Content Warning: Suicidal Ideation

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The first time that Jaune Arc ever laid eyes on Beacon Academy came from the back of a Bullhead as it pulled into the airspace over the city of Vale proper. Much like Chateau d'Arc, Beacon had been strategically positioned on a hill overlooking the city, with its delicate spires reaching high into the sky. As the aircraft landed in the courtyard docks, Jaune surveyed lush gardens and greenways, intricately-carved motifs adorning the walls and pillars of the school, and great glass windows inset amidst domed sills.

Forgoing the sightseeing for the time being in favor of returning to the task at hand, he waved over some technicians who brought cargo haulers, and oversaw the transfer of the Arc family Bestiary to the Beacon Archives.

The Archives were located in a climate controlled cellar beneath the main library. The historian on hand, a rather excitable man wearing the thickest spectacles that Jaune had ever seen, was literally quivering in excitement as he saw Jaune lead the procession of cargo haulers into the Archives.

"Ah, excellent!" the man shouted. "The legendary compendium of the famous Arc family! Tell me, young man, how did you come to possess such a valuable find? The Headmaster was rather vague on the details, you see."

Jaune blinked, taking a moment to suss out the man's peculiarly-rapid speech pattern. Perhaps it was a regional accent? "The Arc Bestiary is in my custody by right of birth, sir." he said simply. "My name is Jaune Arc, and I have asked the Headmaster to preserve these records for my family until Chateau d'Arc is restored."

The historian paused, taken aback. With trembling fingers, he pulled off his glasses, revealing startlingly vivid blue-green eyes. The man wiped down the glasses with his half-untucked dress shirt before replacing them, taking in the sight of Jaune in his white-steel and bronze armor and bearing Crocea Mors at his hip. "So it is…" he breathed in. The man zipped over to Jaune with startling speed, taking his hand in his own and shaking it vigorously. "Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, Mister Arc, historian and Huntsman, at your service. While not all of the faculty here at Beacon hail from this Kingdom, for those of us who do…" he released Jaune's hand and beamed at him. "For the Huntsmen of Vale, the Arc Family was a cultural institution, one that we had feared lost to us. I cannot express how pleased I am to see that it is not. Is this a visit to deposit the Bestiary, or are you to attend our fine institution?"

Jaune was put a little off-balance by how warm a greeting he had received from the historian. "Thank you, Doctor Oobleck. I was raised in Atlas before the Headmaster recruited me, and have only recently discovered the significance of my family. I am… pleased to see that it is held in such high regard here. Miss Goodwitch has implied that there may be gaps in my education, and given what I've learned so far, I must agree with that assessment. To that end, during my four years here, I may require extra tutoring to reach parity with my peers. I refuse to be a liability to a team in the field because I am ignorant of pertinent information."

"Ah! A commendable attitude, Mister Arc! I do hope that, for these next four years, you will be pleased to call Beacon your home. Now, I really must go tell Peter. He'll be beside himself!"

Jaune left the Archive feeling strangely optimistic about his future at Beacon. The historian-Huntsman was...odd, to say the least, but given how swiftly he had produced a detailed compilation of the Arc Bestiary metadata to organize the books for transcription and eventual use, that eccentricity did nothing to detract from his competence.

On Doctor Oobleck's recommendation - and the man seemed oddly pleased that Jaune remembered such basic courtesy as addressing a man with a PhD by his rightful title - he stopped by the office of one Professor Peter Port, the Grimm Studies instructor. Just as the Doctor had predicted, Port had been thrilled to make his acquaintance. The burly man actually came distressingly-close to catching a blade to the throat when he'd bounded over and pulled Jaune into a bone-creaking hug, the young Arc only just forcing himself not to respond as if he were under attack. Still, Jaune also afforded the Professor a cautious level of respect, mostly due to the fact that the man was an old - and still semi-active - Huntsman, a vocation in which few survived to such an age. It spoke to his expertise in the field, if nothing else.

With those introductions out of the way, Jaune set up camp in an auditorium, where a few other early arrivals were staying. He didn't have much beyond the clothing and armor on his back, his weapons, a collapsible field armor stand that Port insisted that he take - "My days of wearing armor are over," the man had laughed, patting his belly - and a backpack containing a waterproof case for L'histoire de Arc, a well-worn and annotated copy of Livre de Chevalerie that had belonged to his father, and his mother's diary. Then of course, there was also…

"Arf!"

Percival stuck his head out of the backpack as Jaune set it on his cot. He panted happily, being a dog of generally happy demeanor, before wriggling free of his canvas prison and plopping onto the cot. Jaune was quietly pleased that the dog's lamellar armor hadn't caught on the bag on the way out, indicating that he'd set the steel plates correctly.

"Hang tight, Percival," Jaune told the dog as he began to unlatch parts of his own armor. "Let me get mine off, and then I'll get yours. Don't wander too far. We don't want to get in trouble before our mis...before our school year even starts."

Satisfied that the pup would heed his orders and stay close to the proximity of the cot and out of trouble, Jaune focused on removing his armor. Unfortunately, even the greatest of strategists could never account for all variables, particularly the one that had spotted his armored puppy from across the auditorium.

"Heeeeey! It's a dog!"

Before Jaune could even turn away from the armor stand, a short girl with orange hair and ruddy cheeks had knelt down on hands and knees in front of Percival. The girl seemed uncaring of the cold stone floor on her bare legs as she locked her large turquoise eyes on the pup.

"Nora! Nora, wait!" Chasing behind her was a slightly haggard man with long black hair. His fine, classical features and green silk garb marked him as hailing from the Southern Anima region of Mistral. He paused as he saw Nora, Percival, and a bewildered Jaune Arc. "Sorry about that. Nora doesn't mean any harm, I promise."

The girl - Nora, apparently - stared at Percival.

Percival stared at Nora.

Nora stared at Percival.

Percival stared at Nora.

"Um...what is happening?" Jaune asked the man standing next to him, seemingly the saner of the pair.

"Nora is happening," he replied, with the air of long experience. "Just wait for it."

Finally, Percival scooted forward and used his wet dog nose to boop Nora's. Turquoise eyes widened, and the girl triumphantly leapt to her feet, holding the dog aloft in unrestrained glee. Percival, for his part, seemed unphased. "I have been declared boop-worthy!" Nora bellowed, lightning cracking outside the auditorium. "Together, we shall go forth and conquer!"

The young man in green coughed to get her attention. "Nora, it's generally impolite to manhandle someone's dog, especially without permission."

"Then it would be doghandling, wouldn't it?"

The man sighed, then turned to Jaune. "My name is Lie Ren, incidentally. Nora, you've experienced already." He held out a hand to Jaune, who took it and gave a firm shake.

"Jaune Arc," he answered. No sign of recognition from either of them, so that confirmed that they weren't locals. "And that, of course, is Percival."

Nora trotted up to the two men, Percival held in her arms. "Jaaaaaaune," she began, in the tone of voice of a mischievous child looking to con permission from an oblivious parent to carry out a very bad idea. "Can me and Percy go play?"

Well, it was unconventional, but a simple gesture now could pay off dividends in the future. Of course, if the Nora girl failed Initiation, it would be a moot point, but it cost nothing to indulge the girl for so simple a thing.

"As you will, but do not leave the auditorium with him."

Nora's face brightened like a sunny day. "Thank you!" With that, she took off once more, Percival chasing along behind her. Well, that made two people happy at least.

"Thank you for humoring her," Ren said. Three people, then. "I will make sure to return him to you before too long."

Jaune nodded his thanks. "Good luck to you both in Initiation," he said.

"And you as well." With that, Ren took his leave, to follow the girl and dog.

Jaune finished removing his armor and placing it on the stand, before laying on the cot with his father's copy of Livre de Chevalerie. The book was less concerned with the martial aspects of knighthood - which Jaune had already achieved - but more with the standards of behavior demanded of those who would call themselves knights. Knights were expected to be courageous in battle and truthful and fair in their dealings. They were expected to be courteous to all and to protect and aid those in need. They were to be humble, temperate in their habits, and to seek to do good for the sake of good itself.

In many ways, it wasn't so different from the life he had led before. He had never been given to any vices, and had never had the opportunity to grow too used to any accommodations beyond his basic needs. But other tenets, such as being merciful to those who asked for it...Jaune knew that he still had a long way to go before he could be called a true knight.

Please, please don't kill me…

He sighed, closing the book before really getting started reading it. He had never known his father, but the man had apparently been knighted himself, by a mentor named Sir Roland du Rendal, a notable Knight of Vale. Would his father have been ashamed of him, who he was, what he'd done?

"Maybe I'd be better off getting some rack time early," he mused to himself.

"Heh. Rack."

Jaune looked over to see a group of roughhousing young men nearby, the one who spoke approaching him. The man was tall and muscular, with thick brown hair and a full suit of dull grey plate emblazoned with the sigil of a bird upon the chestplate.

"Can I help you?" Jaune asked politely.

The man grinned. "Name's Cardin. Cardin Winchester." Cardin was obviously expecting some kind of recognition for his name. Jaune, having been in a similar situation less than five minutes prior, figured that he would need to clarify that he didn't know the name.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize your surname."

"Ah, new in town, huh?" Cardin sat on the edge of Jaune's cot, causing the wood to groan under the added weight. "We're kind of a big deal here in Vale. My father sits on the Council itself."

"Pleased to meet you," replied Jaune. "My name's Jaune -"

Cardin interrupted him by clapping him on the shoulder. "Well, John -"

"It's Jaune,"

The other man continued as if he hadn't spoken at all. "Why don't you join the rest of us guys, scoping out chicks, figuring out who gets dibs on who after Initiation? Like that girl that was just here. Probably retarded or something, but she doesn't need brains with those big ol' titties of hers, am I right?"

Jaune frowned. If these Winchesters were a prominent family here, it stood to reason that their heavily-armored scion could well be one of the famous Knights of Vale, and should know better. "It's crude and unkind to refer to a lady in such terms, sir," he said, putting a particular emphasis on the title so that, if the man really was a knight, he would understand his breach in decorum.

Cardin snorted. "That's no lady, that's a set of tits that can walk. I bet that dog of yours is better trained than she is. Still, she must be some primo gash for that -"

"If you have nothing to offer but crass vulgarities, then I ask that you leave my presence," interjected Jaune, openly glaring. "Now."

Cardin scoffed. "Pft. Whatever. Play the white knight. Won't do you any good when you're jackin' it to sleep at night." With that, the deeply-unpleasant man finally stood up - causing Jaune's cot to once again groan in protest - and walked back to his fellows.

A few minutes later, a very annoyed Miss Goodwitch strode over to Jaune's cot, carrying both Nora and Percival by the scruff of the neck. "I believe you misplaced this," she said dryly, dropping Percival onto the cot. The dog, for his part, looked entirely unrepentant at whatever havoc he had caused, panting happily at Jaune. "While you're at it, would you mind watching this for me?" Goodwitch added, dropping Nora to fall to the ground with a plop. When Jaune opened his mouth to ask where Ren was, Goodwitch cut him off. "Before you ask, Mister Ren is busy putting out fires."

"Do...do you mean that in the figurative sense?"

Her eye twitched. "No. No, I do not. As it is, the staff will have to work overtime to make the kitchen ready for the new arrivals tomorrow. Congratulations, Miss Valkyrie. Should you pass Initiation, you will have the dubious honor of having earned detention before you were officially enrolled."

"Hooray?"

Goodwitch's eye twitched once more. What made it even more galling was that the girl sounded as if she genuinely was unsure if she should be proud of the dubious accomplishment or not. The Deputy Headmistress just made a strangled growling sound before storming off, presumably to assist in the rebuilding efforts.

"Nora?" Jaune began. "Did you take my dog into the kitchen?"

The girl looked down. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just, he looked hungry, and I thought 'he needs pancakes!' so I ran into the kitchen to make pancakes for the dog, but then I forgot Ren too, so I ran back to get him, but the stoves were still on -"

"Hold a moment," interrupted Jaune. "Stoves? As in, multiple stoves?"

"Well, we kinda needed a lot, and I thought that we could get a lot made faster if we used all the stoves…"

Jaune sighed. "Nora...you agreed that you wouldn't take Percival out of the auditorium. Then you did so. Not only that, but then you caused a fire in the process. That makes me believe that you can't be trusted when you say something."

Nora looked miserable. After a moment, Jaune took pity on her.

"That feeling that you're feeling right now? It isn't pleasant, correct?"

She nodded, trying not to cry.

"Just recall that feeling the next time that you have a whim that contradicts your word. Before you take an action, stop and consider if what you're doing will make you feel that way in the future. You cannot change what you did in the past. Trust me, I wish that I could as well. All that you can do is resolve to do better in the future."

Slowly, she looked up at him, a faint smile on her face. "Thank you, Jauney. I promise that I'll try harder in the future."

"I'll hold you to that promise," he said. "Should you pass Initiation, you should look into making amends to the kitchen staff whom you've inconvenienced with your behavior. We should always be respectful and cordial to those who serve. I believe that you owe your boyfriend an apology as well when he returns."

Nora's cheeks, already ruddy, went even more red at the notion that this kind, puppy-wielding stranger thought that she and Ren were A Thing. "We're not together!" she squeaked. "I mean, we've been together for a long, long, long, long time, but we're not, you know, together-together, even though he's really handsome and brave and kind and he makes everything calm and makes sense while I'm just the troublemaking wahoo girl that ruins everything…"

Jaune was still trying to calm Nora down from her depressive episode when a slightly-singed Lie Ren returned to them. "I apologize. I was distracted -"

"I'm so sorry, Ren!" Nora glomped onto the man with whom she'd insisted she was not together-together. "I did a dumb, and then Jaune talked to me about trust and guilt and feelings and I don't want to feel bad and I feel even more bad that I dragged you into it! Again!"

Ren just patted Nora on the back. "Just give her some time," he said to Jaune, who was bewildered and completely out of his element. "She'll be back to her normal self soon."

Jaune, for one, was having doubts about whether or not Nora was emotionally stable enough for a vocation involving combat, but was unsure how to bring that up without giving offense. In the end, he decided not to say anything, and just trust that Ozpin had his reasons for giving the girl a fair shot.

True to Ren's prediction, Nora soon calmed down into a more sedate state, one which Jaune hoped was stable enough for him to give a warning about the Winchester that he'd met earlier. "Listen, you both may need to watch your six," he said in a low voice, addressing them both. "Do you see those boys over there? The one with the bird on his armor, his name is Cardin Winchester, and he was...eyeing you, Nora. He had less than complimentary things to say about your mental faculties and his assessment of you physically was...crude, to say the least."

"Ohhh," Nora said as she cottoned on to what Jaune was saying. "Also, ew. You don't have to worry about me. If he tries anything, I'll break his legs!" Nora chirped happily.

"She really will," added Ren. "I've seen her do it before. Still," he mused, his eyes narrowed dangerously at where the oblivious Winchester held court among other boys, "I will remember the name. Cardin Winchester."

"Hopefully he gets eaten by a Nevermore and we won't have to bother with it," Nora suggested, her earlier cheer now returning. "Still, aren't you a big 'ol softie, looking out for little 'ol me?" She snatched up Jaune, and for the second time that day, the aspiring knight was subjected to a bone crushing hug.

Maybe she was related to Professor Port? A granddaughter, perhaps?

"I hope you make it through Initiation," she said, soft and almost shyly. "We would make a great team. Me and Ren and Percy, and you could be our Fearless Leader!"

"...Does the dog count as a team member?" Ren asked, confused.

Jaune shook his head. "No, he's part of a separate program to train Huntsman-class canines, but given that I'm his caretaker, he stays with me and will go on missions with me. Ozpin mentioned that he's apparently something called a 'morality pet,' but he wouldn't elaborate on the meaning of the term." Jaune shrugged. "At any rate, why would you want me to be your leader? Wouldn't Ren be a better pick for the job, since you know him much better?"

"Please no," Ren quickly blurted, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Besides," Nora said, "You spoke to me about my causing problems, got on Ren's good side, and you're already doing the most important part of the job - looking out for us! Unless...you have other friends coming along tomorrow? Someone special?"

Jaune shook his head. "Not friends, anyway - unless they're friends that I haven't met yet, like you two were - but...well, there is someone special on the way."

Nora brightened up. "Really? What are they like?"

Jaune leaned back on his cot, hands behind his head.

"She's an angel."

[/]

Ruby Rose was off to a rough start. More to the point, she was lying in a crater, covered in soot, after some snotty rich girl had gone waving her Dust around, and then yelled at her like it was her fault. Stupid rich girl. Stupid Yang, ditching her to flail around all alone like that. Stupid Ruby.

A shadow fell over her.

"Hello, there. Do you need a hand?"

The shadow extended a hand to her, a white-steel and bronze gauntlet glistening as it caught the light of the sun. As the stranger helped her up, Ruby saw that it was a boy, a tall boy, blonde and wearing armor that shone in the sunlight. "Are you hurt?" he asked her.

"Um...no! I'm okay!" Ruby squeaked, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "I blew up."

"I see."

Drats! Ruby couldn't think of something to say! "Um...my name is Ruby Rose! What's yours?"

"Jaune Arc. Pleased to meet you. Do you need directions to the auditorium?"

"I, uh...would it be okay if you walked me there?"

The pair strolled through a lovely garden on the way towards the auditorium. "So, Jaune, why did you stop to help the girl in a crater?"

The tall man beside her shrugged. "The true knight stands ready to help those in need. Even if that need is just a hand up."

"A knight? Like in the storybooks?"

Jaune hesitated. "I'm...trying to become one. It's something of a family tradition."

"That's….so….cool!" Ruby gushed. "Do you have a horse and everything?"

He shook his head. "No horse, I'm afraid."

Ruby deflated a little. "Oh. Be cooler if you had a horse."

Jaune just shrugged, and began to walk ahead. No! She couldn't let this one chance at normal social interaction fail!

"Do you like weapons?" blurted Ruby. "Because I have this!" With a flourish, she fully unfolded Crescent Rose, in all of its massive, be-scythed glory.

There was a pause. There was always a pause just before the person she was talking to made some excuse and ran away!

"High-impact sniper rifle," Jaune mused. "With attached scythe for melee capability. Given your light frame, I imagine that the recoil could help with making pulling cuts with the inside edge. Still, the weight must be something else, and the mobility issues would be too great to overcome unless…" he snapped his fingers. "You disabled the internal gyro compensator altogether, didn't you? You turned it into an impromptu Ruby launcher!"

Her silver eyes glistened in wonder. Was this happening? Did he speak Weapons?! "Yes! I mean, no, not exactly, but close! I took out the compensator completely to save weight!"

He eyed her baby carefully. "But with a bore like that, you'd burn out the rear haft piston in just a few dozen shots if you were firing her uncompensated."

"Ordinarily, sure, but I custom built an auxiliary fluidic compressor to take the stresses off of the rear haft!"

Jaune blinked. "Miss Rose, I believe you may be a genius."

"Hooray! Successful social interaction achieved!" Ruby was so thrilled that she thought she might just take off and walk on the clouds. "So, what do you have?"

"Oh." He drew a sword from his sheath. "It's a sword. The sheath also expands to become a shield."

Ruby waited with bated breath for him to continue. "And…?"

"Oh, and a spear."

There was a beat.

"What else does that do?"

He shrugged. "It...it stabs things. Because it's a spear."

"Is that it?"

"An ancestor of mine once used it to kill a dragon."

"What?!"

Jaune shrugged again. "A dragon. He stabbed it. With a spear. It turns out that a weapon doesn't need to be too elaborate if it's really good at doing one job well."

"Arf!"

"Oh, and there's Percival."

Ruby's heart caught in her throat as she saw a little golden retriever puppy bound out of a bush, where it had discreetly gone to pee. As it got closer, she saw that it wasn't just a puppy, but a puppy with a little suit of armor on it! Jaune knelt down to pet the dog, who licked happily at his face. This man, this tall, blonde, handsome older boy, picked her up out of a crater solely to do the right thing, spoke Weapons, and had not only a puppy, but a little puppy knight! Was this what love felt like?!

When he heard a sudden, high-pitched shriek beside him, Jaune's hand immediately dropped to his sword, and he began looking around for the threat. "Ruby?" However, instead of finding the young girl being mauled by some heretofore-unseen Grimm, the Rose girl was shrieking with delight at Percival, who had flopped onto his side and was, for some reason that only made sense in his little dog brain, pantomiming running in place in the grass while on his side.

Jaune sighed. "Come on, the both of you. We shouldn't miss the preliminary briefing."

As they reached the auditorium, Jaune stopped dead in his tracks.

"Jaune?" asked Ruby. "What is it?"

He looked down at the girl, face ashen and expression grave. "Excuse me, Miss Rose. Something just came up." Jaune nodded once to the girl before slipping away. Unless he was mistaken, he'd just seen a known White Fang saboteur walking the campus of Beacon.

[/]

There were times when Blake Belladonna worried that she'd grown paranoid in the weeks since she'd fled the White Fang. She'd spent that time looking over her shoulder, convinced that, at any moment, any of the Faunus nearby would don the trademark Grimm mask and execute her for treason against the Faunus people.

So she kicked herself, a little, for forgetting that there were others who might not look too kindly on someone with her past, especially when the tall, armored human had grabbed her and pulled her into a janitor's closet.

"Blake Belladonna," the young man said, his tone as cold as the Atlas winters.

"Um, that's me...can I help you?"

His gaze narrowed into a glare. "Allow me to rephrase. Known White Fang saboteur and rumored lover of Adam Taurus, Blake Belladonna. Why are you here? What are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything!" she protested.

The stony silence that followed told her just how little he believed her. "A known Fang just happens to enlist at Beacon the same day that Weiss Schnee arrives, and I'm to believe that to be mere coincidence?"

Her bow twitched. "It is! I left the White Fang and came here to be a Huntress! To make amends for my past, to make things right!"

Jaune frowned, looming over the Faunus girl. Enhanced interrogation - torture - was publicly frowned upon in Atlas, but Jaune had nevertheless been extensively trained in how to break recalcitrant Fang. Everyone broke, if you hit them hard enough and long enough. It was all a matter of finding the vulnerability and forcing it open. He didn't have the time or space for drugs, stress positions and sleep deprivation, nor the equipment for electroshock torture. He supposed that her bow could be used as a gag for an impromptu waterboarding session, and if she continued to resist, mutilation of Faunus body parts was a well-known, if unsophisticated, method of inflicting severe psychological trauma. He'd done it before to Fang who refused to talk. If he cut off one of her body parts - cat ears, if he remembered correctly - and tore it apart in front of her, the horror and loss would combine with the desperate need to keep her remaining ear and make her -

The realization of what he was thinking - of what he could do, and what he had done to others in the past - hit Jaune like a strike to the chest.

Blake was preparing for a fight, when the human that had been glaring at her abruptly went as white as a sheet and backed away from her with stiff, almost robotic steps. Despite the fact that the man had clearly been preparing to make a threat to her, Blake, before she could stop herself, asked "Are...are you alright?"

The man forced himself to stand straight. "I'm going to let you go, Belladonna. Don't make me regret this decision. If the Fang comes after Weiss Schnee, and I find out that you had anything to do with it, you will die by inches, that I promise you."

"Why are you letting me go?"

The man was silent, his gaze distant. Blake cautiously eased past him, opening up the door. Just before she left, he spoke up.

"You're not the only one who needs to make things right."

He waited for a moment after she left before exiting the closet and sinking to the floor, his head hung low. The last of the Arcs. What a joke. His family had died, the only thing remaining being some psychotic mockery of their name. Honor. Justice. If he had any honor, he would brace the pommel of Crocea Mors against the floor, and exact justice by falling on the blade.

"Arf!"

Percival sat at his feet, head cocked in the curious manner that dogs had, his tail wagging back and forth. Jaune sighed at the sight. The poor dog had no idea that his human was a monster. He knelt down to pet the dog, feeling the soft golden fur of Percival's head and neck. If Jaune killed himself, it would ease his shame, but it wouldn't do anything to make anything else any better. For his crimes, Jaune sentenced himself to a life in service of the people of Remnant, and he could not escape justice through his own death.

He sighed. "Come on, Percival. Let's go get started."

[/]

Yang felt a little bad about ditching Rubes as soon as they got off the airship, but her little sister needed to learn how to talk to people on her own sometime. What better opportunity than the first day at an entirely new school, where she could make positive first impressions on new people?

"Yaaaaaang!"

The blonde bombshell rolled her eyes fondly as said baby sister zipped up to her, smiling as she prepared for the inevitable accusations and dramatic tale of how the fifteen-year old girl somehow managed to ruin everything for the rest of forever in the half-hour that they'd been apart. Instead, Ruby had a truly massive grin on her face, and her silver eyes sparkled with joy.

Oh? Had Ruby managed to make a friend?

"I met a boy!"

Yang blinked. What? A boy? Ruby? Since when did Ruby even notice boys? And how had she nabbed one so fast? Had she made a mistake letting Ruby wander on her own?

"He was all tall and blonde, and he helped me out of a crater because he's a knight like in the storybooks, and he speaks Weapons! He figured out the gyro compensator on my baby just by looking at it, and he has a puppy and the puppy is a knight too!" Ruby babbled breathlessly. "He's going to be my boyfriend," she announced, her eyelids half-closed in dreamy anticipation. "He just doesn't know it yet."

Making a mental note to pummel all blonde guys just as a precaution, to let them know not to mistreat her sister, Yang smiled down at the little Rose. "Well, where is he?"

"Oh, well, he said he had to do a thing, but I'm sure he'll be back! Try not to beat him up too hard, okay?"

Yang smirked. "I can only promise to try not to break him. But what was that about being in a crater?"

Ruby fidgeted, glancing down. "Well, uh, I kind of ran into this mean rich girl, and we sorta, you know, blew up."

"You blew up?!"

Before the younger sister could answer, she was interrupted. "You!"

A short, white-haired girl with a supremely annoyed expression stormed up to them. "Ah, it's happening again!" Ruby leapt into her sister's arms for protection.

"Are you going around blowing up other students' Dust now?" the newcomer snapped.

"I said I was sorry!" wailed Ruby.

Yang looked at her sister wonderingly. "You really did blow up?"

The white-haired girl huffed. "Indeed she did. Here, you obviously need this." The girl shoved a thick pamphlet in Ruby's face, one titled "Dust for Dummies and Other Inadequate Individuals." "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust application in the field."

Poor Ruby looked miserable. "I can make it up to you…"

"You want to make it up to me? Read this and don't ever speak to me again," the Schnee girl snapped.

Yang's eyes turned red as she set down her sister and turned to the other girl. "Hey, what's your problem?"

"She's a hazard to my health!"

The blonde forced herself to take a deep breath. "Look, you two obviously got off on the wrong foot, but if you just gave Ruby a chance, I'm sure you could be friends!"

The girl huffed. "Oh, sure. We can hang out, shop for school supplies, and talk about cute boys like -" She cut off her sarcastic rant as she caught sight of a man making his way through the auditorium.

He was out of uniform, but Weiss didn't mind. He bore gleaming armor of white-steel and bronze, a sword at his side. His blonde hair had grown out a bit from the military cut, and was beginning to raise and spike a little at the front. She had always wished that he could grow his hair out, so that she could run her fingers through it properly. He was strong and broad like a maiden's fantasy, but most impossibly of all, he was here and he was hers.

"That's him!" Ruby pointed out to her sister. "That's the boy that I met!"

Yang suppressed the urge to whistle. Holy crap. It turned out that baby sister liked boys after all, she just had extremely high standards to get her to notice them.

The white-haired girl who had been berating Ruby a moment ago took off towards him, "Dust for Dummies" left to fall, forgotten, to the floor. Her heeled boots clacked against the stone floor as her pace quickened into a run.

"Jaune!"

The man turned towards her, and the girl leapt into his arms. He caught her, spinning her in a circle before pulling her into a tight and tender embrace, one full with a desperate need.

Beside her sister, Ruby let out a little strangled "What?"

Yang watched Ruby's heart break over a guy for the first time, and due to the girl who had been mean to her no less, and struggled to figure out what to say.

"Oof. That's rough, Ruby."

[/]

Weiss's heart caught in her chest as Jaune spun her around and pulled her in close. On instinct, she looked over his shoulder to make sure that her father wasn't around, before remembering that this was Beacon, not the Schnee Manor. She was free to embrace her Jaune as much as she wished without fear or reservation.

"How?" she asked.

Jaune hesitated. "I am...no longer associated with the Atlesian Armed Forces."

"What? That was your life!"

"Was." He shook his head. "I have a new life now."

She reached up to cup his cheek. "And the Vanguard Project? You were so proud when you told me that Ironwood had selected you…"

Jaune winced. "I...failed my final evaluation. After that, Headmaster Ozpin asked me to come and attend Beacon. I didn't have any better ideas, and since you were coming here as well.."

Weiss beamed at him. "Well, it's the General's loss, then. If you couldn't pass his evaluation, then no one could. Still, this means that you're free to be with me, to go wherever you want! Jaune, your whole life is open to you now!"

"I...Weiss, the Headmaster had more to tell me. I have a family legacy of my own to uphold now. There was a lot about who I was that...there was much that I did that was wrong. As I said, I have a new life now, and I mean to become a better man for it. I...I hope that you'll still wish to be a part of it."

Popping up on her toes, Weiss gave him a soft, chaste kiss on the cheek. "You dummy," she whispered. "You don't need to ask."

"Arf!"

"Oh, and Percival's here too," Jaune added belatedly.

Weiss's pupils dilated as she saw their little puppy, all decked out in armor, just like his daddy. Drawing in a deep breath, she squeed as she fell to her knees. Percival yipped happily, licking at her face.

"Oh, my little boy is getting so big and strong, just like daddy! You're going to stay and wiv wif mommy and daddy for forevuh and evuh! Oh, I just love you so much!"

Jaune scratched the back of his head as Weiss went temporarily insane upon her reunion with the dog. "You know, Ruby had a similar reaction when she met him as well. Is there some biological response that makes women shriek upon seeing him?"

She looked at him. "Ruby?"

He nodded. "A young girl that I met when I was out looking for you. I thought you'd be arriving in the ship from Atlas...at any rate, she was in a crater, alone and miserable, so the least that I could do was help her to her feet and walk her to the auditorium. If she's as skilled a Huntress as she is an engineer, then she will do well here. I'm hoping to get her assistance in restoring my family's heirloom weapons to optimal condition. She should be around here, if you'd like to meet her."

Weiss's eyes widened in panic. "Um, let's hold off on that," she said quickly. Fortunately, the Headmaster stepped up to the podium, rescuing her from an awkward conversation.

[/]

"Well, what about that one? Momma like," Yang purred at a passing boy as she and her sister rested on their cots in the auditorium. Her attempts to cheer up her sister by finding another boy to catch her eye were not going well. At all.

Ruby just made a sad little whining sound from beside her.

Across the way, the object of her sister's affections had stripped down to just his buckskin pants. His extremely tight buckskin pants, accentuating his narrow waist and contrasting with his broad chest and shoulders, which bore strong, lean and defined muscles. That Schnee girl was trying not to grin like the cat that had just eaten an entire flock of canaries, and though Yang was still of half a mind to sock the bitch for how she'd spoken to her sister, even she couldn't blame her for her look of poorly-concealed giddiness.

Jaune, for his part, seemed oblivious to the feminine dynamics at play around him.

Yang sighed. "Okay, so maybe romance is a no-go for right now, but that doesn't mean that we can't still make friends, right? What about her?" she asked, indicating a pretty ravenette who was reading a book by candlelight. Yowza.

Ruby just made a sad little Ruby noise. Yang just reached over and bodily hefted up her sister. "C'mon, let's go say hello."

[/]

Pyrrha Nikos tried very hard not to sigh. She'd been hoping that leaving Mistral would make it easier for her to meet people who wouldn't be so taken by her fame, but that clearly was not the case. She'd thought that, coming from a similar background of fame due to her family name and music career, Weiss Schnee would have been different, but alas, that was to no avail. The girl was completely unsubtle in her machinations to use her for her own social advancement.

She tried very hard not to wince at the smaller girl.

"Oh, Jaune, over here!" Weiss called to a young man who was adjusting a gauntlet. "There's someone I want you to meet!" The armored blonde looked up, shrugged, and ambled his way over there. "This is Jaune Arc," Weiss said, taking the man's arm with an easy familiarity. "He's an extremely skilled fighter, trained personally by General Ironwood himself."

"That's impressive," Pyrrha said politely.

"Jaune, this is Pyrrha Nikos," continued Weiss. She paused to allow Jaune to recognize the name, but then frowned as she realized that he didn't. "Pyrrha won the Mistral Tournament a record-breaking four times in a row!"

"Hello, Pyrrha," Jaune said blandly. "What kind of tournament did you win?"

Both of the girls stared at him. "It was a combat tournament," Pyrrha said, slightly bewildered.

"Oh, so you're some kind of sparring champion?"

Weiss immediately interposed herself between the two. "You'll have to forgive him, he had a very...sheltered upbringing," she said quickly.

Jaune cocked his head, curiously. "No I didn't. I've been fighting for as long as I can remember."

Weiss's smile turned brittle. "At any rate," she said, hoping that Jaune would get the hint, "I'm sure that he would make another excellent addition to our team."

"Actually, I'd prefer not to be on a team with you, Weiss," Jaune said.

"What?!" Weiss turned her back on the champion as she stared, hurt and betrayed, at Jaune. "Why not?"

"Compartmentalization," he answered. "I need to be able to think clearly and objectively to best interface with a team, and I can't do that if I worry about you more than everyone else, or compromise team effectiveness. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of the team."

That...was actually rather sweet, in a Jaune sort of way. His words were sound and logical, but the meaning behind it, which Weiss realized, was that he was saying "I hold you to be more important than my mission." For Jaune, that was huge.

"That's quite mature of you, Jaune," Pyrrha said. "Most of the couples here are looking to pair up together."

He nodded, accepting the praise. "Well, if Weiss speaks highly of your abilities, you must be a skilled fighter yourself. Perhaps we could work well together, if that's how things end up."

Weiss tried not to be jealous as Pyrrha and Jaune discussed their weapons and experience in anticipation of a possible team-up. Even with her personal stake in the matter, the Huntress side of her recognized that a partnership between those two would be nothing short of titanic. In fact, Jaune might be the only student in their year who could push Pyrrha on her own level, and vice-versa. Though he tried to hide it, Weiss knew that he never went all-out in his own spars with her, having a natural resistance to striking her at all.

She released her envy with a sigh. If nothing else, she could sell tickets to their bouts and make a killing. Maybe she would use the proceeds to fund their first proper date, instead of stolen moments facilitated by sympathetic servants who found their forbidden romance touching.

[/]

Then

In the two years since their abbreviated dance, and the subsequent release of Weiss's tragic romance song "Eyes on Me," the staff working at the Schnee Manor had always sent for him when Weiss needed him, passing him notes and clearing his way to her.

It paid to win over the working people, whose quiet efforts so often went unnoticed by their arrogant employer.

This note had sent Jaune to the manor with a particular urgency.

Weiss had been injured.

As he arrived at the Manor, the Schnee family butler, a gentleman's gentleman named Klein Sieben, ushered him through the quiet marble halls towards Weiss's rooms. Jaune's shoulders slumped with relief as he saw her sitting silently in a chair, looking out through the window.

"Master Arc, Mistress Schnee," Klein announced, before stepping back through the door to allow the young couple some privacy.

"Weiss?" Jaune cautiously approached. "The note said that you were injured. Are you -"

"I am...otherwise unharmed," she said, her voice quiet. She remained seated, facing away from him.

He frowned. "Weiss, what is it?" Gently, he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to hide part of her face from him.

"I...I don't want you to see," she whispered.

"Weiss…" Carefully, he cupped her chin and gently turned her face towards him. Tears welled in her crystal blue eyes as he saw a fresh scar running vertically down her face, from above her left eyebrow to her cheekbone. Thankfully, the eye itself remained uninjured.

Jaune cupped her cheek. "All that the scar means is that you're too tough for whatever it was you fought to beat you."

"It was an Arma Gigas," she mumbled.

He raised an eyebrow. "On your own? That's even more impressive. That scar is just a symbol of how brave you are."

"It's a permanent reminder that I failed to maintain proper concentration."

"That's combat," he rejoined. "No one who fights does so for long without picking up a few scars. Here, let me show you some of mine." Those crystal eyes of hers flew open wide as he stepped back and began unbuttoning his uniform shirt.

"Jaune!" she cried as she rose to her feet, scandalized. "What are you doing?"

He was entirely unphased. "My scars aren't on my face."

Weiss's face reddened as he pulled off his shirt. He was cut, lean and defined. As if it had a mind of her own, Weiss's hand reached out to touch one of his pectoral muscles, which might have been carved from stone for how hard it was. That blush deepened as he guided her other hand towards his abs. "This one, I picked up when a Fang stuck a knife in me after I thought he was neutralized."

Then the door opened.

"Weiss? I thought I heard you shout...oh my." Winter paused as she saw her little sister with her hands on a very much shirtless Jaune Arc.

"Winter! It...It isn't what it looks like!" Weiss was flustered. "Jaune was just comforting me about the scar!"

"Oh, I'm sure he was," she said with just a hint of mirth. "I'm just going to close this door and pretend that I heard nothing," the elder soldier said, shooting a wink to her sister.

"It's not like that!"

"Mmhmm. Then why are your hands still on him, hmm? Jaune, do be a dear and make sure that you two use protection, yes?"

"As you say, ma'am," he said, to Weiss's eternal mortification. He even saluted, because of course he would.

"Winter! It's not like that! Nooooo!"

The Specialist laughed, actually laughed as she began to close the door. "Do have fun, little sister."

Weiss stood there, speechless. Her blush had traveled down her neck and even to the tips of her ears. She turned to her companion. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"She wasn't wrong about protection," he answered.

Her jaw dropped. "What?!" Was this it? Was Jaune really going to fall on her like the slab of pure-cut man-beef that he was and make love with her? Was she ready for this? Her stomach clenched in nervousness. Was it too early for her to share her virginity with him? Were they too young? Why were her hands still on him? And what was taking him so long to make with the lovemaking?

Jaune just looked at her curiously. "Some armor would not be remiss, especially since your Aura reserves aren't as large as mine. It would make me feel better that you would have some extra protection."

She stared at him. Was he real? "You...you absolute dunce!"

Her disappointment didn't keep her hands from continuing to roam across his torso. The scar was the last thing on her mind.

[/]

Now

Jaune focused as he flew through the air. The Headmaster had said that the Initiation Mission had two components: finding his partner and retrieving a relic. While the other students just enjoyed the sensation of having been launched from the cliff into the Emerald Forest, Jaune took advantage of the elevation to scout likely locations for the relics. He could make out what appeared to be crumbling ruins two klicks to the north. Those would be the most likely place to find those relics, and if not, the high cliffs behind them could offer another vantage point.

As he descended, he picked out a sturdy-looking tree and braced for impact. He caught one of the branches and allowed the momentum to carry him over and around like a gymnast on bars. He jumped to another, lower branch, repeating the process several times under enough velocity had bled away from him to safely roll to the forest floor. He checked for nearby enemies, and finding none, knelt down and opened up his knapsack. A dizzy Percival stumbled out, tripping onto his face before popping back up with a happy bark.

"On me," he ordered the dog, before the pair slipped deeper into the forest.

After a few moments of traversing the trees, Jaune paused as he heard gunfire nearby. He made his way over to a clearing, to see Pyrrha Nikos fending off a pack of Beowulves. First objective: find a partner. Jaune burst into the clearing, drawing Crocea Mors as he charged. There was nothing fanciful about his swordsmanship, no extraneous movements or wasted energy, only quick, lethally-efficient stabs and the occasional cut. With every movement, a Grimm died.

Jaune was pleased to discover that Weiss's assessment of Pyrrha's combat effectiveness was correct, though her background as a show fighter made itself known. Only the most highly-skilled would have noticed it, let alone be able to take advantage of it, but Pyrrha's movements bore extra, flashy positions designed to make her look good for an audience. Even if ninety-nine percent of fighters would be unable to capitalize off of that minor weakness, the one that could could well prove deadly to her. Jaune resolved to make addressing that weakness a priority in the near future.

"Hello, again!" Pyrrha greeted him cheerfully, her smile widening as she saw Percival peek his head out from behind a tree. "I see your girlfriend was right about your prowess."

"Good to see you," Jaune said politely. "I saw some ruins about two klicks to the north. Odds are good that they hold the remaining objective. We should check there first, unless you saw another likely location."

"No, north sounds grand," she said. Pyrrha held out an arm. Jaune moved to shake it, when Pyrrha grasped him instead by the forearm. "A traditional warrior's greeting from my homeland," she explained. "Lead the way, partner."

When he had first met Nora Valkyrie, Jaune had held private reservations about her capability as a Huntress. As he watched her extend the haft of her weapon to reveal it as a massive warhammer, one which she used to gleefully golf-swing an Ursa into the far distance, Jaune understood what it was that Ozpin saw in her. For all that her excitable personality could prove a complication in day-to-day life, on the field, Nora was a downright siege weapon of considerable power and ineffable stamina.

Her partner in crime, Lie Ren, soon arrived on the scene. After it was established that Jaune and Pyrrha were partners, Ren gave a soft, understated smile to Nora, who responded by booping him on the nose. Among the list of priorities for establishing this new team was addressing the romantic tension between the two. Jaune didn't want to pry into their private affairs, but he needed to make sure that they would be capable of keeping a clear head if one were to be endangered. On the other hand, they knew each other quite well, and operated smoothly as a single unit when things were going well. Jaune hoped that they wouldn't have to stress-test that partnership any time soon.

Also, Percival, his stubby puppy legs growing weary, hitched a ride on Nora's head.

"Were you headed for the ruins?" Jaune asked Ren. He nodded in confirmation. "We had the same idea," he continued. "We're almost to the ruins, so let's keep it tight and be careful as we make our way there."

"Well, we could do that, but we've barely fought any Grimm yet!" Nora complained. "Maybe we could make a detour or two and rustle up something fun to fight?"

Jaune shook his head. "Negative. Our remaining objective is to secure the relics for our team, and starting unnecessary combat encounters could hinder, or outright prevent mission success. I don't know about you, but I didn't come here to fail. Now, let's move out."

While they walked, the newly-formed team discussed their weapons, Semblances, and talents. Lie Ren was a natural skirmisher, favoring hit and run tactics while paired up with Nora, whose warhammer and grenade launcher made her well-suited for delivering crippling blows to her enemies. With her broad shield and weapon - which could be a short sword, long spear, or a rifle - Pyrrha Nikos was deadly at any range.

As the four teens - and dog - approached the clearing in front of the ruins, Jaune held up his hand to call for a halt. As his teammates looked on curiously, he used Atlas military hand signals to order Pyrrha to cover his right, Ren to cover his left, and for Nora to bring up the rear as he checked out the circle of columns ahead of them.

"What's he doing?" Pyrrha asked, curious.

"Is this charades? I love charades!" chirped Nora.

Jaune turned around to stare at them, appalled. What were they teaching at those prep schools of theirs? "Those are hand signals, for communicating silently. Since it's obvious that you don't know them, I'll have to make teaching them a priority after this mission. Pyrrha, cover my right, Ren my left, and Nora has the rear. I'm going to approach the pedestal in the middle of that circle of columns."

They cautiously made their way into the clearing, weapons drawn and eyes wide. When it became apparent that there was nothing there waiting to pounce upon them and rend them limb-from-limb, they relaxed and approached the pedestal.

"Are those...chess pieces?" Ren wondered.

Jaune frowned. "The symbolism is obvious. There's a long game being played, and we're the pieces on the board. We're each supposed to grab a single piece, and given that we're meant to be on teams of four, grabbing the same piece would likely put us on the same team."

"Ooh, let's go for this one!" Nora snatched up a rook piece. "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" she sang happily.

"Make sure to stow them safely," Jaune added, as they collected the remaining three rooks. "Would hate to fail over something foolish, like dropping the piece. Other than that...congratulations on completing our first mission."

The other three teens cheered. "We're gonna be the best ever!" crowed Nora.

"I wonder where the others went?" wondered Pyrrha.

As soon as she asked the question, Ruby Rose fell from on high, crashing into a nearby tree.

"Ruby!" Jaune cried, running over. He jumped into the tree, finding the girl rubbing her head with her hand.

"Owwwww," the little reaper complained. She looked up sharply as she realized who had found her. "Jaune!" she blushed as she saw him.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I conked my head," she griped.

"What were you doing flying like that? That couldn't have been from the launch, that was -"

Jaune's inquiry was interrupted by the unmistakable screech of a Nevermore. The giant avian Grimm flew a circle overhead.

"How could you leave me?!" squealed a very familiar voice.

"Weiss?" As Jaune watched, he saw her fall from the back of the creature, tumbling through the air. He didn't give Ruby a second thought as he rushed to the edge of the tree branch, and then, with expert timing, he leapt into the air, gathering Weiss in his arms.

Crystal blue eyes blinked as she realized that she had been caught. "My hero," she murmured.

"As you say," he answered.

He landed with practiced ease, and then carried her over to where the rest of his team, and Ruby Rose, had gathered.

"Oh yeah, no, that's fine, just carry her like your blushing bride, never mind little old Ruby stuck in a tree," muttered Ruby, her expression downcast.

He set Weiss down. "So, you two are partners?"

Weiss huffed. "Hardly. All she's done is cause problems and rush ahead like a foolish child. Honestly, I don't know how she even got into Beacon, because she clearly isn't ready for it."

Jaune frowned. "You've barely had a chance to get to know her. That's not enough time to make such a harsh and definitive judgement."

Whatever Weiss was about to say was lost as trees near the clearing came crashing down. Jaune's frown deepened as he saw Blake Belladonna swing into the clearing on a black ribbon. Just behind her, Yang was running at full-tilt, while just behind her, an Elder Deathclaw gave chase.

"Guys!" Yang shouted. "I screwed up!"

As his team readied their weapons, the Nevermore screeched once more, and dove into a strafing run. Jaune reached over his shoulder for his rifle, only to realize that it wasn't there. He was going to need a new ranged weapon, and soon. "Pyrrha, Ren, open fire on the bird! Nora, suppressive fire on the scorpion! Move!"

Gunshots rang out across the clearing, and large plumes of pink flame scorched the carapace of the Deathstalker. Jaune grimaced as Ruby rushed ahead recklessly, and a sharpened quill fired from the bird caught the edge of her cape, pinning her to the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang rushed to her sister's defense, but she would be too slow to make it in time. Fortunately, Weiss used one of her glyphs to dash in front of her partner, and her Ice Dust to create a protective barrier ahead of the both of them.

"Belladonna!" Jaune called out to the hidden Faunus, who looked startled that he addressed her. "You four are more suited to range! Take the bird, we'll take the bug!" With that, Jaune dashed off to join the rest of his team. "The stinger is the weak point!" He called out. He knelt down and extended his right fist to fire his wrist-mounted grapnel...only to realize that it, too, was gone. He growled in frustration.

In The Book of Five Rings, the Master wrote that there was no difference, fundamentally, in a battle between two men, five men, or five thousand men. Jaune had never truly understood what he had meant until that moment. If the weapons that he had relied upon were gone, he could use his teammates as extensions of his will, weapons in their own right. As the duelist commanded his arms and legs, the Huntsman commanded his teammates, and the General commanded his armies. There was no difference. None.

"I'll get in its face, draw its attention! Ren, flank, grab the tail and hold it upright. Pyrrha, sever the stinger, then Nora!"

"Yeah?" The girl in question asked.

"Smash," he said simply.

Nora grinned. "I love you, Fearless Leader."

"Move out!"

The team rushed the Deathstalker. Jaune blocked a pincer with his shield, then extended his spear, using the weapon's reach to drive the white-steel tip into one of the many eyes of the creature. He tried to push forward, in an attempt to skewer the brain, but the scorpion used its multitudinous legs to dig into the dirt and push back. With its focus on Jaune, Ren was able to scale the creature's tail and pull it upright, exposing the glistening yellow stinger. Between his machine pistols and an expertly-placed throw from Pyrrha, they severed the stinger, dropping it into the weak point between the arachnid's faux-chitinous plates. Pyrrha gave Nora a boost, and the happy girl slammed her hammer into the stinger like a thunderstrike from the gods, collapsing its entire head and killing the Grimm instantly.

Jaune pulled his spear free from the dissolving corpse, and looked up to see Ruby on a cliff, the decapitated head of the Nevermore falling below her. He breathed a sigh of relief as the girls made their way back to the pedestal.

"I was gonna pose all cool and stuff, but then Weiss reminded me that we still had to get the pieces," Ruby reported. She picked up the knight piece. "Hey look, a horsey. You should get a horsey, Jaune. Jaune?"

The aspiring knight was struggling with his spear, as it had become stuck in the extended position. "I'm sorry, it's just that there appears to be an issue with my spear."

Yang smiled widely. "What, so you whip it out around us and it just refuses to go back down?"

"It hasn't seen much use lately."

"What, Ice Queen hasn't been taking care of it?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "This is the first time Weiss has ever seen my spear."

"Oh, really?" Yang cackled as the heiress in question sputtered.

"Indeed."

"You know, if it doesn't go back down after four hours, you should see a doctor."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm perfectly healthy. It looks like it just needs some in-depth maintenance. Ruby, would you like to help me with my spear later?"

"Oh, I'm sure Ruby would love to get her hands all over your spear, isn't that right, sis?"

Ruby nodded, just as oblivious as Jaune to the lewd innuendo. "I have a special oil that I can use on it."

"Absolutely not!" Weiss blurted.

"What?" asked Jaune. "I don't see any harm in letting her touch my spear, as long as she's careful with it."

"I know how important your weapons are to you, and I can help take good care of them!" Ruby cheered. "Together, we can get your spear all lubed up!"

Weiss was nearly incandescent with outrage. She was partnered with one dolt, whose sister was another dolt, and she was in love with what was apparently the King of All Dolts!

"I think that's enough crude wordplay for now," Blake interjected. A timely move, as Yang was practically hyperventilating with laughter.

"Some propriety at last," Weiss said, sending a thankful look to the quiet girl.

"Oh, that reminds me," Jaune said. "Are you going to be comfortable working alongside Blake?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"She hasn't told you yet? Blake is known to have worked for the White Fang."

[/]

Chapter Endnotes: In comes Jaune, dropping bombs.

A lot of people wanted to know how Jaune would interact with Blake. He isn't going to murder her, but he isn't going to lie to his Weiss either. If it came out that Jaune knew and kept that extremely pertinent information to himself for months, their relationship would be over.

Of course, Jaune's hands aren't clean either.

Ren has a lot of similarities to this Jaune, and they get on like a house on fire. Just, you know, quieter. Jaune is a bit taken aback by Nora, but given how good-natured she is, his newfound determination to be a good person ultimately shines through. The doggo helps. And with Pyrrha? Well, poor Pyrrha in canon never had much characterization beyond "sisterzoned crush whose life revolves around Jaune," at least until the very end of her life. With Jaune obviously taken and him not needing her as a surrogate mother figure, there's room for new dynamics in their partnership.

Poor Ruby. Romantic disappointment is just a part of growing up. She needs a cookie.

Winter lowkey wingman. She knew Jaune wasn't going to actually try anything, and teasing Weiss is good fun for all. Sadly, Weiss's secret thirst would have to go unsatiated.

I have a lot of respect for Doctor Oobleck. I'm a historian by training, and his points about history, while not especially deep, are particularly relevant for the setting of RWBY. I am tempted to write a Doctor Oobleck fanfic that is just him compiling archival records, just to see how people react.

There's a plot reason for Jaune needing to take his spear apart, but when I came up with a reason why it would need extensive maintenance, the phallic jokes just kept piling up. With both Jaune and Ruby oblivious, well, I couldn't resist.

Hope that you all liked this chapter!

-Mahina