Beacon's cafeteria was buzzing with the sound of hushed whispers and conspicuous murmurs.
Weiss was not normally someone who cared for the gossip that could spread around Beacon like a wildfire, unless of course it pertained to her. This however was different, as it clearly wasn't about her yet was somehow enough to get everyone in the school in a tizzy apparently.
"What did we just walk into?" Ruby blurted, looking nervous as she surveyed the room. Yang shrugged unhelpfully whilst Blake continued to stare out with a critical eye, her bow twitching like there was a rat inside.
Weiss adored Ratatouille ever since she had been forced to watch it by Yang and Ruby, alongside a plethora of other animated films Weiss had not been allowed to watch as a child. It didn't explain the unusual behaviour of Blake's bow, but the thought of her favourite film combined with the unusually unusual behaviour of her fellow students distracted her enough to forget about it.
"Probably some false rumour is gaining traction, or an important piece of news we are not yet aware of." Weiss told Ruby after realising the rest of her teammates weren't going to answer their young leader's question.
"I suppose we should find Team JNPR." Blake said quietly, a strained look on her face that suggested she was in some sort of pain. "They might know what's going on. I'll check the library!"
With that their usually aloof and mysterious teammate quickly fled from the cafeteria, clearly not caring about the odd looks her now abandoned team gave her as she hastily ran away.
"Well that was…that." Yang said, before shrugging and nudging her little sister forwards. "You guys find JNPR and see if they know anything. I'll check up on Blakey."
With that the fantastic four became the tremendous two, and Ruby just gave Weiss a confused look at the speed in which their team had been halved.
Weiss took a page from Xiao-Long's book and shrugged before stepping forwards in the direction of their usual spot at the cafeteria, where they would eat alongside Team JNPR and shenanigans would ensue.
The most irritating part was the fact Jaune Arc had yet to stop his attempt at dating her, despite the increasing harshness with which she rejected him. The boy was stubborn, and not in a good way.
"Hey Ruby!" Jaune cheered, waving them over and giving her a wink that made her physically recoil as if she had stepped in dog faeces. "Snow Angel."
"I will skewer you with Myrtenaster." Weiss warned, face deadly serious and before Jaune could speak up again and earn himself a painful trip to the infirmary, Ruby spoke up.
"Hey Jaune! And Juniper!" Ruby smiled, giving a quick, nervous wave that Nora returned. "Do you guys know why everyone's so…noisy today?"
"Haven't you heard?!" Nora gasped, spinning around as she faced them with hands on her knees and leaning forwards.
"Nope!" Ruby replied, and Nora grinned and stroked her chin in what Weiss could only assume was an attempt to mimic a wise elder.
"You see, long ago-"
"Professor Ozpin has announced a treasure hunt." Ren interjected before Nora's inevitable long winded and incredibly false tale began in earnest. Weiss gave him a grateful look when Nora turned to berate him for ruining her story.
"A treasure hunt?" Ruby asked, completely ignoring the one-sided argument as Nora barked angrily and Ren blinked calmly.
"A treasure hunt." Jaune nodded. "The actual treasure is a mystery, but apparently it's important enough that Ozpin didn't even tell Professor Goodwitch!"
"That would explain why the Professor seemed so angry during combat class yesterday." Pyrrha interjected, and Weiss nodded at the comment. It made sense, especially considering the fact that Professor Goodwitch had been clearly angry, what with her stepping into the ring herself and soloing every first year team under the guise of teaching them.
It had been a massacre. A one-sided massacre.
"We need to find it!" Weiss proclaimed, ignoring the shiver that went down her spine at the memory of Goodwitch and her crop. "If we do then Goodwitch will calm down and everyone will stop acting like someone important just died."
"I don't know Weiss…" Ruby replied, trailing off when her partner shot her a betrayed look. "If this thing made Goodwitch angry are you sure we want to be the ones that find it?"
"That's a good point Ruby." Pyrrha said politely. "Besides, I have to meet an old friend in Vale. They're only staying over for the weekend and I intend to make the most of their time here."
"Pancakes!" Nora added, a content look on her face as a long suffering Ren massaged her shoulders as compensation for betraying her. More like Ren had tired of her yelling at him and agreed to do anything so long it shut her up.
"But you could eat pancakes then help me-"
"Pan-cakes!" Nora crowed, before leaning back with shut eyes and purring like a cat as Ren worked at the kinks in her shoulders.
"I'll help!"
"Ruby? Are you seriously saying you don't want to lead Team RWBY on a treasure hunt?"
"I'll help!"
"Yes Weiss. Even team bonding isn't worth Goodwitch's wrath."
"I said I'll help!"
"Ruby, I will do your homework for you for a week."
"Oh come on!"
"No deal Weiss. I need to catch up on my studies and stuff since I got here early, but I appreciate the offer. Besides, you already have someone to team up with."
"Ruby! Don't walk away from me in the middle of a conversation!"
"Snow Angel? I'll help. Let me help! I swear as an Arc if you let me help we'll find the treasure!"
"Sorry Weiss, studying to do and stuff. Have fun with Jaune!"
With that, her team leader abandoned her, speeding off with an all too smug look on her face.
If the insufferable brat thought this would make Weiss less forceful in making the leader of RWBY work harder to catch up on any missing education due to her unique circumstances, then she had another thing coming.
Weiss huffed before stomping away. She still had Yang and Blake.
"Seriously? What did I do?" The blonde boy who would not be named lest one of her blood vessels burst whined as she stomped away.
Weiss harrumphed victoriously, maybe now the boy would know to stop his foolish, stupid and infantile attempts to chase her skirt.
"Nope."
"Please?"
"Nope."
"Pretty please?"
"Nope-Nope."
"Xiao-Long!"
"Yes Weiss-cream?"
"Assist me in finding Professor Ozpin's treasure!"
"Let me think about-Nope!"
Weiss sighed as her partner's sister sauntered off in the direction of Beacon's training rooms, hair as wild as ever and the tight-fitting gym wear clearly outlining her ridiculously disproportionate body.
…Thank the gods she hadn't said that out loud. Xiao-Long may be Xiao-Long, but Weiss was smart enough to know it was best not to anger the dragon.
"Pretty please with a cherry on top!" She called out after Yang desperately, the blonde not even turning around or stopping to reject her.
"Nope-Nope with sugar and spice!" Yang retorted, falling to a stop as Jaune ran around a nearby corner and nearly bowled into her. "Woah their lady killer! You might've hurt yourself if you'd ran into me. What's the hurry?"
"I…heard…Weiss…" Jaune panted, swaying slightly from how suddenly he'd been moving to how suddenly he'd stopped. "Wanted to help…her."
Weiss rolled her eyes, giving the boy a critical look from over Yang's shoulder. With his blonde hair, panting and stubborn 'loyalty' he seemed more like a golden retriever than a human.
"Awww." Yang cooed, pinching Arc's flushed cheeks. "That's adorable! Whadya say Weiss-cream? Gonna let lady killer here help you on your quest?"
Weiss glared at them both as Yang turned around and shook her head.
"I would rather have help from Cardin Winchester and his goons." Weiss snapped harshly. "They'd at least be useful in helping me carry whatever the treasure is."
A look of hurt spread on Arc's face and Yang shot her an angry look, and Weiss immediately felt a little bit guilty. Saying she'd rather spend time with Arc's former tormenter wasn't the most sensitive thing she could've said.
" Wow ." Yang snorted. "Really trying to prove us right for calling you Ice Queen huh?"
Weiss swallowed slightly and stared at the ground, the critical look on Yang's face and Arc's hurt puppy act too much for her to stand her ground against.
"Come with me Jaune." Yang said suddenly, turning back to Arc, who blinked as he looked down and realised their proximity to one another. "I'll teach you some kickass moves and then we can grab a bite at the cafeteria, or Vale if the Bullheads are still going."
Weiss blinked and gaped as she watched Yang place a hand against Arc's chest, leaning forward so they were practically chest to chest. What the…
"Sorry Yang." Jaune replied, face flushed as he stepped back nervously. "Maybe another time? I already promised Weiss I'd help her find Ozpin's treasure thing."
Weiss blinked again and swallowed as Yang turned around, giving her an indescribable look that seemed pointed and annoyed. Eventually her blonde teammate shook her head and turned back to Jaune, patting his shoulder before sliding past him.
"Coolio, we can always hang out another time, lady killer. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
With that Yang sauntered off towards the training room, leaving Weiss and Arc facing one another awkwardly.
"I'm sorry-"
"I know where-"
"Sorry for interrupting you…" They said at the same time, before Arc smiled happily, honestly and only a little bit handomsely at her and gestured towards her. "Ladies first."
Weiss swallowed and hid her hands behind her back, where she clasped them together and squeezed to better force out the words struggling out of her.
"I'm sorry for what I said. You were only trying to offer your support and I acted harshly and out of turn. I apologise."
"It's fine Weiss." Jaune replied, shifting nervously on his feet. "I know I can be…annoying, especially because I'm being so stubborn but…I only want to make you happy."
Another spell of awkward silence fell over them before Jaune coughed and gave a smile of false bravado. It was far more uglier than the honest one he'd given her just moments earlier.
"So, I have information as to where the treasure is and would like to offer my assistance in your quest fair maiden." Jaune bowed, and she physically resisted the urge to slap him. "Can I help you Snow Angel?"
"Only if you stop calling me Snow Angel." Weiss replied bluntly, and Jaune whooped before punching the air with a happy laugh. Weiss watched the amusing display as he realised he'd just done that in front of her and his face turned cherry red.
"You…uh…didn't see that."
"Oh I definitely did."
"Please don't tell anyone!"
"Hmmmmm. Let me think about that."
"Pretty please?"
"Hmmmm."
"So you won't tell anyone right?"
"Hmmmmm."
"Right?"
Weiss couldn't stop the small smile that spread across her face. Fortunately Arc didn't notice.
"Your clue was that it was somewhere in the Emerald Forest?"
"Yes."
Weiss gaped at the idiot in front of her. She didn't really know why she expected more from him, but this was just…beyond idiocy.
"A forest filled with Grimm that takes hours to traverse and there are only two of us." Weiss said slowly, watching his face fall with the realisation. "Please tell me you have another clue or hint or something ."
"Well, apparently it's in a cave somewhere in there, so if we ask Professor Peach she might know. She spends most of her time in the Emerald Forest afterall." Arc replied after a moment's thought, and Weiss nodded in agreement, caught off guard by the fact the plan actually sounded viable.
"Very well. Let's find Professor Peach." Weiss ordered, turning around and trusting him to follow along behind her.
"Have you ever actually had a class with her? Professor Peach I mean." Arc asked as he walked alongside her, matching her brisk pace with annoying ease due to his long legs. "I don't think I've ever actually had a lesson with her before but I know who she is and stuff."
Weiss frowned as she pondered the question. True enough, she couldn't remember whether she had actually been taught by the illusive Professor Peach before, even if she knew that they'd done tasks for her, like fetching sap in the Forever Fall Forest.
"I don't believe she has taught us yet either." Weiss answered eventually. "I think that she only teaches upper years about survivalist skills and whatnot."
She shuddered at the thought of having to rough it out in the wild. It wasn't necessarily the thought of creepy crawlies and limitations to how well she could care for her health and hygiene, but rather the knowledge she'd be stuck with Xiao-Long, Ruby, and Blake for an indeterminate amount of time with no gossip to entertain Xiao-Long, no cookies to distract Ruby and likely no smut to entertain Blake, meaning Weiss would have to deal with bored, sugar low and in withdrawal teammates.
"Did you hear that?" Arc asked suddenly, breaking her from her distracting, nightmarish thoughts. Weiss listened for a moment, before shaking her head and giving him a funny look.
"What did you think you heard?" Weiss asked sceptically, idly wondering if he'd gone mad.
"It sounded like…crying." Arc replied, frowning before stepping away to the right. "Over here."
"Arc?" Weiss demanded, not receiving a reply from the blonde as he turned around a corner. Weiss waited for a few moments, before she heard a yelp and hushed conversation. With a sigh, she stepped forward to apologise to whoever Arc had wronged.
"...I don't want to bother you." A quiet, feminine voice whispered, so quiet Weiss almost didn't hear it. She slowed to a stop as her curiosity rose.
"You're not bothering me at all. Is it Cardin again?"
"I…Please don't. Nothing you can say will make it better."
"What about something I do? Cardin owes me after I saved him from that Ursa at Forever Fall, I can convince him to leave you alone."
"So he can bully some other faunus? Someone who might not be able to put up with what he puts them through?"
"And you can?"
"I may be crying Jaune but at least I'm not contemplating suicide. I'm used to this. I've been treated like a freak all my life. My dad lost business after he started dating my mom and once I was born we were practically driven out of our old village."
"It's not right."
"It's not. But you know that and so do the majority of humans. I just wished the White Fang would stop stealing Dust and doing all the bad stuff they do. They say they want equal rights, but all they are doing is alienating faunus by creating division between us and humans. The last thing we all need is more bad blood."
"Yeah. A few years back, Ansel was attacked by some faunus supremacist lunatic with connections to the White Fang. He stabbed a pregnant human who was carrying a faunus baby, ranting on and on about it being a half-breed. The militia had to kill him because he wouldn't surrender but he'd injured thirteen other people. Everything was…darker after that. Everyone was scared and upset and angry. A bunch of my friends had to pull out of school because they were being harassed for being faunus by parents and other kids on the way home from school. I did what I could to try and help but…some people just wouldn't change and others left Ansel altogether."
"You tried at least. That's more than what can be said for others, and you're still trying now to help me. You're a good person Jaune."
"Not as good as you Velv. By the way, is the Anti-Winchester Club still going on tomorrow?"
"Yeah, Jade found a new room. I think it's room 1A in B Wing. Stupid Chess club taking our room. Who even plays that nowadays?"
Weiss felt herself blush slightly, having been the one to approach Professor Goodwitch about starting a chess club to try and find like-minded individuals and improve her school record.
"Eh. To each their own. I gotta run, but if you need me for anything just call and I'll come running back."
"You are such a dork, Jaune. See ya."
"See ya!"
Weiss' eyes widened and she quickly backed away and whistled innocently, staring at a nearby bush whilst crossing her arms to make it seem like she'd been impatiently waiting rather than eavesdropping.
"Sorry, did I make you wait long?" Jaune asked, an apologetic look on his face as he approached her.
"Yes." Weiss replied, though it lacked her usual bite. "Everything okay?"
"Never better when I'm with you." Jaune replied, thought without the usual forced wink or forced bravado. It was honest, like it had just naturally slipped out.
Despite herself, she felt her face flush.
"Weiss."
"Jaune."
They stood next to one another, clothes scuffed, knees dirty and faces lined with sweat. Her hair was frazzled and his hair was somehow more unkempt than usual.
A two hour journey through a Grimm infested forest following the instructions of a woman who had been eager to get rid of them so she could conduct some sort of test.
There had been high points. Low points. Middling points.
Pain. Joy. Laughter. Conflict.
But it had all been worth it.
They had found the cave, a grey, damp thing tucked into the side of a rolling hill that masked perfectly into the flat forest from a distance. The cave itself was barely wider than Weiss' room, but smack dab in the middle of it was a stone altar with an ancient looking chest on it.
If Weiss didn't know that the Headmaster had put it there, she would have assumed she and Jaune had stumbled across some sort of ancient relic or catacomb.
"We did it." Jaune whispered, voice filled with barely restrained glee. "We survived!"
Weiss smiled and nodded, feeling her sore muscles relax at the simple if not reassuring words. She could almost kiss the blonde, brave idiot next to her if she wanted to, which she kind of-
Tiredness. Dizziness. Delusion. Weiss must have a concussion. That explained it.
Or she was finally reciprocating Jaune's feelings.
At least her tired, sweaty state explained the redness of her cheeks, but not wanting to tempt fate further she stepped forwards and nudged the treasure chest with her finger. When nothing happened, no poison dart or rolling border, she gestured Jaune forwards until together, they prized open the wooden box to reveal the treasure within.
"What the actual fu-" Weiss blurted. Jaune said nothing, though his expression was adorably confused.
"Congratulations." A calm voice said suddenly, making them jump. They turned and saw Headmaster Ozpin, projected into being from a previously hidden scroll embedded in the wall. "Jaune Arc and Weiss Schnee, you have found the greatest treasure I have ever known."
"Professor…" Weiss said carefully, trying to think of a polite way to express her sheer confusion and vehement hatred if this actually was her prize for all she had gone through.
"It's a mirror." Jaune said bluntly, making the old Headmaster chuckle.
"What's within the treasure chest is indeed a mirror." Ozpin smiled. "Look closely into it."
They did so, hoping and praying that there was something they had noticed, some clue or precious gem or key or something!
Instead, all they saw was their dirty, tired faces.
"I see a mirror and our faces reflected on it." Weiss said, and she heard Ozpin chuckle again.
"That's right. Because the real treasure was the friends you made along the way."
Something snapped inside her then. Her eye twitched violently and her hand curled towards Myrtenaster. Jaune did the same, except for Crocea Mors.
"Were you expecting something else?" The Headmaster asked in a clearly faux innocent tone. "I wonder why I decided to use a scroll to reveal the treasure rather than appear there in person? Honestly I didn't expect anyone would fall for this, especially considering the date."
"April first…" Weiss gasped, horror dawning.
"Oh my god…" Jaune sighed, face-palming as the Headmaster chuckled behind them.
"Stay there. I'll send a Bullhead to pick you two up and as compensation for sending you on a wild goose chase he will be bringing snacks, hot chocolate and anti-motion sickness pills for Mister Arc." The Headmaster said. "Furthermore I won't tell anyone except for Beacon's staff you two actually fell for my little prank."
With that the Headmaster disappeared. An awkward silence enveloped them, only made further awkward by the rage and shame they still felt.
"So…" Jaune said suddenly. "Wanna watch a movie on my scroll whilst we wait for our lift?"
"Sure." Weiss replied quickly, needing any distraction from the humiliation and impotent rage she felt. "Do you even have connection out here?"
"Don't need to, I have a bunch of Spruce Willis movies downloaded onto my phone." Jaune replied, sitting down on a moss covered rock and patting the space next to him.
Weiss glanced at the mossy rock for a moment, before she decided on a better accommodation for her.
"What-!" Jaune gasped as she plopped herself on his lap, wiggling to get comfortable before leaning back and pressing the back of her head against his chest, feeling his chin tucked against the top of her head.
"Wouldn't expect our first movie to be like this, did you?" Weiss asked, and the fingers that had been tapping away at his scroll froze for a moment.
"First?" He asked, a surge of hope filling his voice. "As in the first of many?"
"Depends on the movie you show me." Weiss teased.
As Jaune devolved into ramblings over which 'masterpiece of cinema' they would watch, Weiss closed her eyes and leaned back, enjoying the warmth of Jaune against her and the rumbling emerging from his chest as he spoke.
A content sigh escaped her. She'd had worse April fools days before.
None had been better though.
