The Team
"Ugh! Worst day ever!" Young Ruby Rose groaned. She was laying in a crater caused by a Dust explosion. The explosion was caused by a poorly sealed container of Fire Dust, a crabby girl in white swinging it around, and a sneeze.
So, there she lay, in a crater created by a sneeze, bemoaning her fate.
"Are you okay?"
Opening her silver eyes, the girl saw a young man with light blonde hair.
"I think so," she said. When he offered a hand, she gratefully took it. He pulled her up with no visible effort.
"So, boom, huh?" He asked with a half grin.
"It wasn't my fault! That crabby girl was swinging around that jar of Dust and I just-" she sighed, "Boom."
The blonde stared for a moment then shrugged and gave another smile, "Think of it this way. If today sucked, tomorrow can only be better."
Ruby gave him a head tilt, "Isn't that kinda optimistic?"
"Yeah, guilty," he rubbed the back of his neck, hand pushing against the high tech choker he had on.
"Well, I like it. We're training to fight Grimm. Gotta stay positive," she held her hand out to him again, "Ruby Rose."
"Jaune Arc," he said, happy to make a new friend.
As they started walking towards the main building, Ruby reached behind herself and whipped out a red and black box thing. She pressed a button and it unfolded into a scythe.
"So, I've got this thing," she said, clearly proud of her weapon.
Jaune thought for a moment then held up his hands, "See these hands?" Thin, soft fingers. Delicate, like a pianist's fingers. "These are the most dangerous things on campus."
"Hrrk!" A strangled look crossed the girl's face, her cheeks puffing out.
"In fact, if I ever put my hands in my pockets, I'll be arrested for concealing deadly weapons."
That caused the dam to burst and Ruby began laughing uncontrollably. Jaune, knowing how ridiculous it sounded, chuckled as well.
"I have my family sword," he said, holding up the blade in question, "It's nothing fancy, but my great grandfather used it in the War."
After she got over her giggles, Ruby said, "I like it. Not a lot of people have an appreciation for the classics," she looked around, then said, "Is this the way to the Assembly Hall?"
"Yup. Although, we have, like, ten more minutes before everything starts," he looked at the wristband that matched the black choker with blue lights, "Yup. We'll be okay," then he turned to her, "Say, Ruby, you realize you're a little… little, right?"
The girl huffed, "I'm perfectly normal for my age!"
"What, fifteen?" He teased.
"Yes!" She glared back.
"Wow, really? You must be some kind of prodigy to come in early," he said.
"No! I'm nothing special! Normal girl, normal knees!"
Jaune lifted an eyebrow at her, then shrugged, "Whatever you say."
Shortly after, they made it to the Assembly Hall and things went along as normally told. Ruby had another meeting with Weiss that went only slightly better than the first, if only because there were less explosions. They moved onto the auditorium, set up their bed rolls, and Yang ogled the various male specimens on display.
A few weren't posing and showing off for the various attractive girls in attendance. Of those was Jaune Arc.. He simply unrolled his mat, lay down, and went to sleep.
The next morning, when attempting to reach his locker, he found two girls standing in front of it.
"Pardon me," he said politely. The two turned to look at him. The redhead with the green eyes gave him a cordial smile but seemed uninterested. The white haired girl had a far more venomous opinion of him.
"What?" She snapped at him.
"Just trying to find my gear. Pretty sure you two are blocking my locker," he said, still being polite, "If you could please stand aside-"
"Excuse me?! Do you know who it is you're so casually addressing?" The white haired girl barked at him, then, before he could answer, continued with, "This is Pyrrha Nikos!"
"Nice to meet you," Jaune said, holding out his hand to the redhead.
Weiss slapped his hand down, "She's the former top student at Sanctum Academy in Mistral!"
"Congratulations!" He said, holding out his hand again. Weiss slapped it back down.
"She won the Mistral Youth Tournament four years running!"
"That's quite the accomplishment, Miss," he held his hand out again. Weiss slapped it down a third time.
"She's on every box of Pumpkin Pete's cereal!"
Jaune's eyes widened, "That must mean you're famous!" He looked at her face again, "Were you in that new Spruce Willis movie?"
"Have you not been listening?!" The white haired girl almost screamed.
"Not really," he turned to Pyrrha, "It was nice meeting you, but I really do need to get into my locker now." He shouldered past a stunned Weiss Schnee. He had noticed that the redhead's smile had become more strained as the white haired girl continued to list her achievements. That smile became more genuine each time Jaune hadn't reacted. Both of these girls were seriously weird.
He grinned. Like he had any room to talk.
At the cliff near the Emerald Forest, Ozpin had just finished explaining the task, and how they would be gathering teammates.
"Any questions?"
Jaune lifted his hand, but was immediately ignored as the first student was launched over the forest. His hand slowly came back down.
One by one, the potential students were launched until only Jaune was left.
"Mister Arc, remember our warnings," the headmaster said in monotone.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't be a Grimm and attack people outside of sanctioned events," he said. That was apparently a satisfactory answer. He was launched into the forest without even a fare thee well.
Jaune Arc, monster in the shape of a man, was all but indestructible. Great falls barely even tickled.
Didn't change his shout of fear as he hurtled through the air, kicking his legs and flailing his arms. As he approached the tree line a spear flew towards him after a gunshot, snagged his hoodie, and nailed him to a tree.
He breathed heavily for a moment, then shouted, "Thank you!" He heard a distant 'I'm sorry!', but just smiled to himself. Whoever had thrown that spear had meant to help him. And they certainly did.
He double checked that he wasn't being watched and let a tentacle snake out from under his hoodie to grasp the trunk of the tree. That done, he pulled out the rifle spear and lowered himself to the ground. The tentacle quickly retracted.
He heard rustling to his right. He looked that way to see Weiss, glaring at him. After a moment, she whirled around and stalked off. If he wasn't mistaken, he heard Ruby's voice a second later.
"You came back!"
"Do not presume this to mean I like you!" The white haired girl snapped.
"So," he looked to his left and saw Pyrrha Nikos, "Looks like we're partners." She smiled.
"Looks like," He smiled back, "Pretty sure that Headmaster Ozpin said the relics were in the north." He looked up, then turned to face behind him, "That way, I think."
Pyrrha took the lead, taking her spear back from the blond. Jaune was diligently not staring at her back side. Too much, at least.
They soon enough found a cave. If his senses were equally enhanced in this form, Jaune might have been able to scent the old Deathstalker that lived in the cave. As it was, he could smell nothing but the forest and the slight traces of Pyrrha's perfume.
"Think it might be in there?" He asked his partner.
"This place is as good as any other," she said with a shrug, gesturing for him to lead the way. She made absolutely no effort to keep from staring at Jaune's ass as he entered the cave.
A minute or two later, they found a floating, golden… thing in the dark of the cave. Jaune grasped it.
Almost immediately it tried to lift him into the air, and the eight red eyes of the giant scorpion Grimm opened. It tried because, the moment he realized that it was a Grimm, Jaune let two thin tentacles come out of his pants through the legs to anchor him. From there he clenched his hands tighter onto what he now knew to be the stinger, and yanked down.
The poisonous point of the stinger stabbed into the head of the Deathstalker. Into and through. The golden stinger ended up stabbing into the stone floor of the cave.
"Hoo boy!" Jaune said as the Grimm began to disintegrate, "That scared the crap out of me!" He clapped his hands together to brush off some imaginary dust. "You okay?"
Pyrrha was just staring at him, mouth open.
"What?"
She shook her head for a moment, then looked at her partner with another polite, pleasant smile, "I was just surprised. Few people can kill an elder Deathstalker by hand."
Jaune, thankful for the darkness, blushed, "Yeah, I just… I'm kinda stronger than I look."
The girl let off a light chuckle, "Yes, I can see that." If there was a strained note in her words, the blond missed it.
He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit, and looked around, "Somehow, I don't think We'll find a relic here. Further North?"
"Indeed."
Fifteen minutes of walking later, the two came into a clearing surrounding a raised platform with several pedestals. On some of them were chess pieces.
Also, a familiar girl in red was reaching terminal velocity, aiming for the ground.
Jaune moved quickly and caught her, landing before the busty blonde he saw her talking to the day before.
"I believe this is yours," he said with a grin, looking her in the eyes. He was holding Ruby at the end of his arm, by the back of her shirt.
"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed. As soon as she was let go she embraced her sister.
"Hey," said the yellow eyed girl in black and white clothing, "I think that other girl is falling."
"Ah, she'll be fine!" Ruby said, brushing away the warning.
"Nope, she's falling," said a young man in green.
Jaune looked and moved again, catching her similarly to Ruby.
"What in the-?" It was the crabby white haired girl. Poor Ruby. "Unhand me this instant, you-gah!" He dropped her on her bum and she instantly sprang back to her feet with a glower. "What was that for?!"
"Hey, you're the one who said to unhand you, princess," he shrugged. She was cute, but way too demanding.
There was a loud screech and a shadow passed over them. The giant Nevermore was coming back for revenge.
Weiss pointed a finger at Jaune's face, "This is not over."
A second later, Nevermore feathers peppered the ground, one whizzing past Jaune's shoulder, close enough to cut open his hoodie.
"Hey!" He whined, "Screw you, bird brain!" He turned to the left, saw a nice sized boulder, and dug his fingers into it. To the shock of all watching, the young man ripped the massive stone out of the ground and threw it at the flying Grimm.
No. Not at. Through. It went through the Grimm and crashed down somewhere in the lands beyond Vale.
"Dibs!"
All eyes turned to the short stack with orange hair who was grinning maniacally.
"What?! That's not fair! I knew him first!" Ruby protested.
"Don't care. Dibs!" Nora, the orange headed menace was called, tossed him a rook piece, which he blinked oddly at.
"Are we sure this is it? Could be something like the eye contact thing, right?" Jaune asked.
"Eh, I'll talk the headmaster into it. He looks like a pancake guy," she grinned ear to ear.
Ruby pouted until Yang handed her a knight piece.
"Hey, at least ya got me, sis," she said to her younger sister.
As it would turn out, the pieces were indeed how teams were formed.
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long," the headmaster drawled, "The four of you retrieved the Knight relics. Together, you will be Team RWBY. Led by," he slurped his coffee, "Yang Xiao Long."
"Awesome!" The blonde in question hooted. Ruby hugged her in congratulations and Blake even waved a tiny flag with the words 'Go Yang' on them.
The only one who wasn't happy was Weiss. She had a twisted look on her face, like she'd sucked on a lemon.
Before she could make a scene, Headmaster Ozpin started listing the next team.
"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos. You all retrieved the Rook relics. You will form team JNPR. Lead by Nora Valkyrie."
"Woohoo!" The excitable girl raised her fists in the air. Ren clapped her shoulder with a smile. A lot of people assumed that Nora was a simpleton because of how she acted. Their team would be underestimated because of that. At least once. Probably only once.
Jaune clapped and cheered with the others. Nora was interesting, she'd make a cool leader. Thank god it wasn't him. Now all he had to worry about was keeping his secret, kicking ass, and not potentially eating his classmates.
Pyrrha also clapped politely, not sure what to make of this decision. They'd have to see how it turned out in the days to come.
The very next day was witness to some drama. Not on Team JNPR's part. They were getting along like a house on fire.
Nora had made it very simple, she'd sat them all down the night before and said, "Listen. I'm leader now, and that means I'm responsible for all of you. If I'm doing something wrong, if you can do something better, if you have a strategy, let me know. I want us to work out like a second family," she gave Ren a significant look and he gave her a rare smile, "I hope you will work with me."
Jaune gave a half sad smile. He liked the sound of that. A family that actually cared? Sounded like heaven.
"I don't know if it'll be of any use, but I'm pretty good at strategy games," the blond said, rubbing his neck, careful not to jostle his choker.
"What kind of games?" Ren asked.
"Oh, nothing too weird. Grimm Ambition, Remnant: the Game, Chess, a few others," he gave another half smile.
"Grimm Ambition? Aren't their bi-anual tournaments for that?" Pyrrha said.
"Ha. Yeah. I won a couple of those, nothing big," he realized he was getting stares, "What?"
"Grimm Ambition is one of the hardest strategy games to master. The only person not to end a tournament in a double knockout was StArcRealities…" he trailed off as he thought about the notorious screen name of the champion, "It was you!" Ren surged to his feet, pointing at Jaune.
Jaune leaned away from the finger pointing at him, "Uh, yeah. That was me."
"You won! Twice!" Ren said, "Why did you quit?"
The blond saw no reason to lie on someone else's behalf, especially someone who was no longer family, "The man that used to be my father said it was giving me 'delusions of adequacy.' He took the winnings and deleted my account."
There was silence for a moment, then Nora said, "What an ass."
Jaune shrugged, "He's not relevant anymore. He was removed as an Arc. His name isn't worth remembering and his deeds are scorned."
The other three gave that the solemnity it deserved.
"Uh, my revelation is not nearly so dramatic," Pyrrha said, "but I'm sure it will also be useful," she held out her hand and several pens and a suitcase lifted into the air, "My Semblance allows me to control magnetic fields and manipulate most metals."
Nora clapped once, "Oh, that is awesome. Speaking of Semblances, I get stronger when I'm electrocuted. Renny can make a person invisible to the Grimm and mutes strong emotions when necessary." They then turned to Jaune, who was tapping on his scroll. A moment later he received a reply.
"Sorry. I had to clear this with the headmaster first," he told them, giving a nervous smile, "If you want me off your team, or you want to switch partners," he addressed the second part to Pyrrha, "I'll understand. So, about four months ago, a weird Grimm Wasp crawled down my throat, and turned me into a monster," before any of them could express doubt, he transformed everything but his head. "That's why I'm so strong. Aura cuts through me pretty easily, but my only weakness is my head. I don't really have internal organs anymore." He let tentacles form and used them to fluff a pillow and gently put it back.
Nora was on the verge of hyperventilating. She stood to her feet and shouted, "That's. So. Cool!"
Ren appeared wary, but open to seeing how this played out.
Pyrrha was red as a tomato and frozen in place. No one noticed, thankfully. She was definitely going to have to hide those files on her scroll.
"So, yeah. That's my big reveal. Don't suppose you could keep a lid on this, please?" He transformed back, rubbing his neck.
"No problem, Jaune-Jaune! It will be our team secret!" Nora patted him on the back.
So, all that was to emphasize that it was not team JNPR that was at the center of drama the next morning. Not even when they woke up to find Jaune suspended in the air by his tentacles, one in each corner of the room.
With Nora at the helm, they woke up in a reasonable amount of time, got ready, and made it to class.
A few minutes after team JNPR walked in, so too did Weiss. After the bell rang, the rest of RWBY all but fell through the door. The heiress turned her nose up at the display.
Luckily for the other three, Professor Port was particularly forgiving on that first day. Weiss, however, was not.
Watching her leader and her partner slack off during class was close to giving her fits.
"Who here thinks they have what it takes to be a full fledged Huntsman or Huntress?" Professor Port asked, his thick mustache twitching in anticipation.
Almost before he completed that question, Weiss shot to her feet, slamming her palms on the desk in front of her, "I do!"
"Wonderful! Grab your weapon and prepare to demonstrate it!" He gave a single, thunderous clap. As soon as Weiss returned, the man revealed that the cage next to his desk contained a Boar Grimm, called a Boarbatusk. "Do your best, Miss Schnee." He pulled the latch and the cage swung open.
"Go, Weiss!" Yang shouted. Blake held up another tiny flag with Weiss' face on it, but didn't look up from her book.
"It's weakest on-" Ruby tried to give some advice.
"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss interrupted, glaring at the younger girl.
That moment of inattention was enough for the Grimm to curl up and roll at the white haired girl. She barely dodged. She recovered in time to make a weak attack.
In the students watching, Jaune noticed that Yang's attitude had changed drastically. She wasn't outright glaring at Weiss, but she wasn't being supportive. She was judging. This? This was gonna be bad.
Weiss dodged another attack. Ruby squeaked, thought about shouting words of encouragement, but thought better of it. Weiss got her rapier locked in the tusk of the Grimm. It was torn from her grip and thrown across the room. Just as she was about to dart over and grab it, Yang spoke.
The tone, the cold steel in her voice, made the heiress shiver when Yang said, "Weiss. Team meeting."
Ruby's gasp of, "Oh no!" did not help things.
A few moments later, the Boarbatusk hit a wall, knocking itself over. After retrieving her weapon, Weiss struck, stabbing it through the belly. The Grimm died, the class cheered. Weiss looked at her team leader and, for the first time since leaving home, felt dread.
As class ended, Team RWBY remained behind. Ruby would later tell Jaune what happened.
"What is it, Xiao Lo-" Weiss began with a sneer, but a slap stopped her. She was shocked for a moment, then grew angry. "Who do you-" another slap.
"Yang-" Ruby tried. The blonde held up a finger at her.
"Just a minute, Rubes. Dealing with a problem," she stared coldly at the Schnee girl, "Let me make this perfectly clear. You will address me with respect."
"Why should-" another slap. Weiss held the side of her face with a hiss of pain.
"I am your team leader. You don't have to like me, but you will respect me."
Weiss opened her mouth, Yang raised her hand. She closed her mouth with a click.
Ruby came to Weiss' side, "It'll be okay, I promise. Yang is really nice," she glared at Yang, who smiled at her younger sister, "Most of the time."
Weiss was about to snark something at the younger girl, but saw Yang's hand raising again.
Instead, she said, "Thank you, Ruby."
"Rule number two," the blonde said, "Ruby is my little sister. I will protect her as best I can while still letting her grow. Even if that means protecting her from her own partner," she paused, looking the smaller teen in the eye, "Do we have an understanding?" She held out a hand to the white haired girl.
Weiss considered the hand before her, and the young woman it was attached to. It sparked a memory of her own older sister. When she'd dismantled a soldier under her command for insubordination. Apparently he'd said something disparaging about Weiss, though Winter would never say what.
"I… apologize for my disrespect," Weiss said, "I have excuses, but they are inadequate in the face of my petulance."
For the first time since this team meeting started, Yang looked like herself, "Accepted. Let's go get lunch."
For the next couple of days, it was a little tense with Team RWBY. Luckily, Yang was a damned bull. She refused to act as anything except herself, regardless of others opinions. After those two days, they began to settle into a more relaxed routine.
Weiss learned that being bitchy wasn't acceptable, but nagging them about being on time and doing homework was fine. She learned not to snipe at Ruby about every little thing and how to give constructive criticism.
Blake, surprisingly, was the one most affected by Yang's method of leadership.
Even in his human shape, Jaune could smell that sweet and savory scent of her fear of Yang. He didn't know that that first day reminded her so strongly of her former partner.
Then, when she saw Yang proceed to treat Weiss with a firm, but unrelentingly fair hand, it turned to confusion. Even when Weiss started getting snippy, she never laid another hand on the heiress. Just said her name in what was quickly dubbed 'The Voice.'
Blake wasn't sure how to handle it. Yang was harsh, but fair. She took her leadership role surprisingly seriously.
If only that was the only dark spot in the school.
"Ow!"
"Ha! They're actually real!" This was followed by the chuckles of four teens, the largest of them sporting auburn hair. This was Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester.
The four of them were tormenting a quiet Faunus girl from the second year.
"Ugh!" Weiss groaned, "People like him are the reason for such hostilities between Humans and Faunus."
"And what are your feelings on the matter," Blake asked, suddenly interested.
"I know my family's reputation, but my answer is two fold. After seeing so many innocent people killed, family members and workers alike, I am no supporter of the current White Fang. However," she rushed in to say when Blake began to open her mouth, "Every person, regardless of race, gender, or station deserves to live unmolested by others for things as inconsequential as the circumstances of their birth," she looked over at Cardin tugging the girl's ear again, "I do wish someone would stop him, though."
"Okay," Jaune stood up, getting his team and RWBY to balk at him.
"Wha-? Arc, wait-!"
Too late, the young monster in the shape of a teen was approaching team CRDL.
"What do you think Jaune-Jaune is gonna do?" Nora asked Ren and Pyrrha. Ren did not answer. This would be, in his eyes, a test for Jaune, to see if he was more monster than man.
Pyrrha just shook her head, "I don't know, but if Initiation is anything to go by, something… noticeable."
Indeed.
Jaune walked up to CRDL and…
Kept walking. Not around, not between. Through.
All four teens were bowled over by the Arc son.
"Hey!" Cardin shouted at him, getting back to his feet, "What's your problem?!"
Jaune blinked in confusion, looked left and right then pointed at himself, asking, "Who, me?"
"Yeah, you!" Dove Bronzewing growled from Cardin's left.
"Sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I was just going to grab another fork. Guess I didn't see you guys."
"How the hell-?!"
"Honestly, if you guys were stronger, I'd have probably sensed you and swerved, but you're just…" he shrugged and tilted one hand side to side.
That got their full attention.
"You callin' us weak?" Cardin said in a dangerous tone.
"What? No! That would be rude," Jaune gave a thoughtful frown, "I mean, I'm pretty sure anyone on my team could take you, but that doesn't mean you're weak. Below average, but not weak."
"That's it!" The auburn haired teen stalked forward, grabbed Jaune by the front of his uniform and lifted him up.
Well, he tried. No one noticed it when several thread thin tentacles snaked out of his pants and grasped the floor. Cardin pulled, failed, tried harder, failed still, then put everything he had into it. He grunted and groaned, huffed and puffed, strained and stressed. He barely lifted Jaune an inch off the floor.
He let go and bent over, hands on his knees, and breathed raggedly, sweat dripping off his face.
"How heavy are you?!" The bigger teen demanded.
"About one sixty, with my armor on. Why?"
Cardin glared at him, stood to his full height, and said to his team, "Let's go. This freak is messing with us."
After they left, Jaune shrugged and continued along his merry way, grabbing the fork he had mentioned before. He winked at the second year girl as he went back to his table.
Actually, being at Beacon, having a team that supported him, having friends that didn't expect him to be anything but him? All that? Best time of his life. Felt like he was surrounded by Sapphron and her support on all sides.
He could get used to that.