not because she had to.
Pyrrha leaped up out of her seat and rushed Jaune, wrapping him in a tight hug which he returned with both arms. At least he was pretty sure he did. His left arm had stopped shaking, but he couldn't actually feel it anymore. Jaune was pretty sure that wasn't good, but he currently had bigger problems than possible paralysis. Specifically he had to go through with the heart wrenching task of telling Weiss that she didn't have to kiss him. "Congratulations!" exclaimed Pyrrha, "I knew you could do it!"
"Thanks Pyrrha," he said, then broke off the hug with a pat on her shoulder.
"That was awesome!" shouted Nora as she mimed thrusting with an invisible halberd. "I mean you didn't break his legs, but the way you picked him up on the end of your weapon and pinned to the wall like a stuck piglet was hardcore!"
Jaune and Pyrrha took a step back from Nora as everyone else leaned away from her. Jaune was fairly used to her eccentricities by now, but sometimes she still managed to both shock and occasionally horrify him. "Uh... thanks Nora. Remind me to never let you touch anything sharp ever again. I'd prefer that you don't pin anything or anyone to a wall."
"You did really good," Ruby said excitedly, "you've gotten a lot better since Forever Fall Forest."
Yang still had Weiss in a headlock. "Not bad lover boy," said his fellow blonde. She released Weiss from her headlock. "Ready to claim your prize?"
Weiss's face grew even redder and she refused to look at him. Jaune knew that if he forced the issue she would honor the bet, but he knew that it would cause potentially irreparable damage to their relationship. He laughed and shrugged. "Actually, I'm calling the bet off. You don't have to kiss me Snow Angel. I was just joking."
That got her attention. She looked up from the floor at him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why?" she asked, clearly expecting a catch.
"Because your happiness means more to me than anything I want for myself."
He wished he could just come out and say that. Just tell her how crazy he was about her, but he couldn't. Not in front of so many people, not when his confession would embarrass her publicly. So instead he smiled and winked at her. "I was just messing with you Snow Angel. Can't a guy have a little fun?"
Weiss stared at him open mouthed, probably trying to think of a response to that and being thankful that he hand't pushed the issue. She was saved from answering however when Nathaniel shouted at him from the arena floor. "Boy! Nurse's office! Now!"
Jaune sighed. "Yes sir!" he shouted back with a smile. "Gotta go guys. I'll be back in a few minutes." He walked up the stairs and exited combat class, turning down the hallway and heading towards the nurse's office. When he was absolutely certain there was no one around he let the grin fall of his face as and his shoulders slumped. Weiss's words rang in his head.
"I hate you Arc!"
Did... did she really hate him? Or had she just said that because he'd made her get all flustered? Had his flirting gone so far that she felt real animosity for him? He didn't know, but the thought that she legitimately disliked him, or completely hated him...
It scared Jaune.
Feeling was beginning to return to Jaune's arm. Deciding that as long as he could feel his arm and it wasn't shaking life a leaf in a hurricane he was fine, Jaune made a detour and instead headed towards his team's dorm room. When he got there he laid his halberd on his bed and picked up the Angel's rose. Jaune took meticulous care of it, always ensuring that it was well watered and tended to. On the nights when he couldn't sleep, which was every other night, he would stare at the rose as it shined like a gem in the moonlight, letting its soothing glow wash away all his worries as he thought about the look on Weiss's when he gave it to her.
It had to be soon. He had to give her this and ask her to the dance as soon as possible, but when was the right time? Probably not at any point today. She'd probably still be feeling awkward about the bet, which meant that if he asked her today she might think that she would have to because of the bet. He couldn't risk that. He had to be sure that she accepted because she wanted to, because she knew how much he cared about her. "Tomorrow," he said to himself as he gently caressed the petals with one hand, "I'll ask her tomorrow." By tomorrow she would hopefully be over her embarrassment of losing the bet, and wouldn't feel indebted to him because he had called it off. Tomorrow evening after dinner he would walk across the hall with the Angel's Rose to team RWBY's dorm, knock on the door, and ask to see Weiss. If she refused then he would just continue asking until she agreed to see him. Then he would show her the rose, tell her how much she meant to him, and ask her to the dance. If she said yes, then Jaune would be the luckiest guy on earth. If she said no... then that was it. He would leave her alone. He would stop flirting with her, stop trying to gain her affections. Hopefully she would eventually like him enough to consider him a friend, but he wouldn't try to force his way back into her life. He sighed as he put the Angel's Rose back on the vanity and rubbed his forehead. "Tomorrow then," he muttered, "tomorrow will either be the happiest day of my life, or one of the worst."
Jaune got back into combat class just in time to watch Pyrrha take on some grey haired guy whose name was Mercury, or something like that. Naturally the guy didn't stand a chance, and he seemed to realize that as he surrendered before the fight had gone on for more than a couple minutes. Apparently while he had been gone she had fought team CRDL and completely taken them apart without receiving so much as a scratch in return. Jaune would have paid lien to see that, but Nora had recorded the whole thing, and promised that she would let him see it later. The match between Pyrrha and Mercury had been the last fight of the class, and as the bell rang for lunch he walked out with his teammates and the members of RWBY, chatting with them but making sure he didn't flirt with Weiss. Judging by the fact that she hadn't even sent a veiled insult his way when he had rejoined the rest of them Jaune guessed that she was probably embarrassed about the bet, so he figured it would be best if he didn't bother her.
As he was asking Pyrrha about her battle against team CRDL he saw someone approaching him out of the corner of his eye. He turned to get a proper look at who it was, and saw with some surprise that it was Cinder. She was staring directly at him, which left no doubt in his mind about why she was headed in their direction. He turned back to Pyrrha and the others. "You guys go on without me alright? I'll see you at lunch."
Pyrrha looked past him and saw Cinder making her way over to them. Confusion turned to concern as she turned her eyes back to him. "Jaune, are you sure?"
He smiled. "I'm sure. I remember what you guys told me that night she introduced herself, okay? I'll be polite, but I won't let her try to seduce me again." Though at the time Jaune had been awestruck by Cinder's beauty his teammates had pointed out that Cinder was at the end of the day just another fan girl after his fame. As much as he'd like to think that someone like Cinder would like him for himself, he knew the others were right. He grinned goofily and rapped his knuckles against the side of his head. "Us guys sometimes think with the head on our shoulders instead of the one between our legs you know. I'll be fine."
Pyrrha laughed and punched his shoulder, which no longer toppled him like it once had. "Alright, but be sure to make it quick if you want any food. You know how much Nora can eat."
"I'll be quick," he promised and started making his way towards Cinder. The raven haired girl's eyes lit up with something that both turned Jaune on and made him very wary. She knew she had an amazing body, and he knew from experience that she knew how to use it to get what she wanted. "Hey Cinder," he said when he reached her. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to congratulate you on your win," she said with a smile, "You took that Neptune boy apart."
Jaune shrugged, "I did okay, but Neptune wasn't bad either. Had he gotten one more good hit on me that match would have gone to him."
"Hmmm... perhaps," she said as she started twirling a finger in her hair, "but you won, and he lost, so you deserve to be congratulated on your victory."
"Thanks," he said a bit too hastily, "so was that all, or did you want something?"
Her smile turned absolutely seductive, and Jaune bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself grounded in reality. "Focus Jaune!"
"There are many things I want," she purred, "but right now there are two main things that I want. The first is to be sure that you're alright. I saw you get hit by those lighting bolts during your match, and your arm twitching afterwards." She placed a finger on his left arm through the gap between his vambrace and pauldron, as though to check that it was no longer twitching. The touch on his bare skin was enough to make warmth flood his body and fill his very soul. "I wanted to be sure you weren't still in pain, and if you were to help... alleviate that pain."
"Focus Jaune focus Jaune focus Jaune focus Jaune focus Jaune focus Jaune..."
"I wanted to be sure you weren't still in pain, and if you were to help... alleviate that pain."
"FOCUS ON SOMETHING ELSE JAUNE."
He coughed awkwardly into the crook of his arm and looked away from the seductress before him who wouldn't move her freaking finger. "I-I'm fine," he said with a shaky laugh. "It stopped shaking like an hour ago, so I'm fine! Totally fine..."
She laughed, a sound that made bird song sound like the screeching of nails on a chalkboard in comparison. "Well I'm glad to hear that. As for the second thing I want..." she removed her hand from Jaune's arm, which he was both grateful for and wished she would put it back. "I hear that the Vytal Festival Ball is only a couple weeks away. If you don't already have a date arranged then perhaps you could do me the honor of accompanying me? I typically don't go to dances, but Vytal festival is about unity between the kingdoms, and what could be more unifying than a huntsman in training and a huntress in training from different schools going together?"
He gulped and glanced back at his friends as they made their way to the cafeteria. Specifically he glanced at a certain white haired heiress. "Um, sorry Cinder, but I'm already planning on asking someone else."
Cinder smiled knowingly. "Have you already asked her?"
"Well not yet, but- h-hey! What are you doing?" Cinder's hand had darted forward and plucked his scroll out of his pocket. She opened it, started typing on the screen, then after a few seconds gave it back to Jaune. Jaune looked at what she had put into his scroll. "Your contact info? Why?"
Another smile, this one definitely intended to be seductive. She reached a hand up and brushed his blonde locks out of his face. Jaune unwillingly shivered in pleasure at the touch. One part of him wanted to push her hand away, but another much larger and hormonal part of him didn't want to do a damn thing, so he simply stood there. Her fingers traveled down his face and came to rest beneath his chin, where she traced a circle with her index finger. "It's no secret that you pine after the Schnee heiress. The girl would be a fool to turn you down, but if she does..." the finger trailed down his chin, then his neck, and came to a stop on his collarbone. She slowly traced the groove of his collarbone with her finger, then leaned in close to Jaune and whispered, "then call me. I assure you that I will be available."
With that her finger left his body and she turned and walked away from him, leaving Jaune to stare dumbly at her as she walked away from him. Somehow he managed to force himself to turn away from her and walk towards the cafeteria, his mind a jumble of emotions. So engrossed was Jaune in his own thoughts that he didn't notice that Talon had swooped down and landed next to him until the Gryphon spoke. "I want you to know that watching you trying to resist mating with that woman then and there was one of the most amusing things I have ever seen, and I once watched Cailan attempt to dance while drunk."
Jaune jumped as his Grpyphon's words cut through the jumble of thoughts and emotions flooding his mind. He blushed and scratched the back of his head. "How much did you see?"
"Enough," responded the Gryphon smugly, "I happened to be returning from the Emerald Forest, having just had a very nice lunch of deer and a couple rabbits, when I saw a woman with her hand all over my rider. Naturally I was curious, so I landed nearby and listened in. She seems very interested in you."
"She's only after me for my fame. I know she's hot, trust me I know, but that doesn't mean she likes me for me."
The Gryphon shrugged as they continued walking. "Perhaps, but what of it? You're a young handsome man with a long life ahead of you. You don't have to marry right away. In fact Cailan didn't settle down until he was in his mid thirties. Before then he left quite the trail of broken hearts and wooed women behind him. Who's to say you don't have every right to enjoy your youth while you have it?"
Jaune scowled, "I don't want to leave a trail of broken hearts. I don't want to break anyone's heart! Maybe this sounds weird for a guy my age, but I just want to find a nice girl, settle down, and just be happy with them, especially considering the fact that in ten years the world could be thrown into chaos at literally any moment. Can I really be blamed for wanting to have a family in case the worst should happen to me?"
Jaune could feel the amusement emanating from Talon. "Is the Schnee girl the one you want to settle down with?"
Jaune's face turned red. "I mean... yeah I'd like that, but it's not like I've thought that far ahead about her. I'm not thinking about marrying her or anything, but if I don't at least try then I'll never know if I could have something more with Weiss."
"Exactly," said the Gryphon, "If you don't try you'll never know what could have been. Pursue the heiress if you want, but should that fail the raven haired girl is clearly interested in you. Who knows? Perhaps she is the one you will settle down with." With that Talon spread his wings and took to the sky, leaving Jaune on the ground with all of his problems. Not for the first time Jaune wished he had wings so he could fly away from all of his problems, but he didn't, and he couldn't, so he had to take them head on like they were a charging Boarbatusk.
With a world weary sigh Jaune went to push open the doors of the cafeteria, but jumped back as the doors were flung open by a mob of fleeing students. Jaune barely managed to leap aside as they ran past him in a panic. When the mob had passed Jaune looked inside, wondering what on earth could have happened to make so many students flee in terror. When he saw he groaned and set Brillant Mors in the corner, then picked up an obscenely long piece of french bread, which he dubbed Bread Mors 2.
Nora cackled madly as she picked up a table and flung it at team RWBY minus Blake, who dodged to either side as it when flying past. Jaune couldn't help but smile as he lowered his breadberd and charged headlong into the fray.
Lotta things happened in this chapter! We see Jaune fight another student for the first time in this fic, and boy was it a fight! I hope it didn't seem like Jaune absolutely thrashed Neptune or anything like that. I wanted to make it clear that it was a close match, but Jaune's aggressiveness, strength, determination, and ability to flip the bird at his pain receptors enabled him to pull out the victory. I'm not trying to make Jaune OP here. He took his fair share of damage, and it was never truly in his favor until he landed that final blow where he pinned Neptune to the wall.
Originally I was going to have Jaune fight Yang, but I realized that there was just no feasible way for Jaune to beat her on his own without making him OP, which I don't want to do. I wondered who would be a good opponent for Jaune that would be a challenge, but he could still realistically defeat. At first I thought I might have to create a throwaway OC just for the fight, but then it hit me: Neptune. Neptune's weapon is also a pole arm, but it also has a long range lightning form, which would be very effective against Jaune's plate armor. He's also Jaune's romantic rival, though the bluenette doesn't realize that Jaune also likes Weiss. He was a perfect opponent for Jaune here.
I feel like a lot of times it seems like I'm bashing Neptune or that I don't like him, but in reality that's not the case. I like Neptune's character, especially how he interacts with Sun, but considering how this fic is mostly seen from Jaune's perspective he's going to have a less than favorable outlook on the guy who just swooped in and stole the heart of his crush like it was nothing. However Jaune doesn't necessarily dislike Neptune as a person. As a love rival, definitely, but not as a person, which I tried to make clear here. He didn't try to humiliate or degrade Neptune in the fight, and he didn't boast about his win afterwards, nor did he do any damage to Neptune that he didn't have to in order to win the fight.
Writing Weiss's POV here was... a little tricky. I tried my best to stick to canon Weiss as much as possible while making certain deviations, such as her actually blushing and reacting to Jaune's flirts due to the fact that in this he's a lot more suave than he is in the actual show. I tried to show that while she admits to herself that Jaune's words and actions do get to her she refuses to acknowledge him because she fears he's like every other man who's just after her name and the power and wealth associated with it. As for why she does have feelings for Neptune... I didn't even try to mess with the why of it. I'm a guy, so girls are very confusing to me. All I did was simply role with the fact that she does like him and just work with that.
We also see just how deeply Jaune's feelings for Weiss go. I feel like that Jaune's feelings here actually run deeper than they do in the actual show, and I think that's because this new Jaune knows of the coming threat, which has made him cherish the ones he loves even more, and thus makes his romantic feelings for Weiss grow into something beyond simple puppy love. I'm not saying it's crossed the line into actual love or anything like that. It hasn't gone that far yet, but he is determined to let her know how he feels, even if he's afraid that she might actually hate him.
Cinder made a reappearance in this chapter, and she is cranking up the seduction! She made some serious moves on Jaune, and Talon unknowingly advised Jaune to fraternize with the enemy. The Gryphon means well of course, and if Cinder wasn't totally evil he'd have some very good points.
I know that in the actual show Blake has some major issues going on during all of this, but I just couldn't think of a way to bring them up here without it feeling awkward and forced. All of y'all should have seen all of volume 2 by now anyway (if you haven't what are you doing here? Go binge watch all of RWBY like right now. Your lord commands it) so all of you knows what happens with Blake and Yang talking some sense into her. In other words I really shouldn't have to cover that bit too much.
As always please follow and favorite if you haven't already. If you have a friend who likes RWBY and RWBY fanfictions then feel free to tell them about this story! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to tell me what you think of the story so far then feel free to leave a review or PM me! I love you all. BBBYYYYEEEEEEEEEEE!
