On tonight's chapter, Summer drinks some coffee; Taiyang gets a note; and Jaune gets a talk.
"This will be the day we waited for! This will be the day we open up the door!"
'Can that be tomorrow please?' Summer thought to herself as she poked her head out of her covers to glare at her Scroll.
"I don't want to hear your absolution! Hope you're ready for a revolution!"
She sighed and reached out to pick up the scroll, flicking it open to find the time was indeed 8:00 A.M. as it should be.
"Welcome to a world of new solutions! Welcome to a world of bloody evolution!"
"Fine, I get the message," Summer muttered and shut the scroll, which cut off the alarm music. She set the scroll aside and lifted the covers off of her. She pushed herself up with a yawn and rubbed her eyes, clearing her vision enough to see Qrow and Taiyang halfway out of their pajamas, and she rolled roughly off of her bed and landed on her feet.
"Morning," Taiyang said with a small wave to Summer.
"Morning," Summer returned with a yawn. She stretched and looked around for a moment before she asked, "Where's Rae?"
"She claimed the bathroom already," Qrow said pointing back at the bathroom door before gesturing to himself, clad only in his pants. "So, do you mind?"
"Fine, big baby," Summer rubbed her eyes again and walked to the bathroom door, picking up one of her school uniforms on the way. Once inside she shut it behind her with a sigh and walked over to the counter where Raven was brushing her teeth, having only bothered to only put on the uniforms dress shirt, skirt, and a pair of thigh high stockings.
The brunette glanced at Summer in the mirror and moved over to make room. She watched as Summer turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face before she spat her toothpaste leftover into the sink and said, "You look awful. Did you sleep well last night?"
"Nope," Summer answered rubbing the noticeable bags under her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be fine Raven."
"That's what you said last time," Raven whispered.
"What?"
"I said that's what you said last time this happened! You're always like this when you don't get enough sleep: You always insist you'll be ok, but you never are. If you need to take a day off-"
"I'll be fine Raven, now drop it!" Raven shook her head and grabbed a bottle of mouthwash and drank a little. With a sigh Summer turned her attention to her hair and huffed when she saw the length. "Dammit, it's getting long again. I'll have to get it cut again, which means I'll have to use money better spent to do that. Ugh, maybe I'll just ask Coco to cut it like-"
Raven spat out her mouthwash and said, "Or you could style it differently for once. No offense, but the short haired anime protagonist look is kinda played out."
"Oh shut up, like you're one to talk about played out looks!" Summer glared at Raven, who ignored the look and started grabbing a brush and a bobby pin.
"Don't be like that, I've actually got an idea for that. It won't be as cool as my style, but I'm sure you'll like it. Now turn around."
"Raven, I don't have time for-"
"Turn. Around." The two girls locked eyes for a moment before Summer sighed and shook her head, turning around and picking up her toothbrush.
"Whatever Rae. If I don't like it I reserve the right to shave your head bald."
"Deal," Raven grinned widely and started working while Summer brushed her teeth.
Back in the main dorm Taiyang and Qrow were in the middle of getting their uniforms on with Taiyang looking over the schedule that had been placed in the designated slot in their doors.
"I have to say, I didn't miss having to put these things on," Qrow commented as he struggled to put his tie on. "Stupid damn neck strangler."
"I know the feeling," Taiyang said tugging on his own untied tie and sighed as he read the schedule book, "Also goddamn these remedial lessons."
"Of course he wasn't joking about that. How bad is it?"
"Well, according to this, we'll have to redo the assignments and classes we failed last year while still working on the classes we'd do normally for this year."
"But we failed two months' worth of classes!" Taiyang lowered the schedule book and stared at Qrow silently. After a moment Qrow sighed out, "Oh goddammit," and finished with his tie and reached for his jacket.
"It's only for two months," Taiyang said looking back at the schedule and turning a page, "and it looks like they're spaced out well enough. We'll be able to do that."
"It's still annoying," Qrow said as the bathroom door opened and Raven walked out in full uniform setting her hair just right. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, we both did," Raven said picking up a bracelet and slipping it on her right arm. "And I agree, goddammit."
"So do I, but we only have ourselves to blame." Summer walked out buttoning up her uniform's jacket. She glanced over at Qrow and, after a moment of looking him over for a moment, she shook her head sadly and said, "Damn."
"What do you mean by-" Qrow started until his eyes widened in understanding, looked down at his uniform, and glared at Summer. "Really?"
"Really," Summer smirked and walked over to Taiyang and motioned for him to stand up, which he did while setting the schedule to the side, and she started doing his tie for him. "Seriously, when are you going to learn to do this yourself? Tai's right in any case, we can deal with some extra classes. It won't be the worst thing we've dealt with anyway."
"I really hate how true that is," Raven said shaking her head and flicked open her scroll. "8:30 huh? We're getting faster at this, but not enough time for breakfast today. We should start getting up earlier again."
"Yeah, but for now screw it." Summer gave one last tug on the tie she was working on and gave Taiyang a pat on the shoulder before going to pick up her cloak with a sigh. "We'll just have a big lunch later."
"Are you ok?" Qrow asked quirking an eyebrow, "You seem kind of-"
"I'm fine Qrow! Let's just go, ok?" Summer threw her cloak over her shoulders and lifted the hood over her head. Qrow glanced at his sister, who shrugged and shook her head before opening the door and heading outside. Raven stopped when she noticed that the schedule on JNPR's door hadn't been removed. She stared for a minute before sighing and knocking on the door.
'Better do it myself before someone gets on my case,' Raven thought looking back as the rest of the team exited and watched her. 'Case in point.' It took a second before the door opened to reveal Ren, still in his pajamas.
"Good morning," he said with a wave as Raven leaned around him to see the rest of his team either still asleep or just starting to wake up. "Are you checking in on us?"
"Something like that," Raven answered picking up JNPR's schedule and handed it to Ren, "I just noticed you hadn't seen your schedule yet."
"Oh, thank you," Ren said taking the book and opening it. "Hm, first class is Grimm studies with Professor Port at 9 A.M. huh?"
"It's 8:30 by the way. So have fun with that." Raven gave one last wave before walking down the hallway.
"…I see," Ren said and slowly reached for the doorknob. "If you'll excuse me I have something to do." Summer and the boys nodded as Ren slowly closed the door until it clicked shut, after which absolute chaos erupted inside JNPR's room in the form of crashes and shouts of panic.
"…We should leave them be," Summer said, to which the boys simultaneously answered 'Yeah,' and led the way to their first class. Summer tried to stifle a yawn and looked back at Taiyang as he looked over their schedule. "So, what's our first class?"
After a moment of reading, Taiyang could only sigh.
Team JNPR's first day wasn't going so hot, what with the mad dash they had getting dressed in their uniforms (which they all had trouble with in one form or another) and running to the campus. Not helping matters was the fact that they had no idea where the classroom was and, by the time they figured out where they needed to be, they were cutting it very close and only made it to class with seconds to spare via jumping save.
Needless to say the dramatic entrance into the classroom attracted more than a few eyes.
"Ah, Team JNPR! So glad you all could make to your first class." Jaune managed to dig himself out from under his teammates, and ignored the snickers of his fellow students, and took in the man he figured was Professor Port. From the neatly combed hair and mustache, to his bright red jacket and… portly appearance, he didn't strike Jaune as the 'Huntsman' type.
'Then again, neither do a lot of people I've met recently.'
"If you'll please take your seats, we can begin the class." Professor Port gestured with his arm to the seats and JNPR picked themselves up and rushed to sit down in the second row. Jaune was relieved once he was sat down and it was only then that he noticed that his team happened to sit behind Team STRQ. Taiyang was the only one who turned around to offer them a quick wave while Summer, Qrow, and Raven just sat there stock still staring at Professor Port.
"Well, with that out of the way," Professor Port said boisterously and moved to the front of the class, "I am Professor Port and I welcome you all to Grimm studies. Monsters, Demons, Prowlers of the night; the Creatures of Grimm go by many names, but I only know them as 'prey'!" The class was awkwardly silent as everyone stared at Port. "Er… as so shall all of you by the time you graduate from this fine academy!" Port started to pace as he continued.
"Vale, along with the other three kingdoms, are safe havens from the monsters and dangers that threaten to engulf our world. That's where we come in; Huntsmen and Huntresses! The beacons of light against the darkness and those who have sworn to protect those who can't protect themselves. From what? The very world!"
"Eh yeah!" Jaune, along with everyone else, turned to look at a black haired student who had stood up with a wide grin and a fist in the air. It must have been awkward for him since no one else did the same.
"Sit down Jerry!" Raven shouted at him, which he did so immediately when he saw the anger in Raven's eyes and her barely shaking fists.
"…Right," Port continued, "here in this class I will teach you all you need about the Grimm you'll encounter: Beowolves, Ursai, Nevermore, the whole lot! But first… Miss Rose!"
Summer jumped up and looked at Port with wide eyes as she answered, "Y-yes?!" Professor Port pointed at his head and mimed taking a hood off, which got the point to Summer. "Oh, sorry," she said quietly as she took her hood off. Since he was right behind her, Jaune noticed Summer's hairstyle change rather quickly. What had once been free flowing, shoulder length hair had been done up into a neck length bob, which had a simply braid of hair running from ear to ear behind her head.
'It looks good on her," he thought with a small blush before blinking and wondering, 'Where did that come from?'
"Like I was saying, I'll be teaching you about the monsters of the world. But first, let's start with a story! A tale of a young and handsome man: Me!"
"Oh my fucking god," Raven said under her breath as Professor Port started his rambling.
"That's for the swear jar Raven," Summer whispered back to Raven.
"Bill me later. I can't believe we have Port for our first class! I'd rather fight that Nevermore again!"
"Ahem!" Port loudly said looking at Raven. After a moment he continued, "Anyway, my grandfather smelling of cabbages clued me in about the Beowolf's weakness: our villages prized vegetables! So I-"
"Seriously, him and his damn stories. He never goes anywhere with them!"
"Wait, he does this a lot?" Jaune asked leaning forward as much as he dared.
"You have no idea. You'll be lucky to get a lesson without a story. Seriously, they'll put you to sleep if you aren't careful."
"…Like Summer?" Jaune pointed at Summer and Raven glanced over at her partner. Raven's eyes narrowed as Summer rested her head in her arms, her eyes closed and her breathing soft.
"Dammit, I knew this would happen," Raven muttered, which caught Taiyang and Qrow's attention, and she started nudging Summer's leg with her foot.
"The beast was no match for my tenacity or my cabbages, and so I returned to the village with the beast in captivity and my head held high as a hero!" Professor Port took a grand bow and started walking forward. "I learned many valuable lessons that day about what a Huntsman is."
"Wake up dammit!"
"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"
"Why do you have to do this now?!" Raven started prodding Summer's stomach with a finger.
"A true Huntsman must be honorable!" Port's voice was slightly closer than before.
"Seriously, wake up you mother-!"
"A true Huntsman," Professor Port set a hand in between Raven and Summer on the desk and stared at the still sleeping Summer, "must be strategic, educated, and wise." Raven's eyes narrowed as she looked up at the professor's deceptively closed eyes.
'Ah shit.'
"So who among you believe that you embody these traits?" Port asked mock looking around the class before lifting his hand and slamming it down in front of Summer. The cloaked girl shot up like a bullet with a loud gasp and looked up at Port. "Miss Rose, thank you for volunteering for the class!"
"…I did?" Summer asked, her eyelids drooping down a little.
"Yes!" Port said and leaned closer to Summer to quietly add, "Perhaps this will teach you not to sleep in my class... again." Port stood up straight and gestured to his right, both at the classroom door and the shaking cage big enough to hold a medium sized Grimm. "Go collect your gear and be ready to face your opponent!"
"…Can I at least get some coffee while I'm out?"
"I'll have a cup ready for you when you get back. Now hurry along." Summer blinked a couple of times before she sighed and stood up. Summer walked down toward the door slowly, rubbing her eyes the whole time, and once she was gone Professor Port turned to the rest of the class and said, "As for the rest of you, please open your Grimm Studies text to pages 25 to learn about Summer's opponent. Study it well, you'll never know when you'll face it." Port then sauntered over to his desk while the class silently sprang into action.
"Jaune, you're scroll," Pyrrha whispered to him and held up her opened scroll and set it down on the desk, which caused a hologram to come up on the desk. Jaune nodded rapidly and mimicked Pyrrha: opening his scroll, setting it down on the desk, and then carefully finding the right text and then the right page.
"Boarbatusk huh?" Jaune whispered to himself as he looked between the picture of the Grimm and the still rattling cage. "So… am I crazy or was that not there when we came in?" He pointed at the cage and glanced at Pyrrha. "I mean, I didn't see it when I came in."
"Get used to it," Qrow said turning back to Jaune, "That's not even the weirdest thing that has happened in these classes."
"Like…?"
"Use your imagination." Qrow rolled his eyes and returned his attention to a piece of paper on front of him and started doodling gears on it.
"Uh, right." Jaune decided against using his imagination and instead decided to actually study the Grimm. Slowly and carefully. After several minutes alternating between dull studying and looking up at Professor Port as he took down his weapon off the wall and put a cup of coffee on the desk that he got from… somewhere, the door opened and Summer came back inside in her combat gear.
"Welcome back! Are you ready?" Port asked as Summer made a beeline for the cup of coffee on Port's desk.
"As I'll ever be," Summer answered picking up the mug and downing its bitter contents in one gulp. When she was done she set it down with a look of disappointment and shook her head. "Ugh, decaf. Oobleck would have had real coffee."
"Well I'm sorry, but I only drink decaf," Port said walking over to the cage with his blunderbuss slung over his shoulder, "I have to watch my heart." Summer growled angrily and lifted her hood up as she walked down to the classroom's main floor, moved her cloak so it hung behind her shoulders and drew York and Soleil.
Jaune closed the hologram and sat up to watch Summer as she lowered her stance and held her sword in front of her. She nodded at Port who… probably smiled under his mustache and raised his blunderbuss axe blade first.
"Let the match begin!" he shouted and swung his axe at the lock, which broke in half on contact and let the Grimm inside break out. The Boarbatusk crashed open the door with a loud squeal and immediately set its eyes on the white clad Huntress in front of it. It hopped into the air and, to the surprise of Jaune and a couple of others who've never seen a Boarbatusk, curled into a ball and landed spinning like a saw blade. It stuck to the ground for a moment before launching at Summer, who dodged to the side and swung her sword at the Grimm only to have the blade bounce off its armor plates and sending her rolling roughly to the floor.
"She can't do this," Raven commented holding her head in one of her hands as Summer sluggishly picked herself up, "She's too exhausted."
"If she really needs it, I'll jump in to help," Taiyang said and glanced at Port leaning against his weapon, "Or he will."
"Come on…" Qrow said clenching a fist on the desk. Summer got to her feet just as the Boarbatusk reared around and charged at her again. Summer took a breath and stabbed at the Grimm, which did stop the spinning monster but at the same time got her sword stuck in its tusks.
"Oh, bold approach!" Port called out as Summer struggled with the Boarbatusk, the tip of her sword inches away from its eye. Summer tugged on York, which didn't budge the sword at all, and flipped Soleil into a reverse hold and stabbed in between the Grimm's armor plates. It roared and flailed in pain, which caused it to fling Summer over and behind it just as she hit the switch on York's handle and inject Burn Dust into the blade. The class winced as Summer flipped and landed roughly on her upper back with a grunt. The Boarbatusk thrashed around trying to get the flaming sword away from its face, which gave Summer the time she needed to slowly roll onto her hands and knees with a cough.
"Summer, are you ok?!" Port shouted and moved his hand down to grip the blunderbuss. "Remember, trust your instincts in a fight! They'll never-"
"My instincts say SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Summer suddenly shouted and glared at Port, which took him aback, caused the class to gasp, and unfortunately drew the Boarbatusk's attention back to her. It roared and ran at her, unable to roll up thanks to York, and Summer blinked on top of some nearby desks which startled the students sitting at it. The Grimm changed course and slammed into the bottom of the desks, which knocked the sword out of its tusks and rocked Summer enough for her to start coughing again.
'Dammit, it's too dangerous to get that,' she though glancing at York and the Boarbatusk that was trying to get at her. She quickly looked around the room before she stopped at Professor Port and, more importantly, his weapon. "Any port in a storm," she muttered as she sprang to her feet and ran on top of the desks toward Port. The Boarbatusk followed her with its eyes and started to roll up just as Summer jumped off the desk and blinked over to Port. He backed away in surprise when Summer landed in front of him and grabbed his weapon from him.
"Hope you don't mind!" She shouted and wrapped both of her hands around the blunderbuss' barrel and swung it behind her just as the Boarbatusk charged. The axe's blade slammed into the Grimm's tough hide, which knocked it off course into the desk that the rest of Team STRQ were sitting at, which startled them into standing up, and knocked it backwards onto its back. Summer moved the blunderbuss so the barrel was facing up and Blinked up so she was in the air over the Grimm.
She glanced down at the Boarbatusk to make sure it hadn't moved and fired the blunderbuss to get her body spinning and moved the weapon so it was over her head. She let out a scream as she fell and did her best to swing the weapon down just as the blade slammed down on the Grimm's stomach. She grit her teeth and held the blunderbuss in place as the Boarbatusk thrashed a little before it finally let out a death rattle and collapsed into a pile. Summer only let out a breath when she saw it start vaporizing.
"Bravo! Bravo Miss Rose!" Port said happily and started clapping. Summer turned to Port as he walked toward her and she stepped out of the way to allow him to wrench the axe out of the Boarbatusk. "And thank you for reminding me of another aspect of being a Huntsman: A true Huntsman is adaptive!" Port continued the lecture while Summer pulled Soleil out of the Boarbatusk and walked over to where York lay. "As Miss Rose just showed it is very possible to be disarmed by your enemy, so a backup plan is always necessary. Even a secondary fighting style you're decent at could save your life in the field."
"Yeah, one or twenty," Summer muttered as she picked up York, turned off the Dust flow to the blade, and sheathed it just in time for the bell to ring.
"And that's all the time we have for today. Don't forget to do the assigned readings on the board," Port gestured at the board behind him, with only one part not covered in diagrams of various Creatures of Grimm, "And remember, stay vigilant!" The class started getting up and filtering out of the classroom and Summer started to follow them until Professor Port held up a hand to stop her. "Why don't you stay behind for a moment Miss Rose? There's something I want to talk with you about."
Summer sighed in annoyance and looked at her team, who were all giving her concerned looks, and waved them off. They nodded and continued walking outside with JNPR following them. The last Jaune saw of Summer was her leaning against Port's desk just as he was out in the hallway.
"She'll be ok, right?" Jaune asked while Raven, Qrow, and Taiyang stopped next to the door and leaned against a wall.
"She did cuss out a teacher," Pyrrha said looking at the door worriedly, "So…"
"Port's aware enough to know when someone's under duress," Qrow said rubbing his neck, "Still though… we'll wait for her and see what happens. So you go on ahead." Jaune looked at the closed door until Pyrrha tugged on his sleeve and he walked away behind his team.
"I knew we should have kept her in bed," Raven muttered and pinched her nose.
"I hope you realize why I kept you behind Miss Rose," Port said moving behind his desk looking over his weapon.
"Honestly Professor," Summer said impatiently rubbing her eyes, "I'm really not in the mood to be lectured about my language. So can we just-"
"Wrong," Port interrupted and placed his blunderbuss on the desk. "We're Huntsman, being yelled and cursed at is part of the life as much as breathing. We both know why I held you back." Port crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow at Summer, who looked away from him to rub her eyes some more. "Your performance just now was… lacking, to say the least. If I remember correctly, the last time you did so poorly in a fight was last year when you stayed awake for almost a week straight." Summer looked back at Port to see he actually bothered to open his eyes to get his point across. "Well?"
"…You're not wrong," Summer finally said with a sigh, "I haven't been sleeping well lately. I thought I was hiding it well but… I guess not."
"Go on. How well have you been sleeping?"
"About 8 hours… in the last… three days…"
"I figured. Summer, you have to-"
"Take better care of myself because my teammates look up at me and if I falter then they do, I know!" Summer shook her head and started pacing in front of the desk. "I've tried to sleep but I just can't! Too much shit's been happening lately, and between the crime rate, the Grimm, and every other piece of bullshit the world throws at me I just can't keep my mind from running off. It pisses me off so bad and I just want to-"
"Relax!" Summer stopped and looked at Port who was holding a hand up gently. "I understand, but you need to calm down. If you knew your condition was so bad, then you should have just stayed in bed."
"If I missed a class, it'd inconvenience my team. I didn't-"
"And you're not doing that now?" Summer stopped, looked at Port as he pulled out a pen and piece of paper, and sighed as he started writing. "Qrow, Taiyang, and Raven can handle themselves for the rest of the day, but you need your rest." Port finished writing, folded the paper, and walked around the desk to give to Summer. "Give that to Taiyang, then go get some sleep. Understood?"
"Yeah," Summer said taking the paper and walking to the door.
"And Miss Rose." Summer stopped and looked back at Port, his eyes closed again. "The staff are all Huntsman, so we all understand that extra rest is needed after extreme situations. If you need the rest, then get the rest; you'll harm less people that way. Just as long as it doesn't become a habit, hm?"
"Yes, I understand." Port nodded and gestured to the door before moving back to his desk. Summer sighed again before she finally left the classroom, where she immediately ran into the rest of her team.
"That took a while," Qrow said putting his scroll away and pushing off the wall he was leaning against. "So what's the verdict?"
"I've been sentenced to sleep. Here, for the classes I guess," Summer said holding the paper to Taiyang, who took it with a small look of confusion, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I-" she started before her head suddenly felt light headed and nearly fell over were it not for Raven grabbing both of her shoulders.
"That's enough of that," Raven said shaking her head, "Seriously."
"So…" Qrow started.
"I'll see our 'glorious leader' here back to the dorm and get her settled in. I'll see you guys in class." Raven then tugged Summer along with a "Come on dumbass," and left Qrow and Taiyang to go to their next class. Along the way Taiyang opened the paper and read what was written on it.
"Yep, excused from classes for 'reasons of poor health'." Taiyang said air quoting the last part and groaned. "I'll probably have to take notes for her all day… again."
"Probably," Qrow said shaking his head, "but I don't blame her for not sleeping well."
"Yeah, I think she took last night the hardest of all of us. Which is something considering Raven."
"Rae internalizes that shit." Qrow sighed and added, "We'll have to talk to her about that. Whatever, one step at a time."
"Yep. One step at a time."
Jaune was a little surprised to know that, yes, sometimes the team would be split up for different classes. Which was why he was now sitting awkwardly next to Ren while Pyrrha and Nora went to some other class that Jaune hadn't caught the name of. He spent the first few minutes of the class desperately trying to think of something to talk to Ren about, though the fact that Ren spent that time staring at the far wall half-awake put that plan to rest. Thankfully that bit of awkwardness was over as soon as Taiyang and Qrow walked in and sat in the row in front of Jaune.
"Hey uh," Jaune started and leaned over the desk. When Taiyang and Qrow looked back at him he continued, "Is everything ok with... you know, Summer? She seemed kind of…"
"We're taking care of it, so don't worry," Qrow answered turning back to the front.
"Yeah, she just needs some sleep," Taiyang added, "And you guys should take that as a lesson, especially you Jaune: always get your rest even if you don't think you need it. It does add up eventually."
"…I should take a nap soon," Ren said suddenly and very worriedly, which earned a confused look from Jaune before the bell rang and the class door swung open for a woman with light orange and red hair and similarly colored clothing to walk in.
"Hello class!" she called out with an energetic wave and moved over to the desk. "I'm Professor Peach and welcome to-" she stopped when she saw Taiyang and Qrow and her features fell into a neutral state. "We're missing students."
"Oh yeah… I can explain that," Taiyang said and started to stand up, only to jump back into Qrow when a portal opened next to him. After a second Raven poked her head out to see where she was and carefully stepped out into the desk row and let the portal close.
"Wassup?" she said sitting down and glancing over at Qrow pushing Taiyang off of him with a glare.
"Well that's one of you," Professor peach said and moved slowly over to Taiyang, "you were saying, Mr. Xiao Long?"
"Uh, right. Hold on." Taiyang dug into his jacket and pulled out the paper from earlier and held it out to Professor Peach, who took and read it quickly. After a moment she let out an annoyed sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Again?" she asked simply.
"Again," Raven answered, "I was bedding her down just before I came here." Peach glanced at Raven then back to Taiyang before sighing and handing the paper back.
"You'll be taking notes for her Mr. Xiao Long." Taiyang nodded and sat back down. Then, like a switch had been flipped, Peach's energy came back in full force as she clapped her hands. "Now then, as I was saying, I'm Professor Peach and welcome to Survival! Now, what does that mean to a Huntsman and Huntress'?"
The class was quiet for a moment until someone in the back said, "Um… How to stay alive?"
"Correct! It goes without saying, but the wilds of Remnant are a very unforgiving place. Unlike in the Kingdoms luxuries like stable food sources, fresh water, and safe places to sleep aren't guaranteed to be found at any point during your excursions. In this class, you'll learn everything you'll need to keep yourselves and your allies alive in spite of setbacks.
"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, as they say. So let's strengthen you so you won't be that weak link. With that in mind, open your texts to page 37 so we can begin with first aid. You'll find it necessary when your Aura reserves are low, which will happen a lot."
Jaune did as instructed, though he soon found himself not paying attention as the lesson went on. The words in front of him started blurring together as one particular thing kept dancing through his head. 'Weakest link, huh?'
Jaune was lost in thought and running on auto pilot for the rest of the day, barely paying attention enough to eat lunch and give one word answers to the conversation his team tried to bring him into. By the time he actually started paying attention to the world around him again he realized the last class of the day had just ended and the students around him were filtering outside.
'Wait, what class was this again?' Jaune thought looking around for a clue, only to find it was an almost completely bare bones classroom. 'Ah crap. Well, whatever.' With a sigh Jaune stood up and walked out of the classroom, already certain of his doom in regards to the work for this class, and tried his best to avoid is team on the way through the hallway.
"Hi Jaune!" Nora called to him, signifying his failure at stealth, and hopped in front of him with Ren and Pyrrha walking up behind him. "How you doing?"
"I'm… I'm fine," Jaune answered uncertainly, "Why do you ask?"
"You've been inattentive ever since Professor Peach's class," Ren said crossing his arms, "That's… not good, to be honest."
"Are you ok Jaune?" Pyrrha asked placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "If you need to, we can-"
"Guys!" Jaune brushed Pyrrha's hand off his shoulder as gently as he could and stepped away from everyone. "I'm fine, really. I just… need some time to myself ok? It's… been a busy day, you know?"
"Tell me about it!" Nora said patting her stomach. "I mean we had so many classes we only had time for one lunch break! Can you believe it?" Suddenly her stomach growled and Nora's eyes narrowed as she moved a hand onto Ren's shoulders. Jaune could swear he hard rusty metal as she moved. "You heard it Ren, we need to feed the beast."
Ren was quiet for a moment before nodding and said, "After you Nora," and let his friend drag him off toward the dining hall.
"Um…" Pyrrha started before shaking the sight off and looking back at Jaune, "Are you sure you'll be ok? I can help you want and-"
"Yes Pyrrha, I'll be fine." Jaune patted his pants pocket and added, "I have my scroll on me, so I'll be alright. I'll… I'll see you later Pyrrha." Jaune gave one last wave before he wandered off on his own, leaving behind a baffled and worried Pyrrha.
"What's his problem?" Pyrrha jumped a little and looked behind her at Raven, her hands behind her head as she watched Jaune disappear behind a corner.
"I don't know. Ren said something happened in Professor Peach's class, but I didn't have it today so-"
"Ah, I get it," Raven said shaking her head and lowering her arms to rest her hands on her hips. "Leader problems."
"Huh?"
"I've seen it happen with Summer sometimes. She gets locked in her own head about a dozen different things and just can't let any of them go because 'it might bring the rest of you down' or some garbage like that. I understand that team leaders have it harder than the rest of us, but I don't see the point in getting worked up over that kind of thing. I guess that's why I'm not a leader then; I'd be a bad leader, and bad leaders only lead to bad teams."
"Jaune…" Pyrrha glanced to where Jaune disappeared. She thought about going after him when a thought occurred to her. "Speaking of Summer, how is she doing? She looked awful last I saw her."
"She's fine. Different leaders have different problems; Summer worries too much, so she forgets to sleep sometimes. You just have to put her to bed and she'll be out for the rest of the day, no worries."
"Was that hard?" Pyrrha asked scratching her cheek, "I can't imagine Summer being the type to lie down quietly." Raven didn't immediately answer and seemed to be staring into space. "Raven?"
"Get back here dammit!" Raven called and lunged for Summer again, though she only grasped rose petals. One thing that Team STRQ had learned in the past year was that their leader was… unpredictable when she was running on low sleep. That combined with her semblance made for a pain in the ass for whoever volunteered to put her to bed.
"I don't want to wear those!" Summer shouted once she had finished Blinking to the other side of Raven's bed. "I'm fine sleeping as is!"
"Not in that cloak, I will not have your death by strangulation on my record!" Raven shouted and held up the balled up pajamas Summer had worn the previous night. "Now get over here and put these fucking pajamas on!"
"Swear jar Raven!" Summer chided and Blinked away from another lunge from Raven and landed on Qrow's bed.
"I don't give a shit! Get back here!" Raven lunged at Summer again, got a face of petals again, and watched Summer bolt into the bathroom and shut the door. By the time Raven got to the door she found that Summer had locked it and she rapped the door harshly. "Open the door Summer, you're going to make me late!"
"I don't need pajamas! I'm fine as is!" Summer said through the door.
"I don't care what you sleep in, as long as it's not that! I'll strip you naked if I have to Summer, don't think I won't!"
"Just you try Raven!"
"Fine!" Raven snapped her fingers and walked into the portal to Summer. The second she saw Summer she charged and finally got her hands on her to carry out her threat.
"W-wait, Raven no! Stop, I'm an innocent flower!"
"It wasn't anything I couldn't handle," Raven finally answered and shook her head, "As for Jaune, I wouldn't worry too much. As much an unrelenting judge of character I am, even I can tell Jaune's got a good head on his shoulders. Sometimes people do just need to be alone for a bit, even base bitches like him." Raven ignored the dirty look Pyrrha shot her in favor of looking her over and grinning widely. "Say Pyrrha, you don't have any more classes today right?"
"What? Well, yes I'm done with classes. Why?"
"That's perfect!" Raven said with false cheer and planted both of her hands on Pyrrha's shoulders. "Because we are going to be buddies for the rest of the day! Let's go to the library and see what we can get into buddy."
"Uh…" Pyrrha was shaking slightly under the older girl's grip, "That… sounds… lovely Raven, but I think I'd rather help Jau-"
"Not negotiable." Raven spun Pyrrha around in a cartoonishly comical fashion and stopped her when she wrapped an arm around her neck to begin dragging her away. "To the library!"
"W-wait! What about Jaune?!"
"What about him? Stop focusing on weaklings and focus more on the fun we'll have!"
"H-help! I'm being Hunt-napped!" was all the red head could do along with flailing futilely in Raven's grip. What the pair didn't know was that Jaune had heard the whole thing and, with Raven and Pyrrha going the opposite way from him, left him by himself with only a miserable sigh before he started walking through the halls.
"Where did you get those sunglasses?"
"These? I saw Coco Adel wearing them and I just had to have them! She's so cool."
"Well at least tell me where you got them!"
No matter where Jaune wandered, there always seemed to be someone talking about something that made him feel worse about himself. He sighed to himself as he passed by the boy and girl and tried his hardest to not listen to his peers while he got his thoughts in order.
That turned out to be harder than he thought.
"I'm so glad I chose to come to Beacon. There's so many cool people here!"
"No kidding. I saw Pyrrha Nikos in one of my classes. I thought it was a cosplayer at first, but it was really her!"
"She's cool, no offense, but she's got nothing on Team CFVY. I guess the upperclassmen just have something… different, you know?"
"Yeah, like MRGD. They're… a team."
"Forget them, I saw Team STRQ earlier! They're students here!"
"Are you serious?! From what I heard about them I figured they were veterans!"
Eventually Jaune couldn't take it and took a sharp turn and found himself on a balcony overlooking the school grounds. Jaune eyed one of the benches for a moment before shaking his head and moving to lean against the railing. There he heaved yet another sigh and rubbed his face roughly.
"Oh man, what am I doing?" he wondered aloud and looked up at the sunset.
"Watching the sunset, I'd assume." The sudden voice spooked Jaune, leading to him accidentally slamming his knee into the railing, and he turned around to find Professor Port sauntering over and stopped next to him. He placed a hand on the railing and took a deep breath. "Ah, I like coming here after a long day of classes. It helps me get my thoughts in order."
"I… I suppose," Jaune replied quietly. "I just kind of… ended up here."
"So it would seem. Not enjoying your time here?" Jaune looked over at Port and pushed off the railing shaking his head.
"No. It's… complicated," Jaune answered pacing around a little.
"Only as much as you make it," Port answered and straightened up a little, "well, allow me to lend an ear. Confess to me your strife!" Jaune glanced at Port and then at the sunset before sighing and shaking his head.
"It's… I think Professor Ozpin made a mistake."
"Oh?" Port quirked an eyebrow. "You don't like your team?"
"What?! No no, that's not what I meant!" The way Jaune waved his arms wildly nixed any thought that Port may have had about where this conversation was going. "I love my team! Pyrrha's great and I'd probably be dead a thousand times if it weren't for her. Ren's cool and seems like a good listener, and Nora…" Jaune paused for a moment, blinking in confusion, and scratched his cheek, "Huh… what do I know about Nora? She's strong and… I have to talk to her more. Anyway, the problem isn't with them."
"Then…?"
"…It's with me. Like… why did he make me the leader? I'm not skilled like Pyrrha or Ren, heck I'm sure Nora would make a better leader than me. I… well, I-"
"You think one of your teammates should have been made leader instead of you, yes?" Port finished crossing his arms.
"Y-yeah. I just… they deserve better." Silence filled the air for a few brief moments until-
"That's preposterous."
"H-huh?"
"Listen, Mr. Arc, I've known Professor Ozpin for many years and he's never once led me astray. If he assigned you as your team's leader then he decided that you are the best for the role, not your teammates."
"But-"
"Sure your teammates may be better than you in combat, but that doesn't make them leaders. A leader is able to see the situation as a whole, the skills of their team, and use that to come up with a plan of action. That requires a far different mindset to truly succeed at. And while it's on my mind, the 'natural born leader,'" Port continued finger quoting the last part, "isn't true in the way you would think. Sure some take to it faster than others, but no one is a great leader when it has literally been one day."
Jaune flinched a little at that, but still he had to push on. "Well, I guess, but…" he gestured to himself top to bottom, "you know… this?"
"As I've said, I trust Ozpin's judgement when it comes to team placements. In my opinion, you just lack confidence and experience, both of which can be solved with time." Port then rubbed his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers and smiled under his mustache. "Come to think of it, this actually reminds me of a story!"
"Ugh…" Jaune rolled his eyes unconsciously and flinched back a little at Ports subsequent stare.
"Trust me Mr. Arc, you'll want to hear this." Port turned around and placed a hand on the railing. He took a breath as Jaune slowly moved up next to him. "Not that long ago another team was formed in this academy. Individually they all showed great promise and, for one brief moment they all came together in a way that left me stunned. We all thought that they would only continue to grow brighter.
"And then they actually became a team and dashed all of that. They were, without a doubt, one of the worst teams I had ever seen! They constantly argued, couldn't come together for either assignments or sparring sessions, no cohesion as a team at all! Their leader was particularly bad, refusing to lead or even talk to the others on the team. There wasn't even a spark in her eyes when she was around. Honestly, it's miracle they didn't kill each other like other teams like them."
"Does… that happen often?" Jaune asked worriedly.
"More than you would think, less than you would hope."
"…Wasn't this supposed to be a pep talk or something?"
"The truth hurts sometimes. They didn't though, just nearly flunked out of the academy entirely. This was probably the one time I ever doubted Ozpin's judgement, along with several other professors. But when we brought it up to him, he just smiled how he usually does and said, 'Don't worry, they just need time to find themselves. If that doesn't work, then I'll handle it.'
"And handle it he did," Port stepped away from the railing and started pacing around the balcony. "A few stern lectures, a… regrettable incident during a sparring session, and the threat of expulsion got the message across that they needed to get their act together if they wanted to stay. And wouldn't you know it, they did.
"It didn't happen overnight, but they did improve. I think their leader took it to heart especially; starting small conversations with her teammates, putting in the effort to help them out with small things, and once she actually started applying herself she had a good head on her shoulders. As she slowly opened up, so did her team and they all started becoming much more close knit."
"I don't mean to interrupt," Jaune interrupted, "but how does this relate back to me?"
"The point being," Port stopped and placed his hands on his hips, "is that while you think you're a terrible leader right now, I can guarantee you that there have been far worse ones. But that doesn't mean they, and you, can't improve. That team I mentioned is perfect proof of that; just look at how much Team STRQ has accomplished in the short time they've been here."
"ST… wait, you mean Summer's team?"
"Indeed! You may not have realized it… or maybe you have given what happened today, but Summer and her team were actually trouble students when they started. In a way they still are, but for more mundane reasons now: the occasional stink bomb, booby trapped cakes, trespassing into areas they aren't supposed to go in, things like that. What surprises me the most is how well they actually hid their improvement as a team. We never realized until the news got to us that they had practically taken down the largest mafia family in Vale single handedly before they were done with their first year! I gladly took the shame of my earlier doubt when that happened."
"…Summer was a bad leader?"
"I suppose that is the point of this story," Port said running a thumb over his mustache, "Yes, she was. She had a… unique way of thinking a Huntress should be and that clashed with reality. Until they were forced into that camping trip, her poor attitude and lack of care put her team in danger more than once."
"But… she's so cool!" Jaune thought back to yesterday and the Nevermore they had killed. "How could someone like her be a bad leader at any point?"
"The result of almost a year of constant self-improvement I assure you, and one that's still happening to this day. Like I said, no one is 'born' a leader. Everyone, even the best, need to grow into the role. So don't be so hard on yourself Mr. Arc, just give yourself time to learn and grow as a leader. Understand?"
"…Yeah, I do," Jaune nodded and shrugged. "Sorry, I guess I just let my nerves get the better of me, you know?"
"Nonsense! First day jitters are natural for Huntsman in training. Don't you worry though, days like these will soon be a thing of the past and you'll develop nerves of steel, like me." Port let out a loud laugh, which Jaune could only rub the back of his neck in response to. After a moment, Port quieted down and gestured at Jaune to ask, "So, is there anything else on your mind Mr. Arc?"
"Uh, no. That was… pretty much it." Jaune glanced at the sunset and let out a small sigh, "I should probably be getting back to the others. They're probably worried about me by now."
"Well don't let me keep you." Port nodded and started walking away from Jaune before stopping a few paces away. "And Mr. Arc…?"
"Y-yeah?"
"I think the fact that your worries were more for you teammates sake than your own speaks volumes. And there's nothing wrong with asking for advice if you need it." Port clasped his hands behind him and started walking again. Jaune waited until he was in the building and out of sight before he started making his way back to the dorms.
The sun had set fully by the time Jaune had made it back to the dorms and through the halls to JNPR's room. He stopped and glanced at the door across from his room for a moment, but shook his head and went to his room, using his scroll to unlock the door and walked inside to find everyone already in their pajamas. Ren was doing schoolwork while Pyrrha and Nora were sitting on the latter's bed looking at their scrolls.
"So…" Pyrrha started looking at her scroll, "I just… collect cards? And I battle with them?"
"Yup," Nora nodded, "and if you win you get crates with more cards in them, which you can use to upgrade with. Rinse and repeat."
"That sounds like quite the time investment."
"Well, you could just buy them I guess, but only the lowest of scrubs do just that." Nora's face suddenly grew serious and she leaned closer to Pyrrha. "Are you a scrub Pyrrha?"
"Um…" Pyrrha had to lean back from how close Nora was getting to her face, "No?"
"Good. Hi Jaune!" said leader jumped a little at the sudden address and glanced around at everyone now looking at him.
"Um… should I come back later?" Jaune asked pointing behind him at the closed door, "You seem like you're in the middle of something."
"No, it's alright!" Pyrrha said standing up and putting her scroll on her bed, "Nora was just showing me a game. What about you, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm alright," Jaune said loosening his tie as he walked over to his wardrobe to get his pajamas. "I just let my nerves get to me I guess. First day, you know?"
"I can understand that," Nora nodded and glanced to the side, "Ren."
"I refuse to be part of this conversation," Ren said simply, a small amount of anger slipping through, and returned to his work. Jaune stared at his male teammate in confusion mid reach and looked to Pyrrha, who shook her head.
"I don't understand either and they won't talk about it," she said taking a step closer to Jaune, "so… do you? If anything is troubling you, you know you can ask us to help."
"I-I know," Jaune said shaking his head, "but it's not exactly something that you can help me with."
"But-"
"But I know someone who can. I'll ask them when the time is right, so don't worry so much ok?" Pyrrha glanced down for a moment before looking back up and nodding. "Thanks. But… if you can help me out with the homework that would be great. I don't remember the last few classes I had."
Pyrrha had to stifle a laugh at how Jaune's eyes narrowed at the last sentence and nodded again. "Of course Jaune, just get changed first ok?" It was Jaune's turn to nod and he grabbed one of his onesies. (Pyrrha had another laughing fit at the revelation that Jaune had more than one of those pajamas. Jaune, naturally, attributed it to another nervous fit after what had happened yesterday.) As Jaune went into the bathroom he started thinking about how he would go about asking for help and, more importantly, if she was actually ok after what happened earlier.
"So…" Nora spoke up once Jaune was out of sight and looked at Pyrrha, "Where did you go all day? Ren said he saw you with Raven. What did you two do?"
Pyrrha could only blush deeply and turn away from Nora, her eyes drifting down to the floor. "I… didn't know the library had a young adult section."
"…Huh?"
"So… should we wake her up?" Taiyang asked looking up at Summer's bed, where said girl was snoring away happily in her pajamas. "She's been asleep all day. Is that… you know, good for her?"
"That's a good question Taiyang," Raven said looking over at him before going back to clipping her toenails, "go ahead and try." Taiyang glanced at Raven to a dead asleep Qrow and back up to Summer before shaking his head.
"Nah, fuck that."
"Swear…jar…" Summer muttered in her sleep and gripped her pillow shaking angrily.
"I know I know," Taiyang grumbled and stalked over to a jar on one of the tables labeled 'swear jar' with a list of prices. He grabbed his wallet next to it, slipped out a Lien card, and put it into the jar. "There, happy?"
"…Thank you…" Summer answered and dug deeper into her bed sheets.
"This is going to be a long year, isn't it?" Taiyang asked looking at Raven.
"Probably."
It's kind of difficult coming up for what a typical day at Beacon would be like, since it's not really important to the actual story of RWBY. I think I got a good flow going though.
Updates are going to slow down for a while due to life stuff killing my drive to write. Once that's passed I'll get back to regular updates again. Thanks for the understanding.
