Nobody suspected Velvet of anything.
Nobody.
And why should they? She was just adorably shy, nervous, bunny-wunny Velvet Scarlatina. When she was partnered up with a first year team leader to escort him around the Emerald Forest and show him the ropes of field work, she heard (she always heard) someone made a joke that he'd be the one escorting her.
But she didn't really mind. They weren't wrong: he was the one escorting her.
Jaune was her hero.
Those bullies in Team CRDL had learned their lesson about messing with them. Yes, it was mostly about messing with Jaune, but they hadn't tried anything with her after the food poisoning incident. And Velvet knew that Jaune had been behind it. He'd gotten fed up with those brutes' boorish behavior and told his "teammates" (who were really more like his retainers) to teach them a lesson.
Velvet, after all, heard everything.
So she knew that the rest of Team JNPR were actually two hitmen and Jaune's personal bodyguard. And they were on a mission for justice. They weren't going to stand idly by as lowbrow thugs like Cardin tried to make her life a living hell. Jaune wouldn't stand for it.
It made Velvet's ears tingle just to think about it.
But no sense in waiting any longer. She walked up to her assigned freshman, a confident smile on her face, some pep in her step, and her heart beating like crazy with how nervous she was as she waved and said, "Hi, I'm Velvet, from Team CFVY!"
"Hi, I'm Jaune, er, Jaune Arc!" he corrected himself, not that Velvet noticed the slip-up, her heart thudding away in her chest. "I'm really looking forward to learning from you!"
"S-same," she stammered back. Okay, so, maybe her confidence had been short-lived, but Jaune didn't seem to mind. He was probably used to people getting overwhelmed in his presence, being the sort of big-shot who could boss Pyrrha Nikos around.
"Well," she tried to salvage things, "Are you, um, ready to get going?"
Jaune flashed her an excited grin that brought a terrible blush to Velvet's face, all the way to the tips of her ears! "Yeah! I can't wait to learn field tactics from an experienced Huntress!"
Oh no, ohhhhhhh no, he was complimenting her. She was only a student Huntress one year ahead of him and his compliments were way too sincere and way too open, and Velvet was freaking out.
Breathe. Just… breathe. That's all she had to do. Like Coco was always telling her. Just had to breathe and focus and-
"Um… Is everything al-"
"It's fine!" she answered, way too quickly, "Everything's fine, let's get going!"
Which was not the best way to make an impression.
Cursing that he must think she was a total weirdo, Velvet led Jaune to their departure to the Emerald Forest. Ms. Goodwitch signed off on the excursion, and they were good to go! As good as they could be, at least. But once Velvet was in the woods, in action mode, she found that she was starting to do a whole lot better! She was in her real element, leading Jaune through the forest, and it was going great—no Grimm yet, but she was showing Jaune how a proper Huntress covered terrain. Awake, alert, and-
Her ears twitched.
As shy and unassuming as Velvet was, she wasn't a pushover. Not when it came to combat. And with her Faunus senses, she was very good at picking up any odd sounds that were out of place. This one had been on the very edge of her detection, but she knew something was up. Something not good.
Was someone following them?
She couldn't see anyone, so either they were very good or… she was just a little jumpy at trying to impress her favorite Freshman. Velvet took a moment to remind herself not to psyche herself out. Coco always said, "Imagining bad scenarios was how you ended up creating bad scenarios," and Velvet had been living proof of that more times than she liked to count.
And besides, she had bigger things to deal with.
Ursa. They'd come across a pack. But… a good opportunity for a combat lesson. Not too many, and no Major. Yeah, perfect for a training exercise. "Jaune," she whispered, pointing to the group, "Four Ursa, haven't spotted us yet. What do we do?"
"We, um, okay, um," he was racking his mind for tactics training he might have vaguely picked up from Port's class. "I'll, um, I'll try and lure them towards me while you circle around and get a heavy strike in before they can expect it?"
"Nope," Velvet said with genuine confidence, "We're gonna take 'em head on."
"R-really?"
Flashing a smug smile, a genuinely smug smile, she just nodded, gripping Anesidora and, with a sudden spring forward, heading right for the Ursa!
She could hear Jaune behind her, racing forward, the Ursa raising their eyes, and then-
"LET'S TAKE THEM DOWN..."
His words seem to fade away in Velvet's ears. But not that command. His war cry seemed to electrify her whole body… except it didn't stop. It was like… like pure enthusiasm pumped through her very being. Her soul sang a song, joyful, ineffable, one of pure potential, a song of Velvet Scarlatina, coursing through her body and soul.
A symphony she was about to deliver to the Grimm who opposed them!
She opened her mouth and… everything became a blur. A golden haze settled over her eyes and Velvet's thoughts became… vague. She just knew that what she was doing was right. What was necessary to take them down. The words, the song suffused her entire self and it guided her to act. It was her purpose, her cause, and Velvet knew it was simply natural for her to do it, and…
And the haze began to fade.
"W-wow, that's… I guess... that's what an upperclassman can do, huh..."
Velvet blinked, looking around… and saw a sight of pure devastation. The Ursa had been vanquished, the few remains still smoking. And… evidently, they'd all been destroyed… by her. She realized her arms will still moving by reflex, twirling Anesidora, currently deployed as a halberd before sheathing it. She wasn't sure who she was copying, until she realized: these skills came from within. Or at least, from the song.
"Um, y-yes, I, um, h-hope you found this… um... inspiring?"
Jaune started to gush in awe about how "cool" she had been, as though that had been a display of how she normally handled things. Which, if even half his description wasn't an exaggeration, it certainly wasn't! These Ursa weren't a real threat for her, but… but it shouldn't have been something she could just breeze through!
She was startled out of her daze by a notice beeping on her scroll, saying it was time to come back. Their trip had only been intended to be a short excursion, to show a novice student some of the ropes of field work, but… but as she led Jaune out of the forest, it felt like no time at all had passed.
Her teeth were chattering. She'd never- she couldn't imagine this kind of power coursing through her! That wasn't- that wasn't a Semblance!
Even as they made their way back to Beacon, Velvet being in too much of a daze to really ask the questions she needed to ask after that, she could still feel traces of raw energy coursing through her. Take them down. If even a glimpse of an Ursa happened to cross her sight, Velvet was confident she would reflexively spring into action, unleashing all sorts of hell on it. She might even tear a stuffed Ursa to bits if she'd seen one. It was… it was insane. And Velvet didn't even know where to begin with that.
But before they parted, she tried to copy him, to emulate some aspect of him to understand what just happened, but… nothing happened. Her Semblance simply failed. No, that wasn't right. Attempting to copy him, instead of feeling the rush of alien nerve impulses as her muscles snapped into a foreign memory, she felt a great sense of trespass. She was not to attempt such a thing. It was like treading on… on holy ground.
Whatever Jaune Arc was, he was something more than ordinary.
More than a human.
Velvet's family in Mistral had long followed the Old Ways. While she had mostly followed out of tradition rather than belief, she knew to venerate the spirits of nature, and she knew they occasionally took the form of a man. The legends spoke of Protectors, genius loci, who embodied the sacred essence of the world, and fought off evil. Perhaps that's what Jaune was? But what kind of spirit had this much power, and, more importantly, what spirit would have the personality of Jaune Arc? Boisterously positive, hopeful, and kind, not connected to any particular sacred, or even natural, spot, but a protector of the downtrodden. And yet, also at the heart of a criminal network, strangely ill-prepared for Beacon, and oblivious to so much around him. What part of Remnant could be-
That was when it clicked.
Velvet knew what she was feeling when his command electrified her. It was the feeling of aura.
He was Aura… Aura Incarnate. The aggregate power of all humans and Faunus coursing across Remnant and bubbling up in one grand, paradoxical individual. He was every warrior who fought to protect the fragile footholds of civilization in a dangerous world. He was also charged by the cruelty of the many bullies who abused the power of Aura. His words carried the power of aura, but his heart carried the loving truth of it. His nature was that of… the whole world. In one person.
It was hard not to realize the tremendous impact of this discovery. Velvet had found a Sacred Grove in the form of a man. Such a thing was to be cherished, tended to, and protected. She thought of her grandmother's Grove in Mistral. A patch of tranquility in a deep, treacherous forest, tended to by generations of Lapines, who honored the spirit of the water and were, in turn, blessed by its power.
And Jaune, likely, didn't even know this power was within him.
This realization brought Velvet back to Remnant. As astounding as it was, it meant duty. As a Faunus Huntress, Velvet knew what Duty meant, and she would not fail it. Jaune and his power needed to be tended, protected, guided. Velvet would be his High Priestess, tasked to find others who were sensitive to such things. Reveal the truth of Jaune's powers to a sisterhood of those who could understand it. Protect it. And, in turn, receive his blessing. The power he carried to the world. Pyrrha, as his bodyguard, would be a good place to start, not much of a route that didn't include her, but Coco would also have to be told—Velvet knew Coco wasn't inclined towards the mystical, but a demonstration of Jaune's power would end all doubt. Perhaps there were those in Team RWBY who might be attentive to this?
It was a weighty task, but Velvet knew she had a duty to the world to ensure that this power was turned towards the protection of all, Faunus and human alike. She would not fail. Not when-
But that was the point where Velvet suddenly realized that Jaune thought she was cool and with a squeak of terrified, nervous energy, she completely lost the pot. Oh, this was- this was too much, too much! Oh, she really just needed to calm down, but- he thought she was cool!
Where was Yatsuhashi when she needed him!
"Ahem."
Jaune whirled around to see Weiss standing behind him. Though… "standing" seemed insufficient. She always had the most magnificent poise, like even the act of standing still was a movement in a grand ballet. Jaune had seen her fight and… it was poetry in motion. Somehow, she was even more graceful than Pyrrha, who seemed to glide across the arena in Professor Goodwitch's class, before… terrifyingly dismantling her opponents. It was actually... really scary. Especially the way she smiled at him afterwards, like she had done it for his approval.
But Weiss… she was an angel. Even as she told him off for calling her one, she had a graceful, poised beauty that made Jaune weak in the knees… which was a bad way to be when she came at him like a hurricane of wrath.
"Y-yes Weiss?" he asked, hoping to seem confident, especially… especially if she was about to chew him out.
"I have reconsidered my position on your request to court me. I will be free this Friday evening, and as such, I expect you to take me to a restaurant appropriate to my station, as well as a suitable option for entertainment afterwards. I will permit one kiss on my hand at the termination of the date, provided all goes as planned. Do you have any questions?"
Jaune just stared at her, too caught up in disbelief to say anything. This… this had to be a trick, right?
But in his silence, Weiss just nodded. "Excellent. I will see you on Friday. I look forward to our evening together."
She briskly turned and walked away as Jaune's brain slowly rebooted that he should probably go after her.
"W-wait, h-hold on, I-"
But his stuttering attempt to get her attention was cut off as Pyrrha pulled him into a very excited hug. "Jaune!" she cried, "Way to go, you got your date with Weiss!"
Exactly what Pyrrha's interest in/relationship with him was, Jaune did not get why she was so invested in his dating life. But he had to admit, her advice to back off and respect Weiss's no had… actually worked. But why she wanted to help him so much while also… holding him… rather tightly and in a way that was making Jaunt notice… oh, this was not good, he had to- URK!
Before Jaune had a chance to think more about how Pyrrha was, ahem, touching him, the both of them were pulled into a brutally tight bearhug with only one justification.
"WAY TO GO JAUNE-JAUNE!" Nora hollered as she hugged him. "HEY EVERYBODY, JAUNE-JAUNE'S GOT A DATE AND IT'S-"
"Perhaps Jaune would prefer not to have everyone know about his private life?" Ren cut in, as Jaune silently thanked the Brothers for his timely sensible-
"Naaaaah. JAUNE'S DATING WEISS EVERYBODY!" Nora, of course, interrupted the thought.
But with that, she released him, and Pyrrha, slowly, with some prompting from Ren, let go of him with a mischievous smile and a whispered "Go show her a good time," in a tone of voice that made Jaune really wondering what she meant, exactly, by that.
As the girl's departed, Jaune looked over to Ren, always relaxed, always sensible Ren, with a look of pure what is even going on?
And Ren lay a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. No sense in complaining about your good fortune, you know?"
Jaune had to agree with that. He was glad that, in this maelstrom of insanity, he had a veteran of such chaos to give him some reasonable advice.
Okay, so, something very weird was going on.
Yang was a smarter girl than most people gave her credit for. Too impulsive and willful to come off as book smart, but her emotional intelligence had always been high. As her mother always told her, she might be the type of girl to act without thinking, but she was also the sort who'd know the harm she caused, and would always take responsibility. She paid attention to the emotional realities of the world around her, the hurts, the joys, the secret crushes and unspoken dreams that crisscrossed every social dynamic.
But it wasn't really something that needed any kind of special sense to see the problem here.
Weiss… had a boyfriend. A Jaune Arc boyfriend. Weiss "I am so fancy my farts don't stink" Schnee was dating Ruby's best friend. It was, at least, helping Weiss and Ruby get along as partners, which was good, but… insane.
She didn't think Jaune was a… bad guy or anything, not like he'd be… blackmailing or threatening her or anything. Weiss didn't seem like a girl who could be intimidated into doing anything, and she seemed really happy about her relationship. Like, still Weiss-level happy, but that was pretty crazy in it's own right. Yang had been able to drop a few subtle questions to Nora while working out with her, and she seemed to really like Jaune and was really positive about their relationship. Positive in the way Yang ought to be, making outrageous jokes about how the two of them making babies together. Plus a pretty good joke about if Yang was only asking because she was interested in "joining in."
Yes, Yang really liked Nora and her very Yang sense of humor, and couldn't wait to make that trip to Junior's they were always talking about (Magnhild included, for extra fun "eat shit Malachites" time), but she couldn't get into the joking spirit. Neither Nora, nor a happy Weiss, was enough to make her feel really comfortable with the whole situation. Particularly because of what she was seeing over on a nearby table where Jaune, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Ruby were studying together.
Ruby. of course, was having the time of her life, getting both her besties to get along, but especially for getting to study with a celebrity. Really, Yang was beyond thrilled for her little sis, almost enough to overlook everything else, but she also couldn't help but notice that she somehow wasn't the happiest person at the table. That would be Pyrrha, with that gentle, almost simpering smile at being next to her partner. Yang had been 99% they were banging, but then Jaune started dating Weiss—and while Yang was prepared to put teammates first and throw down with the Invincible Girl if she had a problem with that… she didn't. Hell, she seemed pretty happy with the whole situation with Vomit Boy.
Which was weird. Unless they were in some kind of kinky poly thing, but there was no way Weiss would be into that. But she was the last person Yang would expect to be into that, so… Well, if that was the case, Yang wasn't going to be shown up by the Ice Princess. She could feel the indignation rising in her blood as she concluded she was 100% gonna make a move on Arc when she took him and Nora down to Junior's. Yeah, that would show them all, especially the Malachites, who was the wild party girl of Team RWBY!
Actually… that was starting to sound a little crazy. Maybe she ought to consult an outside source.
"Hey," she whispered to Blake, nudging her while looking across the room where Weiss and Jaune were happily studying together, "That's weird, right?"
Her dark-haired partner just blinked at her in confusion. "...No? The Orteil Scale is a pretty sensible way to quantify Grimm incurs-"
"No, not the homework," Yang groaned, "Them!"
Blake's eyes darted over to where Yang was pointing, looking at Vomit Boy and Weiss Cream were holding hands in a sickeningly cute display as they went over homework for Oobleck's class.
"Not that I'm seeing."
"Really. Really?" Yang asked with a roll of her eyes, "One minute, Weiss was primed to schnee him right in the balls, the next, she's all jaune appetite for him!"
Blake rolled her eyes in return. "You know, I might have agreed with you before the puns. But… Maybe Weiss is capable of, you know, growth and change. We should encourage her to be open to changing her mind on things. Maybe he'll be a good influence on her."
Yang shook her head. "Impossible," she said. This was Weiss they were talking about!
"I think someone's just mad that she isn't getting any," Blake replied with some very inappropriate smugness.
Yang just stuck out her tongue in reply.
The original idea of Velvet as a cultist came to me courtesy of Majin Othinus, but when I read that, I thought about taking it in a slightly different direction. Jaune accidentally inspiring a second cult that springs up around him felt like a promising take, especially when I tried to picture Velvet approaching Pyrrha to convert her. Or Coco bullying people into helping her favorite bun out! And what happens when Nora hears about heresy at Beacon? Lots of fun options there.
Also, a number of reviews have asked to see more Roman and Salem, and guess what? Next chapter, they're back! Assessing how things are going at Beacon!
And thanks, as always, to Renarde for feedback on this story!