Part III - Leaders and Followers

Jaune quickly leapt to his feet, retreating from the flattened person in question, but he didn't look regretful, in fact he looked a little bit mad.
"Dunce? Me? What about you? standing smack bang in the middle of the landing zone like an idiot!?"

"Excuse me?"

Jaune ignored the screech-like sound of Weiss' voice and retracted the blade of his swords and returned both Storm-Edge and Ascalon to the double scabbard strapped to his back. He adjusted the straps a little, checking that everything was strapped in properly. The last thing he would want is loose gear in the middle of initiation.

"Is there a reason you're still here?" Jaune asked Weiss bluntly.

"Did you really forget what the Headmaster said up on the cliff? The first person you make eye contact with when you land-"

No, no way! He had really gone and done it now, hadn't he!? He was going to be forced to endure this snobby little upstart for the next four years!? Curse his damned luck, couldn't it give him a break, even just this once?

"Fine, but the moment you get in my way I'm cutting you loose, got it?"

"Excuse me!?"

"You heard me, Princess, now hurry up, let's go and find the relic."

"I am not a Princess!"

Jaune elected to ignore her outburst and quickly moved his hand to the handle of Ascalon, his acute hearing picking up on the ruffling of leaves nearby. Without a word of warning, Jaune lunged at the bushes, but he didn't retrieve either of his weapons, instead he used the blunt side of his boot to kick whatever was shrouded behind the foliage. A dull thunk concluded that Jaune had made his target.

"Are we going or not?" he said to Weiss, but he again was on the move without waiting for an answer. The usually impassive face contorted with the frustration he felt at his luck present for all to see.

"Yes we are!"

X-x-x-x

"They certainly are the unique formation aren't they?" Ozpin asked Goodwitch, a little smirk having formed on his face, "Not quite the one I expected us to get either."

"Be that as it may, I fear their stubbornness may work against them both in the long run. If they cannot work together, it will prove to be quite difficult for them going forward. But that does mean our last pair has formed and now it's time to see them make a move for the relics."

"Quite the line up this year wouldn't you say?"

"You seem far too relaxed about this, Headmaster."

"You would think so seeing my outward expression, but I'm out of coffee."

Glynda's only answer for that statement came in the form of a rather heavy sigh. Some things would never change and Ozpin was one of them it seemed.

x-x-x-x-

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"No clue," Jaune told her nonchalantly, "We weren't told the location of the relics specifically, but we're heading north, away from the direction of the cliff. So, it's a safe bet we're at least in a ballpark of heading in the right direction. If you have a better suggestion on the way we should be going please, by all means-"

The glare on Weiss' face remained, but to Jaune's surprise it seemed that she did not have some snide comment waiting in the wings. It wasn't exactly progress, but it would do for now. He slowly moved his hand closer to the handle of Ascalon and pulled it free of the confines of the scabbard. He was comfortable drawing it quickly if he had to, but having it ready saved time.

"Let's keep moving then," Jaune concluded.

After that short discussion, the discourse between Jaune and Weiss remained at a minimum, arguably less than that. Neither the Heiress nor the Knight made any comment that was more than necessary and most questions got answered in the form of a 'hmph' or a noncommittal grunt.

They must have been walking for close to an hour now. A look at the scroll slotted into the gauntlet on his armor indicated that it had been a little longer than that, and this really made Jaune feel more frustrated. Over an hour? They weren't anywhere near closer to finding any relic whatsoever. Doing his best not to let negativity overcome him, Jaune forced himself to keep his focus trained on the task at hand. If Ozpin had placed relics in the Emerald Forest, surely it had to mean ruins as well? He seemed like the type of eccentric person who thought that you couldn't have one without the other. It was an extreme stretch, but at this point Jaune was willing to try anything.

All he had to do was get up into the treeline and get himself a better look at his surroundings. Down here it was nearly impossible to see more than a few feet ahead, not exactly the best kind of visibility conditions for a treasure hunt.

"I need to get up in the trees," he told Weiss, "Get a better feel for where we are."

"Well, do it then."

And there was that noncommittal grunt from Jaune again. He darted forward and leaped off the ground, his foot hit the side of the nearest tree trunk and quickly he ascended off several more until he launched himself right into the height of the branches. His cerulean pools widened a little bit. Was the headmaster really that predictable?

Beyond the trees that stretched in every direction, a huge structure towered above it all. It was a little bit cracked in places from what Jaune could tell and further added evidence to his theory that it was ruins they were searching for and subsequently where they would find the relics they were searching for.

"There you are," he murmured, he pulled his arm up and his scroll ignited with life once more, a holographic map appearing to be projected just above it, "Add a marker to coordinates thirty-four J."

A red blinker appeared on the indicated zone and Jaune examined it, "So, we've still got about fifteen minutes between us and the ruins at the pace we're moving at now." Jaune dropped back to the ground, then turned back to Weiss, and nodded.

"You know where we are now?"

"The gist of it, anyway. Let's move."

End Chapter

I am so sorry this one is so short, but it's been a very long time since I've written this story and wanted to be sure I could still write these characters in the spirit of the story when it first started. The chapters will be longer going forward but I just needed a little buffer to get me back into the swing of things so to speak. I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite the short length and I shall hope to have the next installment in place soon. Until next time!