For returning second, third, and fourth years, coming back to Beacon wasn't a glamorous affair. The first years would go through initiation before the upper years even came back and were settling into their new dorms.
"WEISS!" Even if returning wasn't a glamorous affair, Ruby seemed to make it a grand one regardless. She clung to her partner for dear life.
"Get." Push. "Off." Scrape. "ME!" Finally, Weiss managed to overpower Ruby and get her off her arm before it became numb. Ruby was undeterred and instead hugged Weiss by the neck.
"Ohmygoditsbeensolongweresecondyearsnowohmygodwehavejuniorsandimsoexcited-" Ruby's rambling was cut off by Yang playfully pulling her little sister off of her partner.
"Hah, woah there sis, Weiss may suffocate at that rate. Now, where is Blake? I feline making a-" Before Yang could make any more horrendous puns, Gambol Shroud's dull end was put to her neck.
"Not. Another. Word." Blake's voice was half-threatening, half-holding in laughter.
"There she is! C'mon, gimme a hug!" Yang said, uncaring of the weapon and turning around, arms held wide for a welcoming embrace. Before Blake could back off or dissuade Yang, she pulled in the Blake for a hug equally, if not more suffocating than the one Ruby gave to Weiss.
"And Team RWBY's back! It's back together~, oh yea~," Ruby began to hum a little song while Weiss gave a small smirk and rolled her eyes at her team's antics.
"You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
"Nope! Patch was super awesome! You should've been there," she said, face turning a tad gloomy for only a brief moment before rocketing back into euphoric joy. "How was Atlas?"
"Tiring. I'll tell you later. Now, where is team RVNN?" With the loud sound of Nora screeching in joy, she nodded. "There they are. Let's go meet our friends."
"Yes! Also," Ruby's eyes widened as she realized something. "Oh yea! What about Jaune? Should we visit him?" At the mention of the professor, Yang's eyes widened and the members of Team RWBY could've sworn she got so excited she activated her semblance.
"Oh hell yea! He hasn't responded to any of my texts! And I gotta get a head start while that haughty bitch is out there building her kingdom in bumfuck nowhere," Yang said, cracking her knuckles in preparation for the resumption of her obsessive flirting.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Blake's statement earned a 180 degree turn that almost frightened the girl, who stared deep into Blake's eyes with 'explain' unsaid. "I checked in his office earlier and he was sleeping."
"And why were you in his office?" Yang poked at Blake, teasing her for an answer. "Hmmmmmm?"
"I forgot my book over the summer and had to get it. Anyways, that isn't important. You might not've seen it, but if you wake him up without coffee, you might be doomed." Silly Blake! One simple wink from her would cure the Prof of all his morning crankiness.
Apparently, Blake could read minds and gripped tighter to Yang's arm.
"I'm serious. When he was coffee deprived, he managed to fight off Neo." Oh shit. Never mind, Yang backed the hell down. While the threat of a super threatening Prof was enticing, she was going to save that sort of thing for later in the year.
"Is something bothering Jaune?" Ruby asked.
"I dunno, maybe the initiation was tough on him?"
"What? Jaune? Pfft! He talked doomsday away, there's no way he'd be beaten by initiation!" Ruby said with the confidence of someone with the utmost faith in her crush. And with that relatively reasonable argument, RWBY went off to greet their sister team.
A few days earlier:
It started after the speech. It always started after the speech. The speech was well and good, nice, friendly, if a bit bumbling. Some of the students chuckled at him fumbling a line or two. While Roman and Neo may have ragged on him for it, Bart and Peter were quick to assure him that it didn't matter.
Things went to shit after the speech. Bart and Roman were assigned to keep an eye on the kids in the ballroom. The last thing Jaune heard from Torchwick was, "Hey, wanna see if I can win heads or tails twenty times in a row?"
Before Jaune could worry about that, Glynda called him and told him to get to the Bullhead docks. After a short jog (The surprisingly good ventilation of his clothes meant that drenching them with sweat wouldn't be a problem, mostly.) he made it just in time to see Glynda talking, with a very panicked expression, with one of the bullhead pilots.
"Ah! Jaune! Right on time, please reconsider your decisions, Mr. Bix. Headmaster Arc will listen to your demands, so please, do not make a rash decision." Glynda actually capitulating to someone? That was a rare sight. And also a worrying sight, because she was putting off the task that made her bend to him!
"Hello Mr. Arc. I'm the representative us Bullhead pilots nominated for this." Rudy Bix was a short man, shorter than many students. Despite that, he was an incredible Bullhead pilot and the oldest member of the school's group of pilots. "To save us both time, we're on strike." Ah, that was why Glynda didn't just try threatening him, because she couldn't.
Bullhead Pilots were a rarity and always in demand. They could very well leave their jobs and become a civilian or private pilot with better pay. No amount of stern verbal threats could change that. Jaune nodded, thoroughly cowed already.
"What are your demands?" Normally, Glynda would've scolded him for having no spine in negotiation. Right now? Right before initiation? When they needed bullhead pilots the most? She couldn't exactly blame him.
"Better pay, better safety equipment, better bullheads, and better behavior."
"Come again?"
"Better p-"
"No, no. Could you explain why?"
"Well, a bullhead was shot down near once per month last year." Not fair! They were dealing with Salem. "We want better pay to compensate for the danger. We also want better safety equipment, so we can survive more often. We want bullheads that can survive an Atlesian bombardment. And we also want the students to stop acting like little shits."
"Eh?"
"We've been called to pick up drunk groups of students in the Valean slums. Do you know how hard it is to find parking there!?"
"Alright! Alright!" Jaune really could not waste time. Even if it was tomorrow, they could not afford to alienate the pilots that would drop the initiates off and also pick up any injured ones. "I'll give you raises, upgraded bullheads, and also put in measures to make sure the bullhead hotline is not abused. Is that all?" Mr. Bix nodded.
"That is all, thank you for listening."
"Yea, just please, don't strike. I'll get on it right away." Glynda had already left, seeing that Jaune (probably) had a handle on things before heading elsewhere for some reason.
Now he was back in his office, working until the sky darkened on said paperwork instead of going to sleep. He was pretty experienced with pulling all nighters, having done more than he could count either learning things to adeptly fake his position or doing paperwork he'd foolishly let build up.
With not even the opening of the door, Neo appeared in the seat across from Jaune in his office, a blanket wrapping around her in a warm cocoon, and eyes shut in rest.
"No, Neo. I won't be coming to bed. This is really important." Neo shrugged and went to sleep in the chair instead. Jaune sighed, she knew full well he'd be stuck carrying her back to bed lest he earn her ire for letting her sleep anywhere except her (Not his) bed.
After an hour or so of quietly filling out paperwork, Jaune's thoughts drifted to his two favorite teams: RWBY and RVNN. With the threat of Salem no longer on the horizon, he could let them fully enjoy the school year without any of the shit that went down last year. No Cinder, no conspiracies, no disasters!
Then again, when faced with the prospect of nothing, those teams were a force of perpetual chaos unto themselves. He still remembered that time they started a sports contest during a free period which ended which Tsune getting a plethora of vic- patients.
BZZZZT
Jaune picked up his scroll, seeing it was a message from Bart, he picked it up. "Yes?" He tried to speak in a quiet tone, as to not wake up Neo.
"Ah, uh, Jaune! Could you, uh." That was rare, Oobleck was struggling for words. "Do you uh, mind taking me and Roman's shift?" Jaune breathed in, and then let a long and tired sigh out.
"Well I wasn't going to sleep anyways. Stay there for a moment, be right back." Neo groggily woke up and tilted her head. On one hand, Jaune really wanted someone to keep him company. On the other hand, he really didn't want Neo to murder a kid. And who else was he going to have help him?
Glynda? She was sleeping and he did not feel like risking the structural integrity of his spine. Sienna? She was also sleeping and he'd rather not piss off the person who handled his paperwork. Port? He did it last year. Admittedly, so did he, but when did life ever give him breaks. Roman? He'd give the kids lung cancer from secondhand smoke. Oobleck? Actually, he'd probably be fine. But, by the sounds of it, he wanted to go to sleep too. Jinn? Actually, that sounded relatively pleasant.
"I'm glad you think that way." The spirit of knowledge met him right outside of his room after settling Neo down in her bed. "Now, shall we?"
"Yea, let's go." And soon they made it to Beacon's ballroom, where the new students were mingling with each other. A few glances were thrown his way, but most still held their distance. By the wall, sitting down on two wooden chairs by a table was a rather beat up looking Bart and Roman.
"Kid! Thank god you're here."
"What happened?" Bart turned to give Roman a dirty look, who merely laughed it off.
"I bet I could win heads or tails twenty times in a row. Bart took a losing bet and didn't take it well." Roman at least had the decency to look embarrassed as he counted off the lien he earned that night. "On other news, you don't need to worry about me starting a betting ring on fights because the kids already did. Now, beating the shit out of Barty here's got me tired, so can I get my beauty sleep?"
"I'll have you know that my aura is higher," Bart said rather petulantly, holding up his scroll to reveal that, indeed, his aura was around 10% higher than Roman's. Never mind, a good kick to the shin from Roman reversed that. With some more grumbling and almost definite impromptu sparring outside, Jaune settled down to watch the incoming students for the second year in a row.
While it wasn't late enough for lights out, though it was still rather late. Late enough for Neo at least. Jaune pulled out a mini-chess set from his suit and put it on the table between him and the spirit of knowledge.
"I'll win," Jinn said with a whisper as to not impart knowledge on the students. Luckily for the students, she was wearing clothes at the moment. Regardless of that fact, the students still ogled at the exotic looking and generously proportioned student counselor.
"Would you rather play roulette?" By now, Jaune was good enough at both chess and paperwork to do both at the same time. While signing papers and filling out forms, he automatically moved his pieces. Jinn, to her credit, at least pretended to think about her moves. All the while, Jaune cracked jokes with Jinn.
While Jaune and his staff were quite used to the fact that he was panicking internally all the time, the student body didn't quite know that. Sure, RWBY and RVNN saw him at his most vulnerable, but the image of badass Professor Arc still stood. The reason why was because of his surprisingly good poker face combined with the dumb luck and misinterpertations.
That is to say, while Jaune may not have any idea what he was doing, the students in the ballroom saw Headmaster Arc not as the bumbling man who gave them a speech, but as a calm man signing papers while casually playing a board game with one of the hottest members of the staff. It didn't hurt that their game of chess was remarkably fast-paced, with Jaune's countless games against Ozpin proving a good training for his match with the literal spirit of knowledge.
"What's with that smirk?"
"Oh, nothing." Jinn coughed into her hand. Weird, did Jinn have lungs? As Jaune paused to ponder and pontificate on the perplexing puzzle that was the spirit's anatomy, the sound of shouting cut him off.
"CHEATER! LET ME AT HER!" One of the students was yelling. The offending girl was being held back by her peers from attacking a bat eared faunus girl, with a dropped game of cards between them. Jaune walked over and only took half a moment to remember their names. If he was going to fit and reshape Ozpin's footsteps, he'd have to do that at the very least.
"Ms. Olympia? Ms. Motte?" Jaune was there in a moment, standing tall over the sitting girls. Racking his memory, Paula Olympia was a young woman from a large family of hunters and was raised to be a hero like them. Though, most of her family don't actually work against the Grimm. They were celebrity hunters, tourney fighters, the like. He remembered her combat outfit being a muscled breastplate, a plated skirt, and boots. She wielded a pair of bright yellow curved swords that could turn into bow named 'Sol Invictus.' She made use of custom dust arrows as well.
The reason why she didn't need to worry about the bow's string getting stuck was because of her semblance, 'Divine Lyre.' She could create golden strings that could act like a rubber band akin to Weiss' glyphs.
Meanwhile. Jodela Motte originally went to Shade before it was destroyed and wanted to get her education at Beacon. From what her transcripts said, she was quite the impressive student. Normally, she wore loose fitting t-shirts, loose shorts, and an oversized jacket. Her weapon was officially listed as 'Le Massicot,' a frankly abhorrently large sword on her back that could practically double as a shield. Though Motte never admitted it, Jaune noticed from how she walked and from the occasional glint of metal from a pocket inside her jacket that she carried several knives and handguns. She didn't have a semblance, but she did give a perfectly good argument that training in Beacon without one would make her a more well rounded fighter. She also added that Atlas and Mistral didn't have the best record when it came to Faunus treatment.
The information on the two students remained on the backburner as they turned towards their Headmaster, who was smiling pleasantly with The Long Memory in hand, and Croeca Mors sheathed by his side.
"Heya Headmaster!" Motte was rather laid back, a far departure from her interview, where she exhibited utmost discipline and manners. "Here to play a round? Hope you can afford a loss." At Motte's incredibly lax response, Olympia began to struggle against the arms holding her back once more.
"Headmaster Arc! Tell this plebian to return my money immediately!"
"What~? I earned it fair and square in a game of cards. You two watched me!" She pointed to Olympia's two friends who were holding her back. Before Motte could pull more people in the argument, Olympia retorted.
"Fair and square? You cheated in that last round, you-you h-h-h-hustled me!" Motte hid her laughter with her hand, amusement clear as day.
"My, my. Never in a million years did I think I'd hear the Gilded Gal say something like that! Well, a bet's a bet, so-" Before she could collect the considerable pile of Lien in her lap, Jaune tugged at her wrist, making a deck of cards come tumbling out.
"I learned a trick or two from Professor Torchwick. Now, Beacon officially has strict rules on gambling, though we often choose to let students do as they please unless it becomes a distraction. And, as your peers watching can attest, it has definitely become a distraction." Jaune separated the pile of Lien evenly between the two girls, who each picked theirs up without hesitation. They also hid their blushing faces as they realized the fuss they kicked up attracted the attention of the to-be hunters and huntresses in the room.
"Hmph." Olypmia was left pouting, arms crossed, and facing away from the other girl.
"Blehhhh." Meanwhile, Motte was busy showing her own brand of childishness by mockingly sticking her tongue out.
"You should probably go to your resting places. Have a good night, girls." Without staying to listen to their responses, Jaune walked back to the table and breathed a sigh of relief.
"You had no idea if touching Motte was creepy and are currently feeling guilty over it," Jinn said with a smirk.
"You know, now I realize why I don't hang out with you more," Jaune said.
"Aside from the fact that Neo, Yang, and Cinder would try to kill me, and failing that, you?" Jaune chuckled at the admittedly, pretty funny reply.
"Well, I have more reasons to not hang around Roman and I do it anyways." Jaune pulled out a cup of coffee (from how Jinn's eyes widened, it seems even she was surprised he could fit it in his suit) and began to sip. "So, this is the first generation of Beacon Students raised without the fear of Salem." He kept his voice to a whisper, even through there was a considerable length between them and any sleeping student, caution never hurt.
"Yes. Though, they still have much to worry about. The Grimm are an endless threat and could possibly become harsher without a master like her. By the way, your contingency plan in case Cinder tries to forcibly conquer another kingdom should work." All things he knew, evidently.
"You're not wrong. Well." Jaune pulled out a flask of coffee and handed it to Jinn. "To another year?"
"To another year." They toasted their containers and each took a swig of the brew. Jaune's was just normal coffee, so it just further staved off exhaustion. For Jinn? She got the teacher's brew. And from the, for lack of better words, stoned look Jinn had, she seemed to enjoy it.
And when an explosive (Quite literally) argument sounded off across the room, Jaune wished he could've traded drinks.
_
"Hello, students. You've trained all your life for this moment. Now, it's time to see where that training lands you." Jaune, instead of the cliff side overseeing the Emerald Forest, was by the docks, with all their future first years eagerly waiting. As per usual, he let Glynda explain this year's rules.
"I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each and every one of you will be assigned teammates, today." The revelation inspired brief whispering from the initiates, who were cowed into silence by a stern look from Glynda. Jaune gave a brief nod in appreciation before taking the (metaphorical) mic.
"These teammates will be stuck with you for the next four years and possibly more. You should probably stick with someone you can work well with." Whimpers were let out from a few of the students, who probably didn't plan for how they could team up. "Anyways, your partner will be the first person you get within a twenty feet radius of. After you've partnered up, head up north and you'll find an abandoned temple with several relics. To pass, a pair must grab a relic and make it to to exfiltrating bullhead. And keep your guard up. Grimm still lurk within the forest and we will not interfere." With that threat said, Jaune ended his part.
Since it was her idea, Glynda explained the landing strategy portion. Jaune tuned it out, having heard what she was going to say already. After half a minute of zoning out, he began to listen once more.
"Good, now please, board the bullhead you were assigned." After the kids were packed into the bullheads, Jaune and Glynda walked over to the empty lecture hall they were using for observation and sat down. In attendance for the (obligatory) team naming session was Jaune, Glynda, Peter, Bart, Neo, and Roman. Sienna was busy with some paperwork and Jinn wasn't of any real use here.
"I can't believe I fell for that whole 'we will not intervene' bullshit. Can't believe anyone does," Roman said, incredulous at the brazen bluff that Beacon had been pulling off for years.
"Most of the lads are strong enough to face the grimm there, after all! We cull the numbers beforehand and also weaken Grimm that are too strong," Peter said, laughing.
"Alright, you all have tablets hooked up to the cameras, correct?" The six members of staff held them up. "Anyways- Wait. If we're all here, who's running interference in case a student gets hurt?"
All the staff looked at each other before they immediately reacted. Glynda muttered curses under her breath, Roman laughed with Neo and Port, Oobleck raced to grab his weapon, while Jaune just sighed. Eventually, before they could do anything, Neo pulled out chopsticks.
"We draw for it? Fine, let's do this." And one by one, the six members of staff drew their lot. Unfortunately (or perhaps because of the cruel machinations of fate) Jaune drew the short stick. With a sigh, he fastened Croeca Mors by his side and extended The Long Memory.
"Why is it always me?" Jaune muttered as he left the classroom, right before chucking the chopstick back in. Right after the door closed, the short stick landed to the floor and exploded into semblance-created glass. The other five members of staff all looked at Neo, who smiled knowingly. Due to none of them wanting to take Jaune's place, they all stayed silent.
_
"What were the relics of choice this year lad?" Peter's voice was scratchy in the earpiece Jaune wore. Still, it was hardly unintelligible and hopefully the same would go for his voice.
"Oh, just some stuff I bought during the Vytal Festival." It took only a few seconds for the staff to respond.
"You don't mean." Bart was shocked, momentarily switching over to see the relics of choice from the camera.
"Damnit, Jaune." He could practically hear Glynda facepalm.
"HAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Meanwhile, Roman had to mute himself due to the raucous laughter that poured out from his mouth. Even with that, Jaune could hear it from the mics of the others.
Indeed, the relics this year were some things they apparently had from the Vytal Festival. Specifically, Ironwood's Iron Woods, Professor Arc Bodywash, a box of Beacon Herbal Coffee, a raw salmon, a keychain version of Crescent Rose that fired caps, and some glasses. He divided them into the wrapper and item itself, the cap and bottle, the box and the (bagged) grinds, two salmon, and another Crescent Rose keychain respectively.
"My boy! You still had those?" Peter also was barely holding in his laughter.
"We got a few as an added bonus for running those ads," Jaune said. At that point, the conversation died down as the students were fully dropped into the woods. Jaune's job as interference was to remain hidden until needed. To that end, he slowly went north while listening to the commentary of the teachers while also stalking some of the students with the tablet.
"Hmm, the guy in camera 26 seems kind of scared. You know what's up with him?" Roman asked. Jaune quickly switched over to the camera and saw one Henry Jekyll. The young man was lithe, had short brown hair, and a clean shaven face. He was well dressed, wearing a suit (minus the jacket) for his foray into the Emerald Forest. From what Jaune remembered, he was a polite, if a tad jittery at times, young man. He wielded a revolver, which he was a pretty good shot with, but was hesitant to talk about his semblance.
Henry Jekyll was born to a high class family in Atlas and was (according to his family) sent to Beacon in order to further his education. This was despite the fact the boy was a certified child genius that earned a doctorate a few years back and could just become a medical practitioner. Henry was upfront and said his family wanted him to make contact with Weiss in order to manipulate her.
"Sorry, Mr. Jekyll. I'm afraid your mission is impossible." The young man, far be it from being disappointed, actually gave a grateful nod.
"Thanks, that means I won't have to try." Despite the odd circumstances, the young man did want to become a hunter. To be specific, to become a battle medic that operated in the frontier. Again, not mincing words, he said that he felt suffocated in high society as the 'genius teen doctor.'
"He seems promising. Plus, even without a healing semblance, a skilled doctor like him could prove invaluable to any team he's on," Jaune said as the young man in question reflexively quick-fired at an approaching ursa. "Also, I think Jinn could help him. He seems, troubled. Call it intuition." While he whispered into his earpiece, he stalked through the forest, silently watching the students, ready to strike at any threat they couldn't possibly face.
"While your intentions are benevolent, are you sure he is fit to be here?" Glynda asked.
"Well, that's what the test is for, isn't it?" To that, Glynda hummed in ambivalence. 'We'll see' he could practically hear her saying.
After a few more moments, they heard a 'blink!'. "Well, seems like we've got our first partnership. Jodela Motte and Paula Olympia. And, even from where he was, Jaune could hear Paula groan as Motte baited the other girl. A few more blinks went off as well.
"Henry Jekyll with Gil Uruk." Jaune switched over to see Jekyll being berated by a large man, almost as tall as Yatsuhashi! With tan skin, stubble, and short black hair, he wore brown shorts, gilded greaves, a flowing red cape, and literally nothing else. His lack of a shirt revealed a very muscular chest.
Consulting his memory, Gil Uruk just applied to Beacon. There, quite literally, was nothing in the records on him. He just showed up in Jaune's office, demanded to be let in, and passed every test both Jaune and Glynda threw at him. He was loud, egotistical, kept on insisting he was immortal, and senseless, as Glynda put it. Still, there was no denying the skill he held.
His weapon was also rather impressive. A greatsword that could turn into a spear, scythe, two straight katanas, a dual sword, a dual scythe, and two sickles. Seriously, that thing was ridiculous. Ruby would faint at the sight of it.
His semblance was also something of a wonder to Jaune. 'Blood Art,' made it so that when Uruk's blood is spilled, he can send aura to anyone but himself, even when his own aura is depleted. A support oriented semblance like that might've been useful, if it weren't for the fact Gil charged into every battle without hesitation.
"HAHAHAHAHAH!" Gil's raucous laughter could be heard through the forest as he tore through young beowolves without a worry in the world. Henry stayed back, occasionally taking precise shots at a beowolf that managed to flank Uruk. Jaune noticed that Henry loosened up with every grimm he killed.
Jaune moved to a higher point in case he was needed. His staff would only talk to him to alert about a formed partnership. So, he watched some of the students. Olympia and Jodela were bickering. Memories of Weiss and Ruby popped up, but he squashed the notion. Jodela was often the one to engage, but Paula was the one who actually criticized Jodela. Whether it be about hygiene, lack of form, or her weapon being silly.
Still, they worked (if reluctantly) together. Paula had Jodela use Le Massicot to engage a group of Ursa while she shot combustion dust arrows into the cracks in the bone plate armor that the oversized sword created.
Eventually, Paula and Jodela ran into Henry and Gil right when a giant Alpha Cenitaur showed up.
"What the hell!? I thought those were stuck in Atlas?" Jaune yelled into the mic. He was answered by Peter's (oh so infuriating) laugh.
"Ohho my boy! Over the summer I managed to capture one for initiation! I thought you'd appreciate the present." How the hell did he get it past customs? Whatever. Jaune went closer to the fight, ready to spring out in a moments notice to kill the blasted acid-filled thing.
It tunneled around, creating unstable ground for the four to work on. Paula barked out orders to the other three. Jodela was to distract it with her (frankly amazing given her choice of weaponry) speed, Henry was to shoot any approaching lesser grimm, and Gil had to wait until her signal.
All went according to plan, except Henry briefly forgot to count his bullets and had to retreat and Gil said "I AM MY OWN KING, MONGREL!" before head first charging at the Cenitaur. It spat acid at him and, for all his lack of sense, he did immediately jump backwards to avoid the excruciating pain that acid entails, only to get caught on several golden strings. Golden strings that Paula pulled back further.
The sound of a lyre string being plucked rung through the air as Gil was flung at the Cenitaur with the force of a car. Still having pretty good reflexes, he changed his great sword to become dual sickles and combined his speed, his mass, and the sharpness of his blades to instantly cut the two giant mandibles off with the satisfying sound of bone shattering and flesh being torn. Jodela used this as her chance to tear into the mighty flesh of the Cenitaur without being bothered by its ridiculously long-reaching mandibles. Paula pummeled it with explosives (occasionally hitting Gil and Jodela) and Henry shot at its softer bits. Eventually, it died.
Jaune relaxed a bit, a tad proud of his students, though the teacher in him desperately wanted to come out and lecture them, he held it in.
And they were also the ones left with the last two relics: The wrapper and contents of said wrapper of Ironwood's Iron Woods. Henry sighed, Jodela chuckled, Gil roared with laughter, while Paula shrugged with indifference.
"Alright, I've passed pocket-dictionaries to all you sorry sods, let's get to work on team names. Me and Neo got one. Edward Teach as leader, Pastel Pesto, Sally 'D' Ranger, and Draco Runov for Team BDPR, pronounced Blackpowder."
"Where did the 'B' come from?" Oobleck asked.
"He calls himself Blackbeard, though it's more charred stubble. Still, if it works, it works!" And no one could really fault him for that logic. It was common knowledge that the teachers would bend the rules however far they reasonably could in order to make a somewhat sensible team name.
"Hissingker Valvet as leader, Bowie Nite, 'Sister' Hircine, and Sin Rally form team HNTR. That's a good one if I do say so myself," Peter said with just a hint of self-satisfaction.
"Huntr, like the dating app?" Jaune asked.
"Yeap!"
"Wait, you named it after the dating app!?" Roman asked.
"Affirmative!"
"My god," Bart whispered into the comms, before clearing his throat. "As for mine. Tomoe Bushi as leader, Freida 'Leopard' Wong, Wendy Pick, and Kanon Howitzer to make Team BLWK, pronounced Bulwark." Before Jaune could pick a team with the eight students left, Glynda beat him to it.
"Sylver Cain as leader, Yi Sun, Retuna Bino, and Al Bunsen to form Team SYRB, pronounced Cerebral." She was really pushing it there.
All was silent but for a moment, before Jaune let out a sigh so long that his lungs felt like collapsing into a black hole.
"Sorry lad, you just weren't quick enough."
"No, no, it's fine. I got something. Paula Olympia as leader, Jodela Motte, Henry Jekyll and Gil Uruk to form team PMHG, pronounced pomegranate."
"Creative, I like it," Roman said. "Anyways, I'm going to go take a nap, have fun with the ceremony kid!" Oh god, the ceremony. That wasn't going to be fun. One of the reasons for it being that as he was resting on the tree, Jaune just figured out that he hadn't had sleep for two days straight and was running on fumes.
Also, why was it always the teams he picked that seemed to have the most issues? Whatever, he could think about it later.
And somehow, he did manage to drag himself to the Team Appointment Ceremony, though Glynda did assist when he dozed off (much to the delight of the kids).
As he went to sleep in his bed, Neo having stolen the blankets, he had one final thought. 'This year is going to give me a headache.'
Sorry if the thought of OCs scare you. I'll still try to keep most of the slice of life stuff with Jaune, RWBY, RVNN, and the rest of Beacon Staff. Maybe team PMHG can serve as a B-plot?