Chapter 12: The Calm Before The Storm

(Beacon Academy, Elevator to Ozpin's Office)

Team RWBY and Jaune Arc had assembled, and were about to ascend to Ozpin's office to tell him about the previous night's events. There was just one problem.

No one wanted to hit the button.

They still hadn't discussed what to do about the elephant in the room, and no one really wanted to. More accurately, none of them wanted to tell Ozpin.

"So," Jaune said, "We should figure this out now."

"Figure what out?" Ruby said lamely.

"Ruby, you know what he means." Blake admonished.

They all knew what he meant, but... it wasn't that they didn't want to talk about it, that was very much going to happen. The fact of the matter was they didn't think it was anyone else's business. As far as the five of them, and Ren and Nora for that matter, were concerned, anything having to do with helping Jaune through the aftermath of Pyrrha's death needed to stay between their teams.

As much as possible, anyways.

"For whatever reason, my memory's clearer today." Jaune said, "Yeah, I called Tyrian... Cinder. I need to talk through that, but it's going to be with our teams, not some shrink."

Weiss squeezed his shoulder, "I think I understand, Jaune. You want to keep it in the family." Upon seeing the looks of confusion from the others, she continued, "Well, that's what we are, aren't we? The seven... no, eight of us. We're a family."

Yang spoke up next. "Weiss is right, I get the same feeling when we're all together that I get at home."

"It's your call, Jaune. What are we going to do?" Ruby asked.

Jaune closed his eyes. He absolutely could not have another break like he had last night. If that happened while he and Weiss were fighting Adam, that would get them both killed. If he told Ozpin however, he would probably just shove Jaune at some therapist more interested In Lien than helping people.

He hit the button to call the elevator.

"We keep it in the family." Jaune said, "While we're up there, we tell the whole truth, we just omit my... creative naming."

The elevator came, and they entered. By unspoken agreement, team RWBY stood on one side of the elevator, and Jaune on the other. As the elevator began its ascent to Ozpin's office, Ruby noticed something about Yang, something that only happened when she had nightmares about when Yang stuck Ruby in a wagon and went looking for either of their mothers.

"Yang, your hands are shaking." Ruby said. "That only happens when..."

Yang cut her off. "Ruby, no. Not now."

An awkward silence descended, Jaune glanced at the elevator's progress. Only a third of the way.

"Oh no, Yang." Jaune said. "If it was me, none of you would let me hold it in. Don't bottle this up."

"Yang, there was a time where you told me to stop obsessing over the White Fang. I was running myself ragged trying to figure out how to stop them." Blake said, "Do you really think that I'm going to let you do basically the same thing?"

Yang grimaced. "Fine! I'm afraid of Tyrian!"

Jaune blinked. Yang, afraid? That didn't sound like her at all.

The floodgates had opened, so Yang kept talking. "I'm afraid of him because he cut right through my aura. My semblance relies on me being able to take hits, without that my semblance is useless, and Tyrian can just CUT RIGHT THROUGH!" At this point, Yang's eyes were red.

"Welcome to my world." Jaune said. Everyone's eyes snapped to him, Jaune, of all people was going to be callous about this?

"Jaune, are you going somewhere with this, or should I just punch you now?" Yang growled.

"Please don't." Weiss deadpanned, "I would prefer you not rearrange his face." Weiss's attempt to defuse the situation seemed to work, as Yang's eyes went back to lilac.

Jaune checked the elevator's progress. Just over halfway. "Whether I like it or not, I'm on a collision course with Adam, at least, that's what it feels like. I'm scared, no, I'm terrified. My main defensive option, blocking, isn't an option against him because of his Semblance."

Weiss cut in, "Is that why you've been being so obsessive about getting your parrying down?"

Jaune nodded. "Yep. Minimal contact with the opponent's blade, without much force, perfect for frustrating Adam's ability to charge his Semblance. Anyways, Yang, my point is, you know how he can beat you, so work around it."

Yang frowned, "But how can I..."

Ruby piped up, "I think Tyrian's fighting style is based around letting enemies come to him, then counter attacking, at least, that's how I see it."

Yang idly played with her hair as she thought. "So, a straight rush is out. He'd just cut me open again. Have to get in, and stay in... sounds like it's the bob and weave, then."

"And now that you've got a game plan," Jaune said, "He doesn't seem quite so scary, does he?"

"Weiss, where can I get one of him?" Yang teased.

"What am I?" Blake protested, "Chopped liver?"

"He's one of a kind, Yang." Weiss said, "And he's mine."

As the elevator dinged and the doors opened, a ripple of laughter ran through them, and they stepped into Ozpin's office with smiles on their faces.

"Well, considering last night's events," Ozpin said, "I am happy to see that you are all in good spirits."

Jaune chuckled nervously. "Well, we can either be scared out of our minds, or we can roll with the punches."

"Nice." Yang said, grinning mischievously.

Jaune only now realized the pun that he had made, and he had no regrets. "Jaune, please tell me you didn't intend that pun..." Weiss grumbled.

"I didn't..." Jaune said.

"Intend your puns, weaklings." Yang deadpanned.

Ozpin cleared his throat, "If you are finished, may we continue?"

Yang winced, "Sorry, Prof- er, Oz."

"Now, Ruby, I believe our story starts with you, yes?" Ozpin said.

Ruby nodded, "Yeah, in the middle of the night, I woke up, and Tyrian was just... there. It's like he was waiting for me to wake up to threaten me."

"No sign of forced entry?" Ozpin asked.

Blake shrugged. "Not that we could tell."

So that meant that Tyrian had scaled the wall without anyone seeing him, or he had gotten past the lock that could only be opened with team RWBY's scrolls.

"Then he said more stuff about how he was going to take me to Salem." Ruby said. "Why does she want me brought to her so bad?"

"Because Salem is afraid of those with Silver Eyes, especially when they're a warrior like you." Ozpin explained. "Imagine, a village under siege by Grimm, all seems lost, but then a Silver Eyed Warrior shows up, and destroys all of the Grimm with a look. Silver Eyed Warriors are the antithesis to Salem's best weapon against us."

"What's her best weapon against us?" Ruby asked, almost reflexively.

"Fear, Ruby. Fear." Ozpin explained, "Anyways, we've gotten off topic. How was Tyrian subdued?"

Jaune raised his hand, "Uh, that was me, mostly. Weiss had him trapped with her glyphs, but he broke out. So I hit him."

Ozpin gave Jaune a look that bordered on incredulity. "You... hit him?"

Jaune nodded. "I hit him a lot."

Ozpin pushed his glasses up his nose, took a long drink of his hot chocolate, then voiced his disbelief, "Jaune, while you have made tremendous progress since the Battle of Beacon, you'll pardon me if I'm skeptical, given the fact that Tyrian gives Qrow a run for his money! How in blazes did you overpower him?"

"We scuffled for a bit, then I got him against the wall and started hitting him repeatedly. He just started laughing." Jaune explained.

Blake sharply drew a breath in. "Maybe he wanted to be caught?"

"That, is both completely possible, and incredibly worrying." Ozpin said, "Which is why we're holding him here. The Atlesians have given us the technology for a holding cell, since we don't have that capacity normally."

Jaune was the first to voice dissent, "That... doesn't seem like a good idea, Ozpin. Shouldn't we just give him to the cops?"

Ozpin shook his head. "I tried. They're stretched thin keeping people safe from the White Fang, much less fighting the White Fang."

"Speaking of the White Fang," Weiss said, "I can't help feeling that we've been kept out of the loop since our last mission."

"It isn't intentional." Ozpin said. "Your teams will likely not be needed until the final offensive against Adam."

"That would put me and Jaune at unnecessary risk, Ozpin." Weiss said. "Not to mention Blake."

Ozpin gritted his teeth. "It's a calculated risk, to draw Adam out."

Jaune couldn't believe his ears. "You're going to use us as bait? Adam wants to execute us, and you're going to hand us to him on a silver platter?"

Ozpin opened his mouth to reassure Jaune, but he was on a roll. "We really are just chess pieces to you, aren't we? Who are you going to sacrifice next?"

Ozpin's reply was simple and to the point. "No one, Jaune. I am not going to sacrifice anyone."

Ruby quickly jumped in, "Is there anything else, Ozpin?"

"No, Ruby, but I do need to speak to Jaune alone for a moment."

Team RWBY reluctantly made their way to the elevator, with Weiss predictably taking the longest, as she lingered to give Jaune a hug. Ozpin waited until the elevator doors had closed to begin.

"You blame me for Pyrrha's death, don't you, Jaune?" Ozpin asked.

Jaune shook his head, "No, all the blame for that belongs to Cinder."

Ozpin sighed. "Yes, but I put Pyrrha in that situation, and you know that."

I need to keep him from becoming the next Raven.

"Jaune, I want you to tell me how you really feel." Ozpin said. "Get it all out. I think we both know that you need to-"

Jaune didn't need any more encouragement.

"You bastard! You filled Pyrrha's head with bullshit about duty and destiny, knowing full well she would eat it right up!"

Jaune was by no means done. "If it wasn't for you trying to get her to be the Fall Maiden, Pyrrha would still be alive! Cinder might have killed her, but you put her in that position, you made it so she thought that she had no other option but to go and fight Cinder!"

Jaune took out his scroll, loaded a video, and threw in on Ozpin's desk. "Go ahead! Watch it!" Jaune challenged.

Ozpin picked up the scroll and hit play, it quickly became clear that Pyrrha had recorded a video for Jaune in the event of her death.

"Jaune, if you're watching this, I have died. I'm still not sure if I'm doing the right thing, hiding what Ozpin has asked of me from you, but... in Mistral they teach us that every person has a destiny. That every person has some mission to accomplish in their lifetime, and that once it has finished, they die."

"All my life, because of my skill and my semblance, I was always told that I had some great deed, some great mission to accomplish. They called me the Invincible Girl, called me unbeatable, untouchable."

"You were the first person to treat me like anyone else. To see me as a person, with faults and flaws, not as an infallible goddess of victory."

"Jaune, I need you to listen very closely. From the moment I met you, I knew you were special, in your own way. That's why I chose you as my partner. Why I trained you, why I did everything."

"Jaune, I... I wanted you to be my destiny."

"Things will be hard going forward, I have no idea what circumstances you'll be in when you watch this. Please be brave, Ren and Nora need you."

"You are strong, no matter how much your self-doubt tries to tell you otherwise. I wish I could see what you'll become, because I have no doubt that it will be marvelous."

"I believe in you, Jaune, whenever you doubt yourself, please don't forget that."

"And... Jaune? I'm sorry."

The video ended, Pyrrha's face becoming frozen in time once more. Jaune retrieved his Scroll from Ozpin, then continued.

"You made her think that she was going to die, and she accepted that fate! In some ways, Pyrrha's death is as much your fault as it is Cinder's!"

Jaune took a few deep breaths to compose himself. "Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon your shadow war. I swore an oath that I would see it through, so that's what I'm going to do. And I'll be damned before I lose any more of my friends to Salem and her forces."

Without waiting for a dismissal or a response, Jaune left, leaving Ozpin alone.

"Jaune," Ozpin said to an empty room, "I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on the planet. I know any apology from me will ring hollow, but..." Ozpin wiped tears from his eyes before continuing.

"I'm sorry."

(Beacon Academy, Airfield)

To say that Cardin was nervous was a colossal understatement. Sure, he had made tremendous progress in not being a bully, although in occasionally leaked out in combat. That wasn't what he was nervous about, though.

He was nervous because he had been chosen by Professor Goodwitch, along with Velvet and Glynda herself, to be the welcoming committee for Sienna Khan and what warriors she had been able to bring.

"Relax, Mr. Winchester." Glynda said, "You'll do fine."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you, right, Professor?" Cardin asked.

"You'll do fine, Cardin!" Velvet said, "You've gotten loads better since... you know."

He did know, but he didn't think that he had recovered enough from what he now knew was his father's exceedingly racist views to be part of the welcoming committee for the actual leader of the White Fang.

"I just don't think I'm ready for this." Cardin said, "What if I say the wrong thing? What if one of them is a Faunus type I've never seen before and I stare? What if..."

"Mr. Win- Cardin, I wouldn't have asked you to be here if I didn't think you could handle it." Glynda said, "You have shown remarkable progress in the last few months, and your time at home over the break didn't cause you to regress. Dare I say, you might actually be reformed."

Cardin chuckled at the sarcastic turn at the end, "Me, reformed? That doesn't sound right." He joked.

"It's true, Cardin!" Velvet piped up, "Coco's even stopped jokingly threatening to kick your ass."

Glynda shook her head, "By the gods, I've been struck selectively deaf and cannot hear what you just said, Miss Scarletina."

Velvet giggled. "Sorry, Professor."

Their conversation came to an abrupt halt when an airship came into view. On its side was the White Fang insignia, unlike the insignia used by Adam's White Fang, which was red with three scratches over the wolf head, this one was white with a circle around it.

You've got this, Cardin. Just don't be so nervous you act like Sky on caffeine. Gods, that was a disaster.

The airship landed, and Sienna Khan disembarked, flanked on both sides by her guards, who had halberds slung across their backs. Sienna herself, had a chain wrapped around her waist, and wore a bandolier with multiple blades for the chain, complete with dust crystals.

Oh, I get it. Her weapon's a chain whip, that's a tricky weapon to master. I bet she's no slouch in combat.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy, Sienna." Glynda deadpanned. "Sorry about the mess."

"Thank you, Professor," Sienna said, "I wish my visit could be under better circumstances." Sienna turned to regard Velvet and Cardin. "Now, I don't believe we've met."

Velvet waved cheerily at Sienna, "Hi, I'm Velvet! Can I get a picture-"

"Of course." Sienna said abruptly, this kind of thing happened often so she had gotten used to it.

"-of your weapon?" Velvet finished.

Sienna's train of thought came to a screeching halt. That was new. "Pardon?"

"Velvet, we've talked about this." Glynda admonished. "You can't just-"

Sienna raised a hand. "It's fine, Professor. I was just taken aback for a moment. I assume that it has something to do with your Semblance?"

Velvet nodded as she brought out her camera. "Yep! So, this camera is actually my weapon, it creates hard-light versions of weapons I take pictures of. My Semblance lets me... my team leader calls it Photographic Reflexes. If I see how someone fights, I can copy it perfectly. I can't copy Semblances though."

Sienna responded by unfurling her chain whip, which Velvet took several pictures of. In the meantime, Sienna turned to look at Cardin. "I know that mace. You're a Winchester."

Cardin nodded. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid."

Glynda quickly stepped in to alleviate the tension. "Mr. Winchester has made remarkable progress since arriving at Beacon with an... incredibly narrow worldview."

"I see," Sienna said, "And how does your father feel about this..."

"Cardin. He didn't like it, at all." Cardin said, "So we settled the disagreement in the Winchester way."

Velvet shuddered. Cardin had told her what that meant, and she didn't like it one bit.

Glynda's eyes snapped to Cardin, "Cardin, exactly what do you mean by..."

"We went out to the backyard, and we beat the crap out of each other. No weapons, no aura. I won, somehow."

"Cardin, that's barbaric." Velvet said quietly.

Cardin sighed, "Maybe it is, Velvet. But the point of the matter is that dear old dad has to cool it with the racism while I'm around, and he can't give me crap for not being racist any more."

Sienna regarded Cardin in a new light. Before her was a man that was willing to change himself for the better, despite his family's history of hate.

In some ways, he's the inverse of Adam, but the difference is the friends he's made here at Beacon. If only Adam had the support system that Cardin does...

"Cardin, it's stories like yours that give me hope." Sienna said.

Cardin did a double take. "Excuse me?"

Sienna smiled, "You decided to change, all on your own, right? What was the moment that made you want to change?"

Cardin frowned, "If I had to choose one... event, it would have to be the Battle of Beacon. Before the Paladin my team defeated got airmailed to us, there were some Atlesian murderbots we were fighting."

Sienna tried and failed to suppress a chuckle at Atlesian Knights being called murderbots.

Cardin continued, "A couple of them zeroed in on a group of Faunus, not that I knew that they were Faunus at the time. Anyways, I smacked the bots, then told them to run. As they were leaving, this kid, probably ten years old, turns to his... older sister maybe? Not the point, doesn't matter. This kid says, See? I told you they'd save us! Huntsmen save everyone, human or Faunus."

Cardin became very interested in his feet. "Hunters can't be racist, because we have to save everyone. And I want to be a Huntsman. So, I made a choice. To be what that kid saw in me."

"You didn't mention that at your team's debriefing, Cardin." Glynda said.

He shrugged, "We were still riding on the high of taking down that Paladin, so that was all we talked about until we got back to our dorm room. Then I told the others about the kid, and the revelation I had." Cardin shook his head, "Sky was the first to react, Well, he's right guys. We never apologized to Velvet, we should probably start there. That's what he said, didn't even question it. Russell and Dove didn't either."

Cardin paused, "But I'm rambling, and you probably have more important things to do than listen to me."

Sienna nodded, "As much as I would like to get your perspective on some things, you're right. Glynda?"

Glynda gestured behind her, towards Beacon. "Right this way, Sienna. Thank you for your help, you two." Velvet gave her a thumbs up, while Cardin simply nodded.

After they left, Cardin just stared at the impending sunset. After a while, he noticed that Velvet was still there.

"Velvet, what are you still doing here?" Cardin asked.

Velvet looked at him for a moment longer before answering. "Thanks, Cardin. For being the you that you are now."

"You're welcome, Velvet." Cardin said.

As Velvet walked away, he couldn't help but look back at her-

Cardin's heart fluttered.

Oh no.

(Beacon Academy, Team RWBY Dorm)

Ruby sighed. Weiss was doing it again. Staring off into space, pondering some great mystery. Except this time the mystery wasn't if Weiss could've stopped the barbaric policies of the SDC earlier, no, that mystery had been solved.

"Weiss, you're doing it again." Blake said. "What mystery is it now?"

Weiss sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Ruby jumped down from her precariously placed bunk bed. "Weiss, you know that's only going to make me more curious."

Weiss glanced at her scroll, at a text from Jaune, Darling Knight according to her caller ID for him, he had said that him and Ren were trying to wrangle Yang and Nora for both teams' impromptu therapy session.

"I know, Ruby, I know... it's just that it'll seem... impossible." Weiss said.

Ruby was looking at Weiss expectantly, and Blake...actually put down her book, bookmark in and everything.

Weiss dropped the bombshell. "Based on my last conversation with him, I think my father may regret at least some of the things that he's done to get where he is."

Ruby and Blake looked at each other, Jacques Schnee, showing regret? That sounded impossible.

"Weiss, is there... something specific that you hope he regrets?" Blake asked.

Weiss was about to answer when the door opened, and the remaining four members of teams RWBY and JNR walked in.

"Sorry we took so long," Jaune said, "But, someone decided a hour long arm wrestling match was a good idea."

"Not true, fearless leader!" Nora protested, "It was a bad idea, because even after a hour we still didn't have a winner!"

Everyone laughed, the tension vanishing, and the question that had been hanging in the air forgotten. Everyone settled in for what would most likely be a emotional discussion. Ruby clambered back up to her bed, legs dangling off, Jaune and Weiss situated themselves on Weiss's bed, Ren and Nora has decided that the floor seemed rather comfortable, and Yang and Blake took their places on each of their respective beds.

"Alright," Jaune said, "If we're going to do this, then let's do this."

Weiss started rubbing his back, "Jaune, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I have to deal with this now, Weiss." Jaune said, "If what happened with Tyrian happens with Adam, we're both dead."

Nora shuddered, losing Pyrrha had been bad enough, but the thought of losing any more of her family scared her.

Jaune continued, "So, yeah. While I was fighting off Tyrian, he threatened Weiss, and I called him Cinder."

"Are you sure it wasn't just a slip of the tongue?" Nora asked.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, Nora, I'm sure. Tyrian threatened Weiss, then I saw red."

Silence fell. How could they help Jaune with this? There wasn't something to shoot, hit, or stab. No training they could have him do to prepare...

That is, until Ren came up with an idea.

"Blake, do you know, or can you guess the kinds of things that Adam would be likely to say to Jaune about Weiss?" Ren asked.

Blake's ears twitched. "Yes, but why would that help?"

Weiss took a deep breath, "Ren, are you suggesting exposure therapy?"

Jaune's eyes went wide, "No way! What if I snap? I don't want to hurt Blake like I did Tyrian!"

"You won't." Ren said, "If you start getting bad, I'll use my Semblance on you."

"It's a good idea as any we've got." Jaune said, "Ruby, Yang, Nora, anything to add?"

Nora shook her head, looking hopeless. "Sorry, this kind of thing is a little beyond me."

"Well, because of our dad, if the problem here was depression, then me and Ruby would be exactly the people to call. But for this?" Yang said.

"I think Ren's idea is the best idea we've got." Ruby said, "Even if it seems a little extreme."

"A little extreme?" Blake said, her exasperation evident, "To be clear, you want me to try to trigger Jaune!"

"Blake, this could be the difference between live and death for all of us." Jaune implored.

"No! I'm not doing this!" Blake said, "Did none of you think for five seconds? You are literally asking me to roleplay as my abuser!"

The room became as silent as the grave.

Ren broke the silence, "I'm sorry, Blake, I didn't mean to..."

"It's... okay, Ren. You didn't know." Blake said, shooting a pointed glance at Yang.

"Wait, wait, hold on." Jaune said, "This might not have been necessary to begin with."

"What do you mean, Jaune?" Nora asked, "Adam's going to make threats against Weiss, hell, he already has!"

"Wait. I see where he's coming from." Ren said. "Look at the two situations. With Tyrian they were weaponless and Tyrian made very explicit threats that were supposed to get an emotional reaction out of Jaune, which worked."

"And with Adam, if we have to fight him at all, we'll likely be on equal footing, plus his threats are rather... unimaginative compared to Tyrian's, I'd imagine." Weiss observed.

"How do you figure the unimaginative bit, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Well, considering the vast majority of the White Fang I fought at Dust to Dust called me Schnee-lover..."

Weiss rolled her eyes, "That's still better than hearing kill the Schnee bitch every time you turn around."

Yang brought her hand to her mouth in mock outrage, "Such language! Mr. Arc, I daresay that you're corrupting Miss Schnee!"

"Laugh it up, Yang." Weiss said, "Keep it up, and I won't tell you why I said Arc's Honor last night."

Yang silenced immediately.

Nora's eyes bulged, "Wait, you did what?"

"There's an actual reason for why she did that, Nora." Jaune said, "We both took the Knight's Oath for the war against Salem."

Blake frowned, "That sounds... almost romantic."

Weiss laughed lightly, "You're not actually far off, Blake. The Arc family's traditions are a particular blend of honoring their heroic heritage and their tendencies to be hopeless romantics."

"Anyways, long story short," Jaune said, "Me and Weiss took the Oath, swearing it to each other since we're going to be fighting side by side... more or less."

"In addition, my name goes in the Arc family tree next to Jaune as Arc in all but name." Weiss explained, "That's why I said Arc's Honor last night."

Yang whistled, "Wow, that's heavy. Who all knows about this?"

"You guys, and my parents. That's about all the people I want to know as well." Jaune said

"Jaune, you make it sound like it's a big secret." Ruby said.

"It's not quite like that," Weiss said, "It's just that's it's so... incredibly personal."

They sat in silence for a minute or so, then Jaune got up. "Well, it's getting late, I should go to bed. I don't think it would be a good idea for Adam to catch me working off of four hours of sleep!"

"Did you want to sleep here tonight?" Weiss asked.

Jaune proceeded to surprise everyone present. "No, I think I'll be fine tonight." He bent down to give her a kiss, "See you tomorrow."

After Jaune left, all hell broke loose.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Yang asked, "Weiss, doesn't he usually sleep with you after... anything like what just happened here?"

"Usually, yes" Weiss said.

"He's healing." Ruby said, "For real this time, not whatever he told us before he shut down last term."

"He's already healed more than any of us know, I think." Ren observed.

Nora looked at Ren quizzically, "How do you figure that, Ren?"

"It's simple, Nora." Weiss said, drawing everyone's attention, "That was a goodbye kiss."

A/N: These chapters are the most annoying for me to write. Never mind that writing Sienna is a literal pain. In any event, well, to quote various Star Wars characters, "here's where the fun begins."

Also, yes, you are seeing glimmers of Cardin x Velvet. I realize that some people might not like that, if you stop reading because of that, I understand, but ultimately it's my story.

Next Chapter: Velvet asks Coco for help in unraveling her feelings about Cardin, teams CRDL and CFVY get drafted, and the Beacon gang draw Adam and the White Fang in for the final showdown.