A Flame in the Dark
Jaune, Ruby and Yang slowly made their way off the airship along with all the other applicants. The three were just taking in all the sights of Beacon, up close and personal. Jaune also relishing in the fact that his stomach had settled down now that he was on solid ground. They were all in awe by Beacon and all its glory. It kind of reminded them of the old castles that were in the stories they read when they were younger. He was sure he read those stories to Ruby just as often as Yang did back then.
Jaune just smiled as he saw Ruby start to do her usually thing when she saw other people like them: start gushing how awesome or amazing the weapons around her were. Jaune just chuckled as Yang gave her a deadpanned expression. As Ruby started to move over to one of these weapons, and most likely freak out the owner, Yang snatched her sister by her hood and pulled her back to them. "Easy there, little sis, they're just weapons."
Ruby's eyes went wide and she gasped. Jaune placed his hand over his eyes and sighed, "Oh no." he said with a tiny grin.
"Did you just say, 'just weapons'? They're an extension of ourselves. They're part of us. Not to mention they're so cool!" Ruby started her tirade.
"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? I though you were happy with it?" Yang started.
Ruby instantly unfurled her scythe and held it close, "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose, she's like my baby." She then glared at her sister, "But you wouldn't understand my bond with my weapon. Since you neglect your own so often."
Yang looked stunned by that, "What do you mean? I take care of my weapons all the time."
"Then how come Jaune was helping you clean them a few days ago?" Ruby accused with a smirk that was so Yang-like, anyone who believed they weren't sisters would be proven wrong instantly.
Her eyes widened before she turned to Jaune, "You told her?"
Jaune raised his hands up in mock surrender and Ruby answered, "You two left the door open. If you wanted to keep it a secret, you should've closed the door." She sighed, "You're going to blow your hand off at this rate."
"Will you two stop saying that!?" Yang spoke with a clear amount of annoyance in her voice. She then pointed at her sister, "And don't try to get us off track, we were discussing your weapon obsession."
"It's not an obsession." Ruby denied instantly. "I just like seeing new ones, okay. It's like meeting new people but better…"
Jaune gave her a sympathetic look as Yang ruffled her hair, just before she playfully pulled her hood over her head, "Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?"
Ruby pulled her hood off her head as she looked at her sister in confusion, "Why would I need friends, I have you two?"
"Well…" Yang started and Jaune was stunned when several of her friends from Signal surrounded the two blondes, like they just materialized. "Actually, our friends are here. We gotta go catch up. Okay, see you, bye!" Before Jaune knew it, Yang's arm wrapped around his own and he was forcefully dragged away from his little sister. The suddenness of the speed was enough to spin Ruby around and disorientating her severely. Jaune just watched her as he continuously pulled away.
Jaune finally managed to get her to stop when they were a good distance away from Ruby. He was honestly stunned by how far they had gone in such a short time. He looked his sister in the eyes as her friends stopped twenty or so feet in front of them. "Okay, so mind explaining why you just borderline abducted me away from our sister?"
Yang sighed but didn't let go of his arm, "Jaune, I love Ruby to death but she'll never come out of her shell if she stays with us all the time."
"So, you decided to push her into the deep end to sink or swim?" Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, it works!" Yang defended her actions.
Jaune sighed while massaging his forehead with his free hand. "For you, Yang. You take every challenge head on and erupt onto the scene like a golden flame." That compliment made her smile. "Or a spontaneous combustion." That earned him a slap on his trapped arm. "But that is not how it works for Ruby. You know how much trouble she had back at Signal."
They both did. Because of Yang and Jaune's skills and the sheer number of admires they got when maturity hit them, a lot of people Ruby's age tried to be her friend just as a way to get closer to her siblings. At first, she was too naïve to know this but eventually she figured it out and it hurt her deeply. And the tears she had shed that day nearly made Yang and Jaune get onto the evening news for the amount of faces they wanted to break. After that, Ruby did make a number of friends that liked her for her. But aside from them, she didn't look for others out of fear they would just want to use her again.
What Yang didn't know was that it did happen one or two other times after that. Except Ruby would come to Jaune for a shoulder to cry on since she didn't want Yang to get in further trouble. Jaune would help soothe his little sister and the next time there were training spars in class, he would savagely beat the living crap from out of the culprit. It soon became clear that trying to use Ruby to get to Yang or Jaune was not worth it and they stopped. It even stopped the one or two morons that tried to get close to him to get close to either of his sisters. Then again, those idiots got a good case of frostbite for their plotting.
Yang looked down at remembering that, "Yeah… I know. But it should be different now, right?"
Jaune shrugged, "It should but that doesn't mean she isn't worried that it'll happen all over again."
She looked down again, "I kinda feel like a jackass now."
Jaune leant forward and kissed her on the forehead and she looked back up to him. He gave her a tiny smile, "Don't worry about it, Yang. You just want the best for her, you just don't think your plans through all the way." He finished with a smirk.
Yang smiled just the tiniest bit before she gently pushed him by leaning her weight onto him. It wasn't nearly enough to tip him over but it did serve to get her point across. "Jerk."
He shrugged, "Maybe. Look why don't you hang out with them and I'll keep an eye on Ruby."
Yang raised an eyebrow, "You don't wanna catch up with everyone?"
Jaune gently scratched the back of his head, "Yang, they are more your friends than mine." That was the truth. Even though they hung out a lot, they were really Yang's friend. They just never clicked with Jaune, not in a negative way but more of like Jaune was more of an acquaintance than friend. The only thing they really had in common was Yang but neither wanted to point that out and hurt the blonde woman.
Yang tilted her head in confusion, "What does that mean?"
Jaune just shook his own head, "Doesn't matter. Me and Rubes will catch up with you during the orientation." Jaune than slipped his arm out from Yang's, earning a pout from her that Jaune didn't notice. With that, he gave her a small wave before he jogged off to find his younger sister. Yang watched him go in slight disappointment before she put on her usual smile and went off to catch up with her friends.
As he was jogging, Jaune was mumbling to himself, "Now where did you get to, Ruby?" That was when he heard a small explosion and saw a bit of smoke not too far away. He stopped in his tracks and just looked in the direction wide eyed. He lowered his head and sighed, "Please tell me that's not her." He then started to jog over to where he heard the explosion.
Once he got close enough, he saw that it was indeed Ruby. She was standing close to a girl not too much taller than her, which was sort of funny considering his sister should be younger than her. She was dusting off the soot from her entire body, revealing white clothing and hair, which may have been attractive to him if she was not berating his sister.
Jaune started to march over to give this pint sized brat a piece of his mind but stopped when he saw another woman dressed in black with the same colored bow in her just as dark hair. He stopped in curiously before he decided to listen into what they were saying as he leant against a tree and just out of view of them. He heard the girl in black speak, "It's Heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."
He then heard someone else speak, most likely this 'Weiss', "Finally! Some recognition!" she said smugly. Jaune rolled his eyes at that.
The girl in black continued, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."
Jaune smirked at that as he heard his sister chuckle. He then heard Weiss start to fume, "How dare-the nerve of-ugh!" There was a brief silence before he heard the sound of heels receding. He looked around to see that Weiss was storming away in a huff.
Ruby then started to shout at her, "I promise I'll make it up to you!" That made him smile, Ruby was definitely his ray of sunshine growing up. She turned to talk to the other girl but by the time Ruby did, she saw that she was already walking away. The young reaper looked down before she collapsed to the ground on her back.
That was when he knew he should make his presence known. He came around the tree and by the girl walking by him, who looked at him in confusion. He gave her a smile, "Thanks for that." Was all he said as he started to jog over to his downed sister. She watched him go before she turned around and kept walking away.
Jaune stopped at the edge of the crater and looked down at his sister. He held out his hand as he spoke, "Really, Rubes? Gone for five minutes and you already blow up the school?"
Her eyes snapped open instantly and just stared up in shock. She then pouted as she took his hand and let him help her up. When she was back on her feet, she let her brother know just how she felt, "You jerk, you ditched me!"
Jaune just gave her a slightly apologetic smile, "Technically, I was abducted by our sister. I really didn't have a choice."
Ruby then crossed her arms over her chest before looking down to grumble. He didn't catch much besides, 'Stupid Yang.' He sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as the two started to walk around Beacon grounds, they still had some time before orientation started. "Ruby, you know that Yang was just looking out for you."
She looked up at him, still looking upset, "By abandoning me?"
Jaune winced slightly, "Not abandon. She just knows that you'll cling to us like security blankets if you had the choice."
"But you're my siblings." She added.
He nodded his head to her, "I know. But she has a point. All three of us may end up on different teams and we'll have to work with people we don't know. Yang and I can do that but if you stay closed off, it'll be that much harder on you. Plus, we won't be able to be with you when your team goes on missions." Ruby just stared up at him before she nodded in reluctant acceptance. He gently squeezed her shoulder, "Just take it slow, okay? Baby steps and your awesome siblings will be here to help when you need it." He said with a smirk.
She chuckled a bit before she leant over and wrapped her arm around his lower back to give him a side hug, "Thanks, Jaune. I needed that."
He leant down and kissed the top of her head, "That's why I'm here, Sis."
The two then spent their time just exploring the ground as they chatted about random things. Both still giving the other the same side hug. It had been some time since the two could hang out like this, just the two of them and both were happy. Ruby maybe a bit more but who knew for sure? So much so that they didn't notice the looks they were getting from their potential classmates.
It wasn't much longer until they had to meet up in the auditorium for their orientation. They were both shocked by just how packed it was. The two looked around for their sister and eventually saw her waving in the front, "Ruby, Jaune! I saved you spots!"
Ruby's eyes narrowed slightly before she broke away from Jaune's hug and took off towards her. Jaune sighed and rolled his eyes good naturedly. He smiled before he walked after her, missing the stare he got from a certain red haired girl.
He walked over just in time to hear their conversation, with Ruby saying, "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"
"Yikes, meltdown already?" she asked.
Jaune answered as he stepped in beside Ruby, "No, literal. I heard it and saw the smoke."
Yang just stared at Jaune in shock, "What?!" she yelled. She then turned to her sister, "How did that happen?"
"Well after you ditched me." She reiterate with a slight glare. "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage. Then she yelled at me and then I sneezed, and then I exploded. Then she yelled at me again and I felt really, really bad. And I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"
"You!" shouted a voice from behind her and Jaune now saw it was the girl from before, Weiss.
Ruby at that time jumped into Yang's arms, "Oh, Oum, it's happening again!"
Weiss just growled, "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"
Yang meanwhile was staring in shock and Jaune decided to add his two cents, "Excuse me but how did Ruby cause an explosion? The only Dust she every uses are Dust rounds and those are meant to not go off unless they are fired."
Weiss whirled around to look at Jaune, "She damaged the seal on one of my vials of Dust!"
Jaune gave a brief nod, "Okay. And exactly how did she do that?"
"She knocked over my case of Dust!" Weiss answered annoyed.
Jaune just blinked at her, "That's it?" he asked seriously. "You had stored your Dust so that it simply being knocked over could damage the seal and release enough Dust to cause an explosion? How exactly is that her fault?"
Weiss seemed taken back by that. She really wasn't expecting him to jump in or point out just how much was actually her fault. She shook herself of that and glared up at him, "This has nothing to do with you." She turned back to Ruby, who had climbed out of Yang's arms, with a pamphlet that read Dust for Dummies and started to ramble off policies to Ruby. While Jaune was contemplating freezing her right there with Stalwart maybe make her a legitimate Ice Queen.
When she was done, Ruby was just staring at her cluelessly. Weiss sighed, "You really want to make things up to me?"
"Absolutely?" Ruby answered immediately.
She handed the pamphlet over to Ruby, "Read this and don't ever talk to me again."
"Again, your fault for not storing your Dust safely." Jaune brought up again. "You should read that."
Weiss turned back to him with a cold glare but Jaune didn't even flinch, "Listen here you…"
"Listening." He said sarcastically. Jaune had already reached his limit with this chick and wasn't taking anymore of her crap. It was actually stunning to Ruby since Jaune was usually polite to everyone. And as shocking as that was, she was further floored when it was Yang who tried to play peacekeeper.
"Look it sounds like you and Ruby got off on the wrong foot before. Why don't you start over and try to be friends?" Yang offered.
Ruby quickly shook herself of her shock, "Great idea, sis." She cleared her voice and reached her hand out to Weiss, "Hello, Weiss, I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"
"Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys. Like tall, blonde and infuriating there." She said sarcastically as she pointed her thumb at Jaune. She was then confused by the reactions she received from the three.
Ruby's eyes widened and she looked to Jaune before she blushed hard and looked down. Yang just had her mouth open and her eyes were darting to Weiss, Ruby and Jaune on repeat with a fainter blush on her cheeks. Meanwhile Jaune looked to the ceiling and was scratching the back of his head, "Wow." He drawled uncertainly.
Weiss turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "What?"
"Oum this is awkward." He muttered. He sighed and then looked down at her, "Well, to start, they are my sisters." He motioned to Ruby and Yang which caused Weiss to look at them in shock, "And what you just said has the implication that Ruby… you know."
That caused Weiss' mouth to fall open and to gain a blush of her own. "Oh…well…" she cleared her throat, "I didn't mean to imply anything like that."
Jaune really wasn't paying any more attention to her. He placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder causing her to squeak slightly. Jaune then tried to lead her away from Weiss, "Come on, Ruby. Let's get away from the sexual deviant." He said simply, like it was a fact. Although Weiss didn't notice the smirk on Jaune's face. Vengeance would be his.
"I'm not a deviant!" Weiss screeched. She blushed more at his words and that blush deepened even further when a few students turned to her in confusion. That didn't last long before Professor Ozpin came out onto the stage to give his speech. Although it confused a few students who were expecting something different from him. That was when Goodwitch came on and told them that they would be staying in the ballroom tonight before dismissing them. At that moment, he decided to get Ruby away from Weiss and hopefully her face would return to its usual color.
It had now turned evening and the students were all bedding down in the ballroom. Ruby was dressed in her pajamas and was writing. Yang in her own pajamas crashed down, right next to her with a smile, "It's like a big slumber party!"
Ruby didn't look as she answered, "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though."
"I know I do." Yang said with her usual suggestive tone. Ruby ignored her and Yang just kept looking at the muscular and shirtless guys. Even though she said that, they really weren't too special. In her opinion, they were too muscular. Maybe it was because their dad was muscular but she had always found that guys that were heavily muscled were not as attractive to her. She prefer toned than anything.
As she said that, she saw Jaune walk out in his usual shorts and shirt. She couldn't help her eyes following him and also focused on just how toned her brother was. The bonus was that he wasn't showing everything off like the meatheads she was just looking at but she could still see them through his clothing. She looked up to his face and he gave her the usual smile which made her heart flutter just a bit. Her cheeks gained slight pink but she quickly shook her head, 'Stop it. Stop ogling Jaune.' she told herself.
She also noticed now that as he was walking towards them, Jaune was indeed catching the eyes of a few of the other women around them. Some were just whispering and giggling as they looked at him. While others were staring, unblinking, at him. That made her eyes narrow and her knuckles crack as she closed her fist. 'Just because I can't, doesn't mean I have to be okay with every other girl in this room doing it!' she screamed in her head.
By that point, Jaune was finally standing beside them, "Sorry it took me so long. Some idiots got into a wrestling match in the locker room and I had to maneuver around them." He explained as he set his sleeping bag by their own. He looked up and saw Ruby was writing something. "What are you writing, Ruby?" he asked as he sat down on his bag.
She looked at him with a smile, "A letter to the gang back at Signal. I did promise to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
Yang smirked, "Aw, that's so cute!" she cooed. That earned her a pillow to the face.
"Shut up!" Ruby said defensively. "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here."
Seeing how annoyed she was, Jaune reached his hand over and started to gently rub her back. Ruby tensed up until she relaxed at the action. She placed her head on her pillow and hummed. She closed her eyes as he started to speak, "Baby steps, baby steps." He told her calmly.
"Plus, it's only been one day. Maybe things didn't work out with Weiss but that really doesn't matter. Trust me on this. You've got friends all around you. You just haven't to meet them yet." Yang said as she entered her patented big sister mode.
Ruby just relaxed as Jaune kept rubbing her back and she thought about her sister's words. She eventually sighed and opened her eyes again, "I guess you're right. Thanks you two." The two blondes just smiled at her and Ruby notice that a candle was being lit not too far away. She looked to see that it was the girl with the bow from earlier. "That girl…"
Yang and Jaune looked over to her and the brawler asked, "Do you know her?"
Ruby shook her head, "Not really but…"
Jaune finished her thought for her, "She helped Ruby out before with Weiss. She left before Ruby could talk to her though."
Jaune saw the gleam enter Yang's eyes at that moment, "Well, now's your chance!" she said excitedly. She stood up and grabbed Ruby by the arm and started to drag her away.
"Wait! What are you doing?" she asked. She then turned to Jaune and held out her hand to him, "Jaune, help me!"
Jaune gave her an apologetic smile, although the apology part was quickly outweighed by the humor in it. "Sorry, Ruby, I was already abducted today. Your turn."
"Traitor!" Was what she shouted at him as Yang kept dragging her away. Jaune chuckled and laid down onto his sleeping bag, arms behind his head. He relaxed and decided to let Yang handle this situation. As he had his eyes closed, he could hear the women around him whispering more. He really didn't pay it much mind though. They were probably just wondering why he was sleeping on their side. It was either that or his sisters would've come onto the boy's side. This seemed like the wiser move in his mind.
He opened his eyes once he started to hear the sounds of what sounded like a fight. On a hunch, he looked over to where the girl was reading and was not shocked by seeing his sisters fighting each other. He gave a frustrated sigh before he pushed off the ground and onto his feet. He then started to march over to them.
As he was walking over he saw that the black haired woman was trying to persuade them to stop but to no avail. She looked up when he stopped beside them. He gave her an apologetic smile before he turned his eyes to the dust cloud that was his sisters and they narrowed. He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers slightly as he waited. And in the blink of an eye, his hands reached into the dust cloud before he forcefully separated them. He was now holding each of them by the back of their shirts, like one would do to a feral cat.
Jaune turned back to the girl with the apologetic smile, "Sorry if my sisters disturbed you. They can be a handful on occasions." He then gave each of them a look, "Now do you two have something to say?"
They both looked down like scolded children as they were still held off the ground, "Sorry." They said in sync.
The girl blinked before she answered, "It's alright. No harm was done."
Jaune smiled, "Then we'll leave you to your reading. Come on girls." He then turned around and carried his sisters back over to their sleeping bags. He dropped each of them onto their respective sleeping bags and they pouted. He then laid himself down to relax again and he could faintly hear Yang complain about him, 'Almost making her flash everyone by carrying her like that.'
Jaune chose to ignore that and soon like everyone else in the room, he started to drift off to sleep. To get the rest necessary for the initiation in the morning and their next step in Beacon Academy.
