Chapter 4: Back to School
(Beacon Mess Hall, Breakfast, Monday)
The first day of his second year at Beacon, and Cardin Winchester could barely keep his eyes open. If you asked him why, he would just tell you that he "slept like shit."
The actual reason was heartbreaking.
After he and his team had overheard Jaune doing his secret midnight training, Cardin had spent two hours, two bloody hours, writing a text message to Jaune, to tell him that Cardin had heard what he was doing, and that if Jaune needed to talk, he was there.
He hadn't been able to get it quite right, though. So he didn't send it.
Now, if you looked at team CRDL, you would assume that it was just four interchangeable meatheads, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Sky Lark was the team joker, "Hype Man", as he called it, he had developed a sixth sense for when his teammates needed cheering up. Like right now.
Russell Thrush had become the big brother of the team, always the first to lend a kind-for-him word or a listening ear. Or a shoulder to cry on, not that any of them would admit to that. Which was why he was off getting coffee for everyone.
Ever since team CRDL's transformation from bullies to upstanding members of society, Dove Bronzewing had become the voice of reason for the team. As such, he could tell whenever any of his teammates were about to do something stupid. Cardin would start tapping, his finger, a pencil, anything really. Which he was doing right now.
"Cardin." Dove said.
Cardin winced. He was doing it again. "Sorry, my mind's somewhere else."
That was putting it lightly.
Luckily, Russell chose that moment to make an appearance. "Alright, boys, Coffee's hot!"
Sky looked at him forlornly. He forgot again, didn't he?
"Don't worry, Sky. I didn't forget this time. Hot Chocolate with peppermint." Russell said apologetically. No one wanted to give caffeine to Sky, it invariably led to disaster.
"Dove, decaf, two sugars." The dagger wielder said, handing Dove his cup of salvation. Dove nodded his thanks.
"Aaaand Cardin, dark and bitter as your soul." Sky cut in.
At least it got a laugh out of him. "Heh, I mean, if you're gonna call me out..." Cardin joked back as he drank his coffee.
Dove glanced at Cardin. He could still see it in his leader's eyes. He was going to do something stupid. "Cardin."
Gonna force it, Dove? Fine. "I have to talk to him, Dove. He's going to get himself killed if he keeps pushing himself like this."
Sky suddenly became very interested in his scroll, say what you will about him, but he knew when to butt out.
Russell sighed, "Look, man, I know you're gonna do what you're gonna do. Just be smart about it. Talk to him alone, don't try to tell Weiss or his team first. Just you and him. Otherwise he'll get embarrassed and clam up."
Cardin nodded. "Right. No time to worry about that now, boys. We've got Dust Studies first, and we have to actually set an example for once."
Cardin chanced a glance over at the RWBY/JNR table to see Jaune trying to fight off Ruby who was trying to geek out over Jaune's weapon for some reason.
Huh, guess he got some upgrades.
Jaune, get your head on straight. You're no use to your friends dead.
(Beacon Academy, Dust Studies)
For the first time in his academic career, Jaune Arc was actually paying attention in Dust Studies. Professor Peach was going over the topics that they would be covering over the term.
Basic dust combinations, advanced dust types, medical uses of dust...
One of the other students made a comment about how they couldn't see how gravity dust could be used for fighting Grimm. Jaune groaned, that idiot had sealed their fate.
Rule number one of Dust Studies at Beacon Academy, never under any circumstances, challenge Professor Peach about the possible usages of dust.
"Pick any student in here, and I will tell you how they could use gravity dust in combat." Professor Peach challenged.
The guy that had challenged the professor blinked, then broke out into a toothy grin. "Jaune Arc."
His partner groaned. "You idiot. You know who he's dating right?"
Weiss facepalmed.
Professor Peach turned to Jaune, "How about it, Mr. Arc? How do you think that you could use gravity dust?"
Jaune frowned. Typical Professor Peach, she was a firm believer that the best teachers were other students. Jaune flipped through his textbook. He didn't know much about gravity dust. He knew it could suspend things in midair, and could momentarily reverse gravity.
"Well, definitely not in my sword. Wind and lightning work perfectly fine there, anyways." Jaune immediately knew that he had said too much. When Professor Peach got that spark in her eyes, you knew that she was going to call on you again to explain that thing you just said.
Jaune continued, "I suppose I could use it in my shield. A quick burst of gravity dust to disrupt opponents after I block? Or for an actual landing strategy."
"Perfect, Mr. Arc, exactly what I would have said." Professor Peach said. "Now, could you elaborate on what you meant by the dust types you use in your sword? I thought you didn't use dust."
Every head turned and looked at him.
"Uh, I use dust now?"
Jaune was saved from further interrogation by the bell.
As everyone hurried out to their next class, Professor Peach called after them, "Read chapters 1 and 2 in your textbooks and be ready to discuss them!"
Jaune sighed in relief, he had hoped that he would be able to keep his upgrades under wraps until combat class. Maybe he wanted to show off a little bit.
Little did he know, that he would get more opportunities than he wanted.
(Beacon Academy, Grimm Studies, Wednesday)
"Well, students," Professor Port thundered, "Welcome to your second year of Grimm Studies! Today, I am going to do something that you all probably never thought I would ever do!"
For once Peter Port had his class on the edge of their seats.
He turned to the viewscreen behind him, and continued, "You see, the first years didn't kill the usual number of Grimm during initiation, so the population in the Emerald Forest is uncomfortably high."
"So, we get a workout." Cardin blurted.
"Precisely, Mr. Winchester. You will deploy in teams, to equidistant points in the forest. I will be joining team JNR to-"
Jaune cut him off, "We don't need you to do that, Professor."
You could hear a pin drop in that classroom. Everyone collectively held their breath, as far as they were concerned, Professor Port was trying to defuse a bomb with a sledgehammer.
Ren cleared his throat, "What Jaune means to say is that if you come with us, you'll upset our new strategy for missions like this."
Port raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me."
Jaune nodded, "Sure, first off, we use Ren's semblance. He can mask the emotions of anyone he can touch directly. This'll make us invisible to the Grimm, until Nora gets impatient and starts smashing."
Nora grinned, "You know, he's not wrong."
"That's all well and good, Mr. Arc, but why does that mean you will refuse a fourth person?" Port challenged.
"Ren only has two hands."
The tension in the room deflated immediately, and everyone unleashed all manner of laughter, from Weiss's giggle to Cardin's belly laugh.
After the laughter had died down, Port spoke again, "Be that as it may, Mr. Arc, you are still considered undermanned, as insensitive as it may sound."
"Professor, do you trust us?" Jaune asked.
At this, poor Port got flustered, "What? Of course I do! I wouldn't be willing to go with you if I didn't."
"Then we need you to trust that we can do this on our own." Ren stated, Nora nodded along with him.
Port turned back to the class, "Bullheads leave in thirty minutes, good hunting, students!"
Cardin raised his hand, "Sir, what was the thing you were going to do that we thought you would never do?"
Port chuckled. "I'm going to shut up."
(Emerald Forest, 37 minutes later, Team JNR)
Jaune was once again eternally grateful for the wonders of motion sickness medicine, without it, he could safely say that he would've re-earned his infamous nickname.
Gritting his teeth, he lept out of the Bullhead, following Ren and Nora, who actually had landing strategies. Jaune on the other hand, had Aura. Lots of it. So, he just landed, letting his Aura take the hit.
He made an honest to goodness crater.
"Well, that's one way I suppose." Ren deadpanned.
Nora came bounding over to see what had made all the racket and Arc shaped crater. "I know I call you 'Fearless Leader' sometimes, but that's just... that's just... so... I don't know?"
Jaune shook his head. His lack of landing strategy was going to be part of the legends told to incoming students, and he knew it. "Come on, guys," He said, gesturing deeper into the forest. "We've got a job to do."
(Emerald Forest, Team RWBY)
"Yahoo!" Ruby yelled as she careened from Grimm to Grimm, relieving them of their heads with Crescent Rose.
"Only you would think this Pandora's box that we've opened is fun, Ruby." Weiss deadpanned.
Team RWBY had found a Beowulf pack, complete with an Alpha and had thought Okay, something easy to start off, no problem. What they hadn't realized was that those Beowolves had been on top of a giant Creep burrow network, all next an Ursa cave.
Due to the sheer numbers, they had scattered, and were fighting individually.
When she wasn't pinballing between Grimm using her semblance, Ruby was felling them with both bullet and blade. Crescent Rose formed a razor whirlwind around the reaper, and all that came near that she did not count as a friend fell.
Meanwhile, in her section of the battlefield, Weiss was holding a master class in dust, glyphs and fencing. Any Grimm that approached her were rendered to ash by her masterful application of dust. Those that made it past were subjected to her considerable skill with her semblance and Myrtenaster.
In another area, Blake was always in motion, leading the Grimm on a merry little chase, that always ended in death. When the Grimm thought she stopped moving, they rushed to fulfill their objective, only to have their target explode, or freeze them solid. Those that remained were an easy target for Gambol Shroud.
Hair ablaze, fists and buckshot flying, Yang Xiao Long was having the time of her life. This was the whole reason she wanted to become a Huntress, to fight bad guys, be they human or Grimm. Every time one of the monsters landed a glancing hit on her, she turned the pain into power, and sent it back tenfold.
Soon enough, the onslaught of Grimm had ended, and the members of team RWBY regrouped.
"Oh my gosh!" Ruby blabbermouthed, "That was awesome!"
Weiss shook her head, "It's just a pack of Beowolves you said, it would be easy you said."
"So, Ice Queen had fun, then." Yang teased, laughing at Weiss's shout of indignation.
Blake rolled her eyes, "I think we more than hit our quota, we should head ba-"
She was interrupted by a roar that made them all freeze.
Yang's eyes went wide, "That was a-"
"Beringel." Blake finished.
Weiss eyed the direction that the roar had come from. "Ruby... who's over in that direction?"
Ruby pulled out her scroll to check the mission map, and promptly dropped her scroll after seeing who was in the area.
It was team JNR.
"No..." Ruby whimpered. "Not again..."
Yang turned to her sister, "Ruby, who..."
Weiss knew from the moment she had seen Ruby's expression. To say that she was panicking was an understatement. "We have to help them!"
"No, we don't, Weiss." Blake said.
"Uh, want to run that by me again, Blake?" Yang asked.
"It's simple," Blake explained, "If we go over there and bail them out, that's as good as saying we don't think that they, and by extension, Jaune are good enough to beat the Beringel."
"But-" Weiss started to protest but was cut off again by Blake.
"I understand, Weiss, but you can't protect him from everything. He has to learn to cope on his own eventually."
Yang shrugged, "Besides, he's got Ren and Nora with him. He'll be fine."
"Um, Yang?"
"Yeah, Rubes?"
A mischievous smile spread across Ruby's face. "You owe me twenty Lien."
Yang scowled. She and Ruby had bet on who was going to be overprotective first, Jaune or Weiss, and Yang had just lost. "Damn it!"
(Emerald Forest, Team JNR)
Jaune was completely convinced that this was Salem's doing. There weren't even supposed to be any Beringels in the Emerald Forest.
But there one was, sauntering about the clearing, minding its own business, completely unaware of the Hunters masked by Ren's Semblance.
"We're gonna kill it, right?" Nora asked gleefully, clutching the handle of Maghnild in a death grip.
Jaune didn't answer, he was deep in thought.
Weak point is the eyes, Ren is the only one who can hit it reliably, since I have the most Aura it makes sense for me to tank the hits while Nora... does Nora things.
"Okay," Jaune ordered, "Ren, the weak point is the eyes, go for them, don't let up. Be ready to run interference if more Grimm show up."
Ren nodded. Nothing more needed to be said.
"Nora, I want you always at its back, pounding away. Never give it a moment's rest, got it?"
"You got it, Fearless Leader!" Nora said, settling into her battle stance.
"I'm going to take it from the front. With my dust I should be able to disrupt its attacks, speaking of which, Nora..."
Nora turned to him questioningly, which turned to excitement when she saw his sword crackling with lightning.
"Oh, Jaune, you know how to show a girl a good time." Nora teased as Jaune charged her semblance.
Missing the joke as per usual, Ren shook his head, "Nora, he's taken."
"So are you, once your head catches up to your heart." Nora muttered.
"Enough," Jaune said, "Ren, go. Nora, smash."
They all charged in their own ways. Nora leaping into the air, crackling with electricity, bringing her considerable might and hammer to hear on the Beringel's skull. Ren, zigzagging across what would become the battlefield, Stormflower spitting bursts of gun fire. Jaune let loose a war cry, and danced in and out of the Beringel's range, always keeping in its line of sight, all to make himself a inviting target.
"Nora, watch it! It's coming for you!" Ren warned. True to his words, the Beringel turned and swung at her with its massive fists, but got nothing but empty air and a grenade to the face for its trouble. Jaune punished the gorilla Grimm's lack of attention to him with strikes to the legs meant to hamper its mobility.
Quicker than Jaune had thought possible, the Beringel lashed out and grabbed Nora. "Let go of me, you damned dirty ape!" Nora protested.
Nora's choice of words turned out to be strangely prophetic... as the Beringel hurled her at Ren.
They crashed together and fell to the forest floor, relatively uninjured. However, a quick glance at his scroll confirmed Jaune's worst fear.
That impact had broken Ren and Nora's aura. They were vulnerable.
No! I won't let you take anyone else, Salem! EVER AGAIN!
Jaune was doing everything he could to get its attention, yelling like a wild man, hacking away at the parts of it he could reach, but it just wouldn't turn around!
Then it hit him. Negative emotions. For all he knew, this was digging up bad memories of Ren and Nora's past. Jaune had to override that, somehow...
He made the decision. To remember. Remember how he had felt that night, the night of the Battle of Beacon.
How he had felt when he had learned that Pyrrha had, in fact, died on that tower.
How he had temporarily gone mad with grief, how he had cursed Weiss for not bringing Pyrrha back...
You promised! You promised you'd bring her back!
The Beringel turned.
I thought you were supposed to be perfect!
"That's right, you piece of crap! I've got the best negative emotions around! Come on!" Jaune taunted.
LIAR! OATHBREAKER!
Jaune focused his aura in his sword and waited for his chance.
You let her die!
The Beringel lunged forward with a double hammer blow meant to crush Jaune into paste.
I HATE YOU!
Jaune lept back, ending up just outside the Beringel's reach, then thrusted his sword forward, unleashing a bolt of lightning that hit the Beringel in the eye. The monster slumped over, and dissolved when it hit the ground.
Jaune sprinted over to Ren and Nora, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. "Are you guys alright?"
"Did anyone get the license plate of the Grimm that ran us down?" Nora asked, sarcasm clearly evident in her voice.
"So, Nora's alright." Jaune chuckled. "Ren, What about you?"
Ren just looked at him. It was his "Jaune, I know you're not alright" look.
Jaune turned away, he was not in the mood to deal with this right now, no sir. "Alright, I'm going to call for extraction, that Beringel pushed us to our limit."
"Jaune."
Jaune flinched. Guess they were talking about this. "Ren, don't..."
Ren pressed on, "Jaune, I think we all know how you got that Beringel to turn its attention to you."
Nora was silent, she was good at comfort, moral support. Ren, on the other hand was better at this kind of thing.
Ren continued, "No one blames you for anything you said that night, Jaune. You weren't in your right mind."
Jaune finally replied, "I know, Ren. I know. I'm just glad I was able to use the pain to save you guys."
Jaune called for extraction, briefly explaining the situation. Within minutes a Bullhead was hovering over them. "Come on guys, let's go home."
(Beacon Academy, Airfield)
Jaune didn't let himself relax until the Bullhead touched down on the airfield. Partially due to adrenaline and partially due to stress. Professor Port greeted them as they disembarked.
"Well done, students!" Port exclaimed, "You overcame a superior foe with little to no prep time and your unorthodox stealth strategy allowed you to get close enough for a surprise attack."
"Uh, thanks, Professor. Thanks for trusting us." Jaune said.
Port nodded, "You're welcome, Mr. Arc, now I did have one more thing to tell you."
Jaune raised his eyebrow, "What's that, Professor?"
Professor Port leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "I'd brace yourself. Miss Schnee was worried sick ever since she heard the Beringel roar."
Port walked away to welcome the next team back, and Jaune was left to ponder what form Weiss's worry would take. She would either be incredibly fussy or she would go full Ice Queen, there was literally no grey area.
He didn't have to wait long, as the three of them walked across the courtyard, Weiss Schnee made her presence known.
"JAUNE ARC!"
Ren and Nora quickly scrambled out of the way, having no desire to be trapped in the blast radius. Jaune froze to the spot, he knew it. She was going full Ice Queen.
Not that he minded.
He couldn't keep the smile from his face as she clicked up to him in her heels, stopping just short of ramming into him. "Jaune, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Weiss demanded.
Jaune took a moment to take in the scene before him. Weiss was standing barely inches from him, a glare of affectionate defiance boring into him, her hands planted firmly on her hips.
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, we killed the Beringel?"
Weiss prodded his breastplate with a dainty finger, "You think that means you're safe from my wrath?"
To any onlookers, it looked as though Weiss was an overbearing girlfriend berating Jaune for things out of his control, but in reality, this was a game they played.
"Yes?" Jaune said lamely.
It was the wrong answer and he knew it, it was his way of upping the stakes of their little game.
"Oh, really? And why pray tell is that?" Weiss said.
Gotcha, Snow Angel.
"Because I was able to remember what happened the night of the Battle of Beacon without locking up. It's how I was able to draw it away from Ren and Nora, and set up the kill shot."
Weiss's mock fury evaporated instantly. "Jaune, that's... I'm proud of you. That's a big step."
"Yeah, it..." Jaune paused for a moment before continuing, "I never apologized to you. For the things I said to you that night."
Jaune had suddenly become very interested in his feet.
Weiss lifted his chin until he was looking at her again, "You don't need to apologize, you were lost in your grief. I know you, Jaune Arc, and I know you are not a hateful man. I know that you would never mean the things you said to me that night."
Jaune simply nodded. He didn't have the mental energy for much else.
"Now," Weiss continued with mock formality, "We have both had a very trying day, physically and emotionally. So, I am going to require you accompany me to my room, where we shall annoy Blake and Yang with the lewdness of our unprotected premarital handholding, and cuddle until we fall asleep."
"So scandalous," Jaune deadpanned. "Just wait until the tabloids hear about this."
Weiss got on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. "It would be a nice change from all of the drivel they print... but for now..."
She pulled him along to team RWBY's dorm room, and there wasn't a force on Remnant that could make Jaune want to resist.
A/N: Another one bites the dust. In case it wasn't clear, the italics during the last push of the Beringel fight were Jaune's memories of being told that Pyrrha had in fact died during the Battle of Beacon.
Got a couple of good reviews from last time that I wanted to respond to.
First off: The greatsword upgrade. I feel that it's mainly intended for Grimm and other over sized combatants, because out of the three times we see Jaune use that mode, (Cinder, Nucklavee, and Cordovin's Mech) the only time it's against an actual person is Cinder, and that can be chalked up to the production issues of volume 5. But the reviewer in question pointed out a couple of things that are important here.
Thing one: Jaune has no training in two handed techniques. You are absolutely right. I will be addressing this in a later chapter. Gonna be a bit, but we'll get there.
Thing two: Jaune's armor. I'd love for him to look more knightly! His volume 7 look is a step in that direction, but I've got plans for an armor upgrade (maybe not the best word, redesign maybe?) that'll happen later. I can't give him all the upgrades at once after all!
Also, fear not, the Volume 7 hair does not exist in this AU.
Let me know if I'm throwing in too much Pyrrha angst, the original plan for this chapter had... a lot more of it.
Next Chapter: Cardin confronts Jaune about the Pyrrha video, Roman and Neo start doing some digging on the White Fang, and JNR and Weiss go on totally not a double date.