Chapter II: No Good Deed
The following morning was a beautiful one, though its beauty was appreciated differently by each member of Teams RWBY and JNPR. Ruby and Yang would have preferred to have slept in, as they were still not used to waking so early. Blake awoke feeling rested for the first time in a while, but was a tad reluctant to leave her warm bed. Weiss was the best off, and was already preparing for the coming day.
Team JNPR was in a similar situation. Nora was too engrossed with her dreams of Ren and food to be roused, even with Pyrrha, who woke rested and full of energy, doing her best to wake her. Ren had awoken earlier than the both of them, but only because he had been disturbed by Jaune preparing to leave their dorm, intending to return the dress he had hastily borrowed the night before.
Eventually, the two teams made their way to the Beacon dining hall, in various states of consciousness. Sitting across from one another, they each began to eat their breakfasts while discussing the previous night.
"Well, last night was fun" said Yang, biting into a piece of toast.
"Yes, it was" agreed Weiss, sipping her tea, "minus all the foibles planning the event, everything turned out well."
"And whose fault was that?" the blonde asked coyly.
"Excuse me? You were the one was trying to turn the Dance into a rave!"
"But not every dance is a formal ball, Weiss!"
"My entire life has been formal balls and gatherings, therefore I brought that experience to organizing this one" defended the Ice Queen, taking another sip of her tea. "Regardless, I compromised where necessary, and it went without a hitch. The true issue was the limited time for preparation. These kinds of events take weeks of planning, so the blame falls on the school for informing us of the responsibility on such short notice."
"I can agree with that" admitted Yang, finishing her toast.
"I think you both did a wonderful job. I very much enjoyed myself" compliment Pyrrha, smiling.
"Thank you, Pyrrha" said Weiss, returning the smile, "that's very nice of you."
"Speaking of enjoying the Dance..." said Yang with a grin spreading on her face, "someone seemed to have really enjoyed herself..."
The blonde Huntress-in-training's eyes rested on Blake, who didn't realize she had become the focus of the conversation, until she looked up from her meal and saw nearly all of her friends were looking at her.
"Wait, what?" she asked confused.
"You came back rather late last night..." stated Weiss, bringing her tea cup to her lips but pausing to look over the rim at her Faunus teammate, "...care to fill us on the details?"
"Oh I think I can fill in most of them" said Yang, resting her chin in her right palm, propped up by her elbow so she could look down the dinner table; a shit-eating grin on full display as she raised her left hand showing three fingers. "One third begins with S," she retracted her ring finger, "another third begins with N," she retracted her middle finger, "and the last third which is missing is..." she turned her left hand and gestured with her thumb and index finger like a pistol at Blake "...U."
The normally gloomy Huntress-in-training was now very much flustered, eyes wide, and cheeks burning red.
"W-Wha–" she began to stutter, eyes darting between each of her friends who were all beginning to grow grins of their own, minus Ruby who was picking at her food with her fork.
"Went off with Sun in the night, did you?" asked Nora, leaning forward.
"I-we-wait!" Blake stammered, her face becoming redder by the second. "Yes we left the party together, but it was because I felt bad for turning Sun down, so I thought we could go for a walk to make up for it!"
"Uhuh, and how exactly did you make up for it?" asked Yang suggestively.
"We just talked!" defended the Faunus. "We went for a walk, and we talked! That's all!"
"No kissing under the moonlight?" added Weiss.
"No! And what about you?" asked Blake, pointing at the Atlassian. "You left with Neptune!"
"Neptune was a complete and utter gentleman" Weiss retorted, her cheeks tinged only slightly pink. "We danced, we chatted at length, and he walked me back to the dorm and kissed my hand."
"How suave of him" commented Pyrrha.
"Yes, though I will have to teach him to dance."
"Oh he couldn't have been that bad."
"He..." paused Weiss, trying to find the right words without sounding overly harsh, "...tried his best."
Pyrrha covered her mouth trying to suppress a giggle.
"Well, no one is perfect" she said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll be a good teacher."
"Of course" Weiss replied confidently, raising her tea cup. "Not all of us can have partners that are secretly expert dancers."
"I wouldn't go so far as call myself an expert..." said a voice, causing the students to turn their heads to Jaune, who stood with a tray of food in his hands, "...but I do appreciate the compliment."
The blond's eyes then rested on Pyrrha, who began to blush from his gaze, the memories of the previous night returning. The same memories were also playing in Jaune's mind, causing him to smile warmly as he sat beside her.
Immediately, their friends could sense that the atmosphere had changed, and Nora most of all, was ready to take full advantage.
"Did you have any issues at the shop?" asked Pyrrha.
"No, not at all. The shop owner was just happy nothing was damaged and I actually returned it" replied Jaune, adding sugar to his coffee. The couple gazed at one another for a moment or two longer than they realized, leaving them unaware of the others watching them curiously.
"I take it you also enjoyed yourself last night?" asked Weiss,
"Hmm? Yes, I did. The dance was really fun, minus the initial social awkwardness" replied Jaune, cutting a piece of breakfast sausage.
There was a moment of silence as Jaune began to eat. The others watched him, each preparing for the right moment to strike. Pyrrha was now aware of what was going on, and felt her cheeks warm, knowing that their friends were going to exploit the situation to the fullest.
Jaune finally began to notice his friends were staring at him, and he looked around in confusion.
"What?" he asked at last.
"Did anything of note happen late night?" asked Blake, now glad to no longer be on the receiving end.
"Uh, n-no–"
"I know what happened!" cut in Nora, no longer able to contain herself.
"Oh? Do tell" said Yang, grinning from ear to ear.
Nora planted her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her palms, and was smiling wildly and radiantly.
"Jaune asked Pyrrha ooo-ut~!" she sang excitedly.
The aforementioned couple began to blush, not expecting to be discovered and put on blast so soon.
"Really? Oh Jaune, how are you handing the rejection?" asked Yang in mock concern.
"I-I said yes!" defended Pyrrha, blushing even deeper.
"Wow..." exclaimed the blonde Huntress-in-training, eyebrows raised exaggeratedly. "So guys in dorky PJs and dresses do it for ya, huh?"
Jaune eyed the elder Xiao Long, and knew that she was baiting for reactions from both himself and his lieutenant. Instead of giving her what she wanted, he smirked and grabbed his coffee.
"That's bold talk coming from someone who went to the Dance alone" he said calmly, taking a sip of his drink. "And you can't use the excuse that you were too busy with planning, since Weiss went with Neptune."
Yang squinted at the taller blond with pursed lips.
"Well played, Arc" she said nodding, earning a wink and a raised glass from the captain of Team JNPR. She then tried to hit him with a tatter from her plate, but he managed to avoid it by quickly leaning to the left.
"Well, it's great to see that you finally came around" said Blake genuinely.
"Yes, congratulations" added Weiss, "And thank you for speaking with Neptune. I very much appreciate that."
"Hey, no worries. I know when to call it quits" Jaune admitted, showing he was no longer hurt by the heiress' rejection, "but I have to point out the 'coming around' comments. That's been pretty much everyone's reaction thus far. That's far better than disapproval obviously, but were Pyrrha's feelings obvious to everyone but m–"
"Yes!" everyone cut in unanimously.
Jaune's eyes widened as he looked at all of his friends, before his gaze finally rested on Pyrrha, who was smiling with both amusement and bashfulness.
"Sorry" he said, looking down in shame. Pyrrha took his hand and squeezed comfortingly.
"As I said last night, there's nothing to forgive. I'm just happy you changed your mind" she reassured, her eyes gleaming with love.
The blond couldn't suppress a smirk and squeezed back, taking in her beauty as if they were the only ones in the dining hall. Of course they weren't, which gave Nora another chance to tease.
"Now kiiiiiiissss~" the ginger cheered, getting a playful nudge from Ren.
"Be nice" he said, though not trying to restrain her.
Nora hardly noticed as she got the reaction she wanted from her teammates, who were now both blushing and flustered. The others were equally amused, enjoying how cute the new couple were being.
"So you two are officially together, right?" asked Yang.
"W-Well, we haven't gone on a proper date yet" admitted Jaune. "There was the Dance yeah, but that was rushed and wasn't about talking of relationship goals and stuff like that. I think it's only going to be official when we go on real dates and cement the relationship. Right?"
He had turned to address Pyrrha with the final statement, earning a courteous nod in reply.
"Yes, it would only be fair" replied the redhead, though in her heart of hearts, already considered Jaune to be her man, and completely irreplaceable.
"So in the meantime, you're both free to hit up with whomever?" Yang asked.
"Of course not!" the captain and lieutenant of Team JNPR cried in unison.
Obviously Yang had not been serious with her question, only continuing her game of teasing. The reaction caused the others to laugh, knowing that the couple were indeed officially together, romantic dates under their belts or not.
"Well, you all seem nice and lively this morning" said a voice.
The group turned to see it was none other than Sun speaking, with Neptune to his right, both smiling brightly. The Vacuan Faunus' eyes rested on Blake, causing her to blush, as a roguish grin spread across his face.
"Of course!" chimed Nora, "We're talking about how everyone's dates went last night."
"Oh really? Mind if we join you?"
"Not at all. Have a seat" gestured Yang.
Weiss, who noticed how Sun had looked at Blake, moved over to her left, giving him enough room to sit next to her teammate. As Sun took his seat, Neptune sat to Weiss' left, and wished her a good morning, earning himself a reserved but sweet reply, accompanied with a light blush on the heiress' cheeks.
"So, did everyone have a good one?" asked Sun.
"Yup! But none of us had it better than these two, since they're going out" quipped the ginger.
"Wait really? Congrats" Sun said, giving the new couple a thumbs up.
"I figured that was the case after the stunt you pulled last night. Even I can't pull off looking cool in a dress" Neptune said honestly.
"Cool is not how I would described it" Yang snickered.
"Again..." Jaune responded, this time being bolder by sliding his right hand around Pyrrha's waist, and pulling her closer, "which one of us got a partner to the Dance and left with a date?"
Pyrrha's face had turned rather scarlet from her captain's sudden act of manliness, which only deepened when she saw the confident smirk on his face.
Yang had expected Jaune's retort, and quickly returned on the offensive.
"Well then Mr. Prince Charming, have you even kissed your date yet?"
This time the blonde Huntress-in-training had landed a solid hit, as both Jaune and Pyrrha blushed and looked at one another nervously.
"W-Well...yes..." the swordsman said slowly.
"Liar" Nora blurted out. "Pyrrha just kissed him on the cheek."
"Pfft, that's it? Boring."
"That's what I said."
"Oh come on!" protested Pyrrha, her face now matching the colour of her hair. "Why are both you so fixated on Jaune and I jumping that far into our relationship so soon? What about them?"
She pointed at Sun, Blake, Neptune, and Weiss, who were all at differing levels of flustered; Blake being the most, followed by Weiss, then Neptune, and then Sun being more amused than embarrassed.
"Well, they are just starting to get to know one another, whereas you've been crushing on Jaune ever since you met him. And you're both on my team so it's extra important—and you're fun to tease" confessed the ginger without shame.
Yang and Sun burst out laughing, and high fived the thunderess enthusiastically. Jaune and Pyrrha hung their heads in red-faced defeat, knowing that this would continue for the entirety of their relationship, or when they finally made love; though no guarantee the teasing would end there. Pyrrha then felt her Scroll vibrate in her pocket, and slowly pulled it out, glad to have some form of distraction from the situation she was in.
"So Vale's turning out to be a pretty fun place. Wouldn't ya say, Neptune?" complemented Sun.
"Yes, I'd think so" agreed the blue-haired Vacuan. "Nice capital, nice night life, nice people, and a nice start to the Vytal Festival."
"Though there was a severe lack of cold booze at the Dance last night, to be honest" Sun remarked.
"I like the way you think, Sun, but the school forbad the inclusion of a cocktail menu. I tried to change their minds, but nope, no booze. I think someone got in trouble trying to spike the punch last night too" agreed Yang.
"Aren't you technically still underage?" asked Blake, which caused Sun to scoff.
"As if that matters in Vacuo!" he replied bluntly. "Vacuo is a harsh place, where you need to be tougher than nails to survive. If the blazing heat of the desert doesn't kill you, then a million other things will. So there's plenty of other things to worry about than if some teenager is having a beer. And let's be real, there's nothing like a cold one after a hard Hunt. So I guess that's the one flaw of Vale so far. Well, that and the weather. It's too cold here, right, dude?"
Neptune nodded in silent agreement, both which caused Weiss to nearly spit out her tea. She coughed loudly as the blue-haired lieutenant placed his hand on her back in an attempt to sooth her, before she looked at the both of them in bewilderment.
"Excuse me?" she demanded, eyes wide. "Perhaps I misheard, but did you just say that it is too cold here?"
"Yeah, that's what I said."
The Schnee heiress' mouth hung open in shock.
"Are you insane? How in Remnant could you possibly think that Vale is cold? We are just at the beginning of spring, and it is positively humid! Winter cannot come soon enough. Gods, how I miss the snow" sighed Weiss.
"We're from desert country, Ice Queen. It gets to nearly 50° at high noon, and almost 70° in the centre of Vacuo. Now that is hot!"
"To be fair, it does get to nearly 0° at night" chimed in Neptune, "especially in the winter where it can hit -5°."
The Monkey Faunus shivered from the thought, which caused the Atlassian Huntress-in-training to scoff.
"Minus five? That is still autumn wear weather! In Atlas, it hits fifty below in the city, and in the tundra lands to the north, where there are no trees to slow the polar winds, the temperature drops to -70° with ease. And I say with ease because even we Atlassians have been unable to develop devices that can survive the northern climate to record the temperatures at the peak of winter. In short, we have no clue how cold it can get" she explained, with a sort of pride that seemed alien to the others, though was hardly any different than Sun's pride of Vacuo's own unforgiving climate.
"Remind me never to visit Atlas, would ya?" said Sun to Blake. "I'll stick to sand, sun, and the only ice in sight is in my drink."
"Hmmm. It doesn't seem so bad" commented Nora, oddly intrigued by Weiss' description of Atlas; though she didn't know exactly why.
"I love summer for the beaches, I love fall for the colours, and I love relaxing near the fire in winter...but if those are the two extremes I gotta work with, I'm gonna stay right here" said Yang, rubbing the dining table with both palms.
"Just a moment" realized the lady rapierist, "if you find that Vale is too cold, then why are you going about with your jacket open with no shirt beneath it?"
The Vacuan Faunus looked at Weiss as if she had suggested that the moon was in one piece.
"What? And hide the goods?" he inquired in stupefaction, passing his hands down his torso like an artist displaying a masterpiece, with Blake's eyes following. "Now who's being crazy here?" he said while flashing his roguish grin.
Weiss simply rolled her eyes at the Faunus, unsurprised by the explanation.
"As long as you dress competently, then you will be able to enjoy Atlas and all her beauty. But if you must feel the heat, then you can make full use of our saunas and hot springs; that would be the best of both worlds."
"I'll take a rain check on that" he said, making Neptune laugh, though the others weren't aware of the meaning behind the comment.
The heiress rolled her eyes once again, which got a laugh from the others, as it was clear that neither were going to win each other over.
"Oh no..." moaned Pyrrha, causing her friends to look at her with concern.
"What's wrong?" asked Jaune, clearly seeing the distress in his lieutenant's eyes.
Pyrrha covered her face with her right hand as she held up her Scroll with her left, so that her captain could see what had upset her. Jaune looked at the screen and saw that it was a photo of a newspaper called the "Argus Tribune", on what appeared to be a kitchen table, with a cup of coffee sitting beside it. It was on the front page with a large photo of himself and Pyrrha dancing, just below a large title that said "Champion of Mistral Goes to Beacon Dance With Unknown Huntsman". Jaune was confused at why their photo was in the news, and more so of who sent it, rather than a link to the digital version of the article. It was then that he noticed the photo was sent through the Scroll default messaging client, from a contact named "Mother".
Pyrrha looked at Jaune through her fingers, hiding only a portion of her blush.
"My mother says she is very much looking forward to meeting you" she said slowly.
This realization caused the blond to blush as well, though it was more to due to embarrassment than with romance. He had been fine with a little humiliation to make up for his mistakes, and in the end he could laugh it off as it had earned him a second date with an incredibly beautiful woman. However, it was the fact that Pyrrha's mother's first impression of him was one clad in a dress, that embarrassed the young man deeply.
"Your mom knows about Jaune?" asked Nora excitedly, believing this was another chance to tease her friends.
"Of course. I've told her about the team and Jaune being made captain the day JNPR was formed" replied the redhead, looking down at her Scroll dejected. "But that is not the issue." She held up her Scroll so that the rest of the table could see, and all were shocked to see its contents.
"Why is that in the news? And on the front page no less" asked Yang, stumped.
"It is because I am Pyrrha Nikos..." the champion replied breathlessly, noticing her mother was beginning to write to her. "There must have been a freelancer—or a student from outside of Beacon—who took a photo and sold it to the Argus Tribune." She began to tap on the screen to reply to her mother, before attempting to locate the original article. "And that is also the reason why it is on the front page. News that I went to the Dance with a date would draw the interest of the entirety of Mistral. The fact they referred to Jaune as an 'unknown Huntsman', means they are inflating the situation to make the story as gargantuan as possible. No doubt they'll begin looking into our relationship."
"Are you serious?"
Pyrrha sighed as she located the article. "It is one of the many joys of being a celebrity. Privacy is the cost of fame."
"That's gross" grimaced Sun, folding his arms, as the redhead took a breath and began to read.
"Last night was the beginning of the Vytal Festival, this time hosted by the Kingdom of Vale's crown jewel, the Academy of Beacon. As is tradition, a formal dance takes place to welcome the competitors to the host school, allowing them to settle in comfortably before the main tournament begins. Many Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training go to the Dance together, most with members of their own teams, as dates, though many also take the opportunity to experience the local pickings. As champion of Mistral, it seemed appropriate that Miss Nikos would seek someone with equal skill, as there are no warriors of her generation that can compete within our Kingdom. I, and I am sure as did many others, waited with baited breath to hear of such news come to light in the coming weeks.
However, I was shocked to received a message from a from a freelancer attending the party that Miss Nikos' date was none other than the young man in the dress you see in the photo above. Our freelancer said that he was baffled at what he was seeing, as this student walked straight up to Miss Nikos, and asked her to dance. He was baffled further when she accepted his offer and danced with him the entire evening, and was even spotted leaving the ball room together.
Immediately I began collaborating with our freelancer to gather as much information as possible on this mysterious student. What history does he have with our champion? On the ground information gathering proved to be incredibly difficult, as most had no idea who this Huntsman-in-training was. Most refer to him as 'the blond swordsman that hangs out with Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos'. My intrigue to know more about this young man began to grow, as he was rolling with the largest players in eastern Remnant. How could a Huntsman-in-training remain unknown whilst being familiar with the champion of Mistral and the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company? My own research was turning up empty, as no Huntsman or athlete of his description matched anyone of note from previous tournaments in either Mistral or Atlas, nor in Vale. This was incredibly confusing, as neither Huntress have ever been to Vale. So how could such a person, with enough prestige to be associated with them, go under the radar?
It was at last our freelancer than informed me that this Huntsman's name was Jaune Arc, and was none other than the captain of Miss Nikos' team named 'JNPR' (pronounced Juniper). This came as a shock to us all, as any team Miss Nikos would be a part of would no doubt place her as captain. However, I can confirm with the official first-year team registry that indeed, the team is called JNPR with Arc as captain, and Miss Nikos as lieutenant. In fact, their entire team, safe for Miss Nikos, are made of up unknowns. As shocking as this all may be, having Jaune Arc's name finally gave me the ability to do some proper research, and learn just who he was.
It grieves me to inform you all that Jaune Arc has no record of any kind. He has no accreditation or titles to his name, nor any notation. It would appear that this Jaune Arc, is a less than average first-year student. We are still waiting for a response from Beacon Academy's Huntmaster, Professor Samuel Ozpin, to confirm Jaune Arc's record. When a response is finally given, we will update this story as soon as humanly possible.
In the meantime, we are left to speculate on what exactly the relationship between this Jaune Arc, and Pyrrha Nikos is. Since he is indeed her captain, then perhaps them going to the Dance together was nothing more than a courtesy. Why he was in a dress, neither I nor our freelancer can say for certain, but it does give some insight into why Miss Nikos accepted his request to dance. She may have been embarrassed by the ordeal, and decided it would be best to go along with it, in order to save face. She very well might have felt such pity–"
The last sentence was the final straw for the Mistralese champion, who slammed her Scroll onto the table, causing the others to jump in shock.
"They always do this. They always have to do this!" she cried, her voice filled with frustration, and a deep scowl on her face.
The rest of the group, along with Ruby who had been lost in her own thoughts for the entire morning, looked at Pyrrha in complete shock. They had never seen her so frustrated, let alone angry, and yet here she was with all that emotion being clearly reflected in her eyes as she stared at the article. The only people who had seen her reveal some of the emotions that she kept hidden were Nora and Jaune, and the blond swordsman had see a very good display of that frustration the previous night. It was because that seal had been broken, and her love for the young man being known, that she was now no longer trying to hide what she truly felt.
"Every time I have fought in a tournament, so called journalists go through my opponents' pasts, and belittle them. Instead of giving them the respect any Huntsman or Huntress deserves for taking up the Hunt, they mock them! I have lost count of the number of promising Huntsmen and athletes that lost their edge before battle because of the support I have received, and the subjugation they received. It's why I came to Beacon in the first place. I wanted to meet new and talented warriors, who were devoted to the cause, and where I would not be obsessed over. I'm so naive."
She turned to look at Jaune, who was gazing at her with a sombre face, knowing there was little he could say to comfort her.
"I'm so sorry, Jaune, now you're going to be swarmed by reporters demanding to know more about you and our relationship."
Her eyes were filled with remorse, and Jaune knew that this was her fears coming to life.
"Everything is going to be fine" he assured her, taking her hand once again. "I've got nothing to hide, and who cares if I don't have titles or whatever. So long as they leave my family alone, then they can do and say what they want about me."
This wasn't entirely true, however. While he did mean that he would gladly take the brunt of the paparazzi's ire if it meant protecting Pyrrha and his family, he did indeed have something to hide. The reason why his record was empty was because there was no record. He had forged his documentation to get into Beacon. What would happen if some journalist got their hands on his transcripts, and could prove they were forged? He'd be expelled, there was no question about that, but what would be the consequences for Pyrrha? Or Team JNPR for that matter? Those fears would be in his thoughts for a long time.
"Oh Gods! You need to contact your family to let them know" she gasped, covering her mouth, eyes widening in realization. "If they find out where they live, they'll pester them and dig into their history to get to you."
"I'll let them know. My eldest sister just had a baby, and they deserve their privacy" Jaune replied, though he wasn't looking forward to speaking to them. It was his rocky relationship with his family that led him to escape to Beacon in the first place, but he knew that it was the right thing to do.
"They can't really be that low to go bug your family, can they?" asked Yang, grossed out by the idea of reporters shoving a camera in the face of a young mother to get information.
"They are I guess. My team is pretty popular, but it's never gotten that bad, thankfully" admitted Sun. "We like having the limelight on us, and it's been nothing but sunshine and roses; it's much easier to get into clubs, get free drinks, etc. We're obviously not as famous as Pyrrha, but if we ever start getting really nosey asses digging into our personal lives, then we're really gonna have some problems."
"Yeah, that's terrible. And to think that's how your mother learned about Jaune too" added Nora, knowing how important her friend's relationship with Jaune meant to her.
"Well, no I told her about the team..." repeated Pyrrha, looking at her Scroll and saw her mother had replied, saying that she believed nothing in the editorial, and that she trusted her judgement on who to date. Seeing that did alleviate some of the anxiety, and she thanked her before speaking. "It would have been nice to let her know about Jaune and I on my own terms."
"So what does she think of me so far?" asked Jaune, scratching his cheek.
"Well...she did have some questions about the dress..." she replied, causing some snickering from the others, "but she seems to have a positive opinion of you. When I gave the context regarding the dress, she said that it spoke far louder than the several thousand word long opinion piece masquerading as journalism."
That caused Jaune's pride to swell greatly, knowing now without question that his heart had been in the right place on all counts. Not only did it earn Pyrrha's forgiveness, but also won over her mother, whose approval he most certainly wanted.
"Well then" he said, preparing to take a sip of his coffee, "there's a silver lining after all."
"Yeah! And besides, there's got to be more important things to talk about than who's dating who, right? The papers will just move onto something else" reasoned Nora.
"Unfortunately not" sighed Weiss, holding up her Scroll to reveal a front page article of the "Mantle Gazette", with a photo of herself dancing with Neptune, and an equally sensational title.
"You too?" blinked Blake in surprise.
"I may not be a celebrity in terms of my combat abilities" explained the heiress, closing her Scroll in annoyance, "but I am nevertheless a point of fixation for Atlas, given that I am the heiress of the Kingdom's oldest and most respected family."
"And what does Atlas think of me?" asked Neptune. "Have I also been thrown under the bus?"
Before Weiss could answer, her Scroll vibrated. She raised it to see who was calling her, and instantly slid a finger across the screen to hang up.
'Absolutely not' she thought. "Thankfully they have not. There are some that are disappointed you aren't some Atlassian politician's son or someone of that nature, some aren't pleased that you're from Vacuo, but otherwise seem to not have strong feelings one way or another."
"Why does it matter that he's from Vacuo?" asked Blake, which brought out a slightly out-of-character chuckle from Sun.
"Looks like there are still some who've got a grudge against us and the ol' King of Vale" he said, getting a smirk from his lieutenant.
"Wait, why would Atlas be mad at Vacuo because of the King of Vale? Vale doesn't even have a king" Nora remarked perplexed.
"Alexandre Vale, the last King, sided with Vacuo in the Great War, and defended it against Mistral and Atlas. You need to spend more time paying attention in Professor Oobleck's history classes, and less time sleeping" explained Ren, scolding her playfully as usual.
"Uh, it's Doctor Oobleck" corrected the ginger, wagging her finger dismissively. "See? I do pay attention."
"Ren is correct" added Pyrrha, with a more sombre expression on her face. "There are still those in Mistral that feel resentment towards Vale because of that past history. I do not doubt that if we traveled to other parts of the Kingdom of Vale and to Vacuo, we would find those who feel similarly to the Eastern Kingdoms."
"Well..." said Yang, after a short silence blanked itself over the group, as she finished off the rest of her breakfast, "so much for the Vytal Festival. What do you think, sis?" The blonde looked over at the miniature sniper when she didn't respond, and seeing that she was still staring at her plate, nudged her with her elbow. "Ruby."
The younger Xiao Long instantly snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her sister in confusion.
"Uh, what?"
"Did you hear anything that we just talked about?"
"Uuuuh..."
"What's up with you? You've been quiet all morning, and you've barely eaten your..." the blonde eyed her sister's meal which was a crepe filled to the point of bursting with chocolate spread, syrup, bananas, and powdered sugar, "breakfast."
"Is that what you call it?" asked Jaune, leaning forward and raising an eyebrow at his fellow captain's meal.
"I wouldn't. That's dessert" added Blake.
"No, it's breakfast" defended Ruby.
"There is nearly as much sugar in that as there is in the heated cup of syrup you call coffee" jeered Weiss, crossing her arms.
"I think it looks delicious" complimented Nora, feeling her hungry renewing.
"Don't encourage her" warned Yang, pointing at the thunderess. "But seriously, what's up? Is everything OK?"
Ruby sighed. "I can't stop thinking about what happened last night. I know that I've seen that woman before. She has to be who backed up Torchwick when he and his goons attacked that dust shop I was at."
"Are you sure?" asked Blake, her focus becoming razor sharp.
The red-hooded girl nodded. "I could never forget her and her power. And that's what worries me. Not only do we have her and Torchwick's gang working together, but they're also working with the White Fang. That can't be good. Something big is coming."
"We can't be sure of that" Yang commented, worried that the conversation would reignite Blake's anxiety. "As far we can tell, this woman and Torchwick's gang are Human; why would they work with the White Fang?"
"Both are sound observations" said Pyrrha with a collected and sharp look on her face. "It is odd that a group such as the White Fang, solely driven by a cause involving the Faunus race, would align themselves with any Human faction. It is confusing, but not abnormal. There have been many times throughout history where opposing factions joined forces to deal with a common enemy. It's where we get the phrase 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Naturally, these coalitions of power descend into civil conflict; regardless of the outcome of their mission. If they succeed, then they fight amongst themselves for their new holdings, and if they begin to fail, they then blame one another, and implode.
This is why that phrase is rather misleading. If the only commonality between two factions is the hatred of a single enemy, then what happens when said enemy is vanquished? Friendship that can only be formed under the banner of hatred, is not friendship at all. Without sharing morals, principles, and ideals, there cannot be true unity. Nevertheless, our enemies do appear to be gathering at our gates, and it must be for a reason. I have fears regarding the White Fang, as a terrorist group mobilizing at the same time as a massive international gathering like the Vytal Festival, could spell..."
Pyrrha's words sent a chill down everyone's spine. The idea of a stadium full of civilian spectators, containing women and children, being targeted for an attack, made everyone's blood run cold and their stomachs twist. Blake was especially affected, as she secretly knew just how terrible the White Fang, and their leader, Adam Taurus, could be. She had seen his villainy first hand, and while she did wish to defend the group's original goals, she painfully had to admit that their infamy was entirely deserved.
Weiss was equally disturbed by the notion, as the terrorist group had already done something of that nature eight months before in Atlas, utilizing a hijacked train with Schnee freight in tow, which resulted in the deaths of many innocent people. Her great loathing of the White Fang at times was mistaken as a dislike of the Faunus themselves. However, she had only began to think of them when she became aware of the White Fang's attacks on Mantle and her family's company. If they were going to unleash terror upon the capital city of Albion, then on her honour, she would fight for its citizens.
"The more I learn about the White Fang, the more I hate them" said Sun rather coldly, though it came out more as a low growl. "If they do something terrible like that here, then at best it will unite the Humans and Faunus of Vale against them, and at worse, would start a race war...which might be what they want, now that I think about it. They should learn a few lessons on how we do it in Vacuo: if you're tough enough to survive, you're one of us. Who and what you are doesn't matter."
"Not a bad system" agreed Yang, with Sun and Neptune nodding along.
The other Faunus remained quiet, knowing anything she could say would reveal more than she wanted, and decided to instead think of what in Remnant Adam was planning. Weiss was also in thought, and was about to speak, when her Scroll once again began to vibrate. She instinctively prepared her right index finger to kill the call, when she noticed that the caller was not who she had expected. The white-haired Huntress-in-training hesitated for a few moments, before slowly sliding across the hang-up command.
'I'm sorry sister, but not right now' she thought, closing her Scroll.
The air surrounding the table had become noticeably heavy, obviously due to the topic they had just discussed. The young Huntsmen-in-training were all lost in thought, when a voice boomed over the school's intercom system.
"Would Miss Ruby Rose please come to Huntmaster Ozpin's office immediately? Miss Ruby Rose to Huntmaster Ozpin's office immediately."
The voice was none other than Glynda Goodwitch, the Deputy-Huntmistress. From her tone it was impossible to tell if there was something urgent that the Huntmaster wanted to converse on, however, given that Ruby was being called specifically, gave the others a fairly clear idea of what was on the table.
"Looks like we're not the only ones wanting answers" remarked Jaune, looking up at one of the dining hall speakers, before turning his gaze to his fellow captain. "You better get going and get back quick. We'll be shipping out soon."
"Wait, we are?" asked Ruby confused.
"I saw a fleet of ships docked at our skyport this morning on my way back, and I overheard the crew of those ships discussing something about special runs for Hunts and other missions requested by Beacon. It probably has something to do with the festival" he explained.
"Oh this could be interesting" said Sun grinning.
Ruby got to her feet and began to walk towards the doors of the hall, when Nora caused her to halt.
"Are you gonna eat that?" she asked, eyeing the crepe hungrily. The sniper turned on a dime, returning to the table, and quick as lightning, inhaled her breakfast, before scampering away to Ozpin's office.
The others, minus Yang who was used to this behaviour, were left in wide-eyed shock.
"Well I'm impressed" Nora commented at last.
"I didn't think there was anyone who could match you in eating" added Ren genuinely.
"And where does it all go?" asked Blake.
"She eats so unhealthily" groaned Weiss, rubbing her temples. "How does she eat so many sweets and pastries, and yet remains that petite?"
"Well..." began Yang sighing, "the theory I subscribe to after being her sister for fifteen years, is that it instantly fuels her Semblance."
The ginger snorted. "So her speed isn't her powers, it's just a sugar rush?" she laughed, clutching her sides. The rest of Team JNPR chuckled along with her, with the remaining members of Team RWBY and Team SSSN joining in.
"Right ho, if what you're saying it true, then Neptune and I better get back to our team and get ready" announced the Monkey Faunus, rising to his feet.
"Hmmm. We should" agreed Neptune, standing as well, and looked down at the Schnee heiress. "Hope to see you soon" he added with a smile, causing her to blush lightly.
"Cheers and see y'all later!" echoed Sun to the Beacon students, before adding a salute directed at Blake. "See you around, beautiful" he said with a wink, causing her to smile and blush as well.
The Beaconites were at last left to themselves, each thinking of what would be waiting for them in the coming days. Jaune was wondering how to approach speaking to his family about Pyrrha, and how to deal with reporters digging into his past. Pyrrha was thinking similar thoughts, along with their relationship being in the open. Ren and Nora were both thinking of one another, and Yang was thinking of the coming battles with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.
It was Blake and Weiss that were having the most turbulent thoughts. Blake was of course racking her brain over what Adam was doing working with Torchwick, and this mysterious woman. She had known him for years, and he had never shown sympathy for Humans. His hatred for them had grown stronger over time, till the point that he felt justification in committing atrocities in the name of White Fang. If he was willing to join forces with Humans, she had a terrible feeling that it was not due to him having a change of heart, but rather a means to an even viler end.
Weiss was equally uncertain of what was going on with their enemy. Fighting against the local organized crime seemed like fun to the young Atlassian heiress, but now things were beginning to turn into something more dire. She had never possessed any resentment to the Faunus. Honestly, she was indifferent, and saw them as neither inferior nor superior. She was a daughter of the House of Schnee, thus came with a natural prestige above others. Nevertheless, she was still bound by honour to not sully the name of her House by subjecting others to cruelty or belittlement for simply being not of the same status. It was a balancing act of knowing that being of the oldest family of Atlas meant being of a higher standing, but not an autocrat. To put it simply, it was the difference between being an elite and being an elitist. Of course there were those who still perceived them to be the latter, but Weiss had striven to remain true and unshaken.
That changed when the White Fang began to target her family. When the White Fang began to sink their jaws into the city of Mantle, and began to claw at the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss started to see a change in her family. How much her father's frustration began to eat away at their peace, how much cargo and money was lost to raids and sabotage, and how their name was being dragged through the mud. However, the crime that drove Weiss to truly hate the White Fang, was the night they hijacked an entire train with a large shipment of their Dust onboard, and took dozens of hostages. The military had been called in to deal with the situation, and believed that Adam Taurus would be willing to negotiate, as the hostages must not have been in his plans. They only learned the truth when it was too late. The White Fang detonated bombs on the train, tripling the explosive power by igniting the refined and unrefined Dust, and killing all aboard, along with soldiers and Huntsmen.
It was then that Weiss began to truly loath the White Fang. It was then that she decided to take action. Her sister had chosen to serve in the military after becoming a Huntress, to bring honour and respect to the Schnee name without having to run the company. While she had no interest in serving, Weiss did want to join in the fight, and decided to become a Huntress. Her decision to study in Vale as opposed to Atlas, was due to her wanting to benefit and uphold her family name, whilst not having to be there with them, and deal with her father's disappointments.
If the White Fang was attempting to commit another atrocity, then on her name and honour, she would stop them.
λΛλ
The senior Huntsmen watched Ruby as she left Ozpin's office. Just as the door closed behind her, Huntmaster-General Ironwood turned to face his friends with a smirk on his face.
"Not very good at being subtle, is she?" he said, seating himself on one of the chairs before Ozpin's desk. "Not at all like her mother."
The Beacon Huntmaster gave his old friend a small chuckle as he took his own seat.
"Nonetheless, she's indeed Summer's daughter" he said softly, with both nostalgia and forlornness in his voice.
"Indeed. She has the same initiative to help others and protect the innocent. Furthermore, it would seem" the General said as he fished out a long cigar from inside his coat, as well as a metal lighter, "that Miss Rose and her friends have been gathering a little intelligence of their own."
"The woman is without question the same that I fought that night" added Glynda, "but what's this about a hideout in the Southeast?"
"That I believe" answered Ironwood, punching a hole in the cap before stoking his cigar to life, "was her attempt to subtly let us know of said gathered intelligence; as subtle as a Nevermore in a chicken coop."
"That she gets from her father" replied Ozpin, getting a quick but hearty laugh from his fellow Huntmaster.
"Right then. I can have a scout team ready to move out in 20 minutes. In the mean time, I'll lend a hand with figuring out what this woman was doing snooping around the campus with my cyber division."
"Much appreciated, James. Do inform your scouts to keep an eye out for friendlies, as no doubt Team RWBY or Team JNPR will attempt to take a shadowing mission today in the Southeast."
"First-years can't take such mission" corrected the Deputy-Huntmistress, though she knew Ozpin was well aware.
"Of course, but I have no doubt they will try to do so anyways. As you said James, she wants to show that she can take the initiative. Perhaps we should help her along" said Ozpin, his fingers interlaced and resting in his lap.
"Are you suggesting we allow her and her team to sniff around for the enemy hideout?" Ironwood asked, slightly puzzled. "Only in the field can you gain true experience, but to send out green troops on such a sensitive mission might do more damage than good. And in Miss Rose's case, you can still smell the milk."
"Well to be fair, that has more to do with her obsession with pastries" said Ozpin, bringing his tea cup to his lips.
Ironwood took a long draw of his cigar, and leaned back in his chair as he slowly exhaled the bluish-grey smoke.
"Like mother like daughter" he echoed with a sigh, before rising to his feet. "Right then, time to get to work. I'll get to my scouts and leave you to the shadowed missions. I'll have my cyber division contact you shortly, though we'll need the Crow to roost to positively ID this infiltrator. If he does before I see him, let me know. Good day, Sam. Glynda."
The General gave his friend a courteous salute and a polite nod to the Huntress, before leaving the office and closing the door behind him. There was then a rather pregnant pause, which Glynda broke after realizing that Ozpin wasn't going to.
"Do you think that She's planning an attack?" she asked, trying her best to hide her alarm.
The silver-haired Huntmaster stared into his tea cup, looking deep into the amber coloured liquid, as if trying to foresee what was to come.
"Always."
Author's Notes:
So there are a few things that I think are key to cover here, though I think most of you picked up on them.
Friendly Banter
When I first watched the show, I found it rather odd that after such an eventful night like the Beacon Dance, the cast didn't want to actually talk about it. Obviously it's not their fault, it's the writers', but I still think it reflects poorly on them. So instead, I had them chatting about what you'd expect them to: boys, girls, and the weather. Then again, friends should talk to one another, should they not?
In regards to boys and girls, unlike most anime where characters have crushes and nothing really happens, RWBY actually made it part of the story. Now that is a subversion of expectations I can get behind. Of course they decided to ignore all of that with V3 and beyond, but we'll get to that later. I figured that it would be fun to have these characters act like friends and tease, support, and congratulate each other with their dating ventures—especially since they took the time to do so beforehand.
As for the weather, I always found it odd that despite the fact that these characters come from every corner of the world, they don't act like it. They don't talk about their home Kingdoms, they don't talk about what it's like coming to a new Kingdom for the first time, they don't ask questions about customs—again, normal stuff you'd expect. On top of that is the Vytal Festival, where the point of it, is to show the unity the four Kingdoms have. Again, you have characters from all over the world but act like it's all the same. That might be the case from one major metropolis to another in our world, but that sucks in fantasy. So simple, so small an act, and yet so impactful and pivotal in the long run. Furthermore, in my full rewrite, weather becomes a running gag throughout the story, with characters reacting to the cold of Atlas and the heat of Vacuo in their own unique ways.
In the Papers
While I know I'm not the only one who's questioned how little Pyrrha's celebrity effects the world despite her being affected by it on a personal level, there's still a large number of people who don't consider it an issue. I think it is an issue—massively so—thus I decided to have people commenting on Jaune and Pyrrha going to the Dance together. In that same vein, I did it for Weiss and Neptune, as she too is considered a celebrity in the world of Remnant, yet not treated as such narratively. To me this was beyond obvious, so why didn't they touch on it past a few throwaway lines and Pyrrha's outburst? I can't be certain. Budget, absentmindedness, stupidity, laziness, it could be any of these, and boy, was it a costly error—at least for those of us who care—so I had to address it here.
It also let me touch on the state of the world that perhaps not everyone can get along after a World War—very much like in our world—and it's up to future generations to not blame the sons for the sins of the fathers. Obviously I didn't want it to be a huge deal, but since a world war, one that occurred in a world where fighting monsters would take priority, would affect how a world develops, I figured it should be at least mentioned.
Virus Scan
Am I the only one who thought when Cinder was caught messing about, "Well, just do a full network diagnostics and you'll see what's up"? I was shocked that Ozpin and co didn't bother—something that continued into V3. To be frank, this makes the heroes appear quite stupid, thus making it hard to root for them. We will, however, get into that later on in the story, so for now, let that be food for thought.
And that is the second chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!
And now ladies and gentlemen, the stage is set, for next chapter is when the show really begins. So pack a lunch people, it's going to be one Hell of a journey.
Happy Winter Findings and Fall Equinox, and see y'all next time.