There was a figure standing next to his bed. But that was nothing new. Well it was here. Jaune had trouble settling in new areas, and this was a big reason why. He was unable to get comfortable and the more he struggled, the tenser he became. And then THEY showed up.
Nicholas and Mary Arc stood at the foot of his bed, staring at him. Jaune considered this a good day because of the simple fact that they appeared how Jaune liked to see them, clean and woundless, rather than how he normally saw them…the day they died.
They didn't speak. They never did. None of them did. Not Father. Not Mother. Not Saffron. None of them. They just stood there, staring at him.
And Jaune understood that. He did. But now wasn't the best time. If Jaune was going to help them, then he needed to do this right. And while Jaune knew that he was strong, he also knew that he wasn't strong enough.
Not yet.
"I know, I know," Jaune mumbled to himself, acutely aware that he wasn't the only living person in the room. "I'm going as fast as I can I promise. But I don't know where he is. I have to make him come to me…and for that I need to be strong…Give me more time." He begged, looking his father in the eye.
Nicholas said nothing, but he and his wife vanished from sight, Jaune releasing a sigh once they did. He sat up in bed for a second or two, before rolling out of bed. He was already awake, so he might as well get some training in before class.
"Good morning, team JRBY!" Jaune heard Ruby greet as he re-entered the dorm room. She smiled and waved at him energetically upon his entrance, a greeting that he returned with a small smile and a nod.
"Rubes, I love you, but it's too early for this," Yang said, coming out of the bathroom in her school uniform, her hair still damp from a shower.
Ruby ignored the statement, "As the second in command, I decree that we can officially begin our first order of business!"
"Excuse me?" Blake asked, brushing off some imaginary lint from her arms as she sat up.
"Decorating!" Ruby responded, shoving an assortment of items at Blake, her falling from the weight of them.
"Shouldn't we unpack first?" Jaune asks, watching Blake untangle herself from the mess Ruby dumped on her, hissing as she did so.
"And clean." She added, glaring at Ruby. She was taken aback when Ruby blew a whistle in her face.
"That was unnecessary." Jaune said, rebuking Ruby slightly as he helped Blake up from her fallen position.
"Are you going to stop her?" Blake asked as Jaune helped her up, and Jaune simply shrugged in response.
He took this moment to study Blake as Ruby and Yang tussled near the door. She was a fair skinned woman with wavy black hair and amber cat like eyes. She was currenty wearing pajamas, but normally she wore a black buttoned vest with coattails that had a single silver button on the front. Underneath that, she wore a white sleeveless crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on each leg. She wore black low-heeled boots on her feet with black fading to purple stockings. Only other noteworthy things on her person were black ribbons wrapped around both forearms, and the gray backpack she wore strapped to her back, hidden by her hair.
Oh, and the Faunus ears she hid beneath her bow. That was noteworthy too. Jaune resolved to talk to her about that as soon as he found a good time to do so. That definitely wasn't today though. He needed to build a rapport with her first.
THEN ask about the secrecy. Then again, like he was one to talk about secrets.
"Alright!" Ruby said, standing at the door. "Me, Blake, Yang and our fearless leader have started our first mission! Let's go!" She raises her fist in the air, Yang mirroring her with a grin. Together they stared at Blake and Jaune, who half heartedly raised a fist as well.
After some time to set up and unpack, Ruby announced that they were done.
"Mission complete guys!" Ruby announced to them, as they admired their handiwork
While Jaune's bed was simply on the ground next to her training weights, Blake's bed is next to her books, which are used to raise Yang's bed over it by placing the novels on the posts, and Ruby's is hanging from ropes on the ceiling with a blanket used as a tent over it.
"We certainly know how to make a place feel like home." Yang brags.
"How will you get to the books between the beds?" Jaune asked Blake who shook her head.
"I won't need those particular ones."
"Alright," Jaune said, knowing that if he didn't Ruby would start yelling again. "Our next order of business is...getting to class. We have a couple of classes together and our first one starts in…" Jaune trailed off as he looked at the schedule. He looked up at everyone before finishing. "Five minutes."
At his sentence, Team JRBY all stared at each other before making a scramble to the door.
"To class!" Ruby declared as they all exited the dorm as fast as they could.
Jaune studied the drawings of Grimm on the board with interest. Professor Port was a pretty good artist, he had to admit.
Now if only the man could talk the way that he drew…class might have been interesting.
"Monsters! Demons…Prowlers of the night! Yes, creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-Ha!" The man said as he began the lecture. Jaune could literally feel his aura protecting him from the boredom this man was emitting.
"And you shall too." He continued while pacing in front of the class. "Upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world!"
Lies. Nowhere is safe.
"Our planet is teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses…" He winked at the girls, Yang in particular, causing her to groan and Jaune to make a note to talk to Port later.
"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves!" Port continued. "From what, you ask? Why, the very world!" He raised his fist in what Jaune assumed was a triumphant gesture. "This is what you are training to become! But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man…" Port started. "Me! When I was a boy…"
Ports voice faded into the background as Jaune mentally wrote this class off as a lost cause. Some time later, Jaune wasn't sure, he might have fallen asleep, he heard Port clearing his throat to catch everyone's attention.
"Ah-heh-hem! So who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port asks the students.
Weiss's hand shot up in the air as she practically threw herself into the air. "I do sir!"
Jaune sat up, suddenly interested in where this was going. Even if Weiss was weak, it still had to be better than Port lecturing at least.
"Well, then let's find out!" Professor Port turned to gesture at the glowing red eyes in the cage that he had seemingly pulled out of nowhere. "Step forward and face your opponent!"
God Port was so dramatic, Jaune couldn't help but think, as the unknown grimm continued to growl.
Weiss reappeared in her combat attire, readying her weapon, a rapier of some kind as her teammate, Nora, and Ruby begin to cheer for her.
"Go Weissy!" Nora yelled.
"Represent Team WPNR!" Ruby cheered as well, getting a funny look from Jaune. Why would she cheer for her? They hadn't had any positive interactions as far as he knew.
She lowered her rapier to make eye contact with Ruby. "You dunce! I'm trying to focus!"
"Oh, um... Sorry..." Ruby sheepishly replies.
'You aren't going to tell your team mate that?' Jaune thought but didn't say. He was going to have to nip this in the bud before Weiss got too terrible.
"Alright!" Professor Port announces, "Let the match begin." He pulls out his axe and uses it to release the lock on the cage.
The cage opens revealing a Boarbatusk that curled up into a ball and rolled straight at Weiss. She used her rapier to deflect its attack and stepped to the side, readying herself for its next move. The Grimm stood a distance away from the girl, uncurling itself.
"Ha ha! Weren't expecting that, were you?" Port comments.
"Hang in there Weissy." Nora yelled to her teammate.
'She's not as skilled as I assumed.' Was Jaune's first thought.
Weiss met the Boarbatusk's rush with one of her own, thrusting her rapier straight at the skull like plating in the center of it's head. Unfortunately for the girl, the boar met her rapier with its tusks, tilting its head to the side, causing it to be wedged between them.
Weiss stubbornly refused to let go, found herself being flung around as she struggled to dislodge her rapier.
Despite himself, Jaune found himself chuckling at the sight, earning himself a glare from the Schnee herself.
"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port continues his commentary in the background.
"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby tried cheering again.
That switched her glare from Jaune to Ruby, only for the grim to turn its head and rip the rapier away from her grip. It landed a fair distance away from the girl, who was forced back by the creature's tusks.
"Eyes on the prize Schnee." Jaune called out, waving his hand dryly.
"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asks.
She looked up just in time to see the Boarbatusk charge her again. She managed to roll out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting trampled as the grimm rolled into a desk, doing significant damage to it. She ran for her rapier and managed to grab it just as the grimm reoriented itself.
"Try going for the belly, there's no plating there." Jaune advised, following Ruby's lead. He would much rather her yell at him, then her.
"Don't tell me what to do!" She screamed at him, causing him to frown darkly at her. "Then show me that you can handle it then!" He barked back, his voice a growl.
She was still staring at Jaune as the grimm leapt into the air, spinning rapidly as it rolled into a ball and landed on the ground, launching itself at Weiss at surprising speed.
It came closer and closer to the girl before she activated her semblance and blocked the roll with a glyph, leaping onto the now black glyph and turning it from black to blue so that she could drive her blade into its stomach. It roared in pain before that roar shifted into a squeal, causing Weiss to let out a sigh of relief.
"Bravo! Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Port said once the beast finally vanished. Weiss stood up at attention from her exhausted position and Jaune noticed Ruby looking down at her lap, looking hurt. He tapped her shoulder and mouthed 'meet me after class', until he received a nod from her.
"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today." Port continues "Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"
Weiss glared at the two of them and turned away, storming past her teammates. Jaune stood up and followed her swiftly. If Weiss wanted to be bratty she could do that all she wanted, but she would not keep attacking Ruby like she was.
Despite how quickly Weiss had stormed off, Jaune's longer strides helped him catch up to her in no time. "Weiss, wait up."
"What?!" She replied as she turned to face her fellow leader, with an ugly look on her face. Jaune was sure that the look on his face was just as ugly as he responded. "We need to talk. Now."
"What? I-" She started, but Jaune interrupted her, speaking over her.
"No. I don't know what your deal is, nor do I care. What I care about is how you're treating my partner. And you're going to stop. Today."
"What's wrong with you?" She retorted. "You're supposed to be a leader and all you're doing is letting your 'partner act out and be a general nuisance!"
Jaune scoffed. "She did what? Cheer you on? Same as your team mate I might add, of which you said nothing about."
She ignored that statement, instead choosing to respond with, "Your teammate is a hazard to my health!"
Jaune outright laughed at that, before looking down at her, using his height to his advantage. "No, what will be a hazard to your health is if you continue to talk to her that way. Now, whether it will be me, or her sister that gets to you is up in the air, but you better hope it's not me." He finished, glaring down at her.
She flinched, and then turned her back to Jaune, who was content to watch her run off with her tail between her legs. She stopped before she reached the corner.
"Ozpin made a mistake, accepting her here, AND making a brute like you leader." She finally said before storming off.
Jaune shrugged, and turned around, only to come face to face with the headmaster, again holding a cup of something in one hand and his cane in the other. "Hmm…Now that didn't seem to go very well." He commented.
Jaune shook his head, "About as well as could be expected."
"Tell me Mr. Arc, do you think I made a mistake?" Jaune looked at the man, but couldn't see anything in his gaze.
"Do you mean in accepting Ruby, or in making me leader?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's too early to tell, it's only been one day. And while I think Weiss shouldn't be in charge of a shopping cart, let alone a team, she may surprise me later."
"You are correct, it has only been one day." Ozpin concurred. "Mr. Arc…I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider either you or Ms. Rose to be one of them."
Jaune hummed at this, before looking at the Headmaster once again. "You're sort of weird Professor Ozpin.
Ozpin choked on the coffee he was drinking.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long, I had to set something up," Jaune stated, meeting Ruby outside their last class.
"No, no, I just got here. So what are we doing?" She asked, falling in step behind Jaune as he led them through the school.
"Well, you said you were my second this morning and that got me thinking, I should really ensure that you're up to snuff, and if you're not…well at the very least I can help you get there."
"You saw me fighting in the Emerald Forest!" Ruby said, "I was all Bwahh huu, chop chop!" She said using a myriad of hand motions and sound effects.
Jaune nodded as they reached the room he had reserved. "Yeah, that's true. But fighting people and fighting Grimm are two very different animals."
"But we're not going to be fighting people," Ruby stated as Jaune opened the door.
Jaune gave a dark smile as he walked in behind her, "Yes, Ruby, we will. I promise you that. And I want to be sure that, as my second you can take care of yourself. It's your job to lead when I'm not around and take care of the team. This is the first step."
"Alright…" Ruby said, grabbing Crescent Rose when Jaune handed it to her, watching as he pulled out his sword, and expanded the shield. "So we just…fight?"
"Yeah. I didn't set up the aura meters or anything so I'll call it when I've seen enough. On the count of three…two…one."
As soon as Jaune said 'one' Ruby vanished, leaving a shower of rose petals in her wake. Jaune could see that there was a slight upward tilt in the shower of petals which gave him a good indication of where she had headed. He looked up just in time to see Ruby turn her back to him to fire a shot in the air, using the recoil to push herself forward.
'She uses the recoil of the gun to increase her speed and to give her more cutting power. Not a bad strategy…except' Jaune analyzed as he chose to roll out of the way, being rewarded by the sickle of Crescent Rose barreling past him.
"I missed!" Ruby shouted, before glaring at Jaune and vanishing again. This time the petals scattered in all directions, leaving Jaune to guess where she would be coming from.
'Alright, so she uses the recoil to fling herself at me, which means she can only attack in a straight line. She won't try from the air again, so she should be…'
Jaune's thoughts were proven true when he heard the distinctive sound of a sniper rifle being shot behind him. He threw himself to the side as quickly as he can only to be surprised that he was being sliced at. He was rewarded the feeling Ruby's rounds ping off his aura and was forced to finish his roll and return to a standard blocking position.
"Not bad, Ruby! I'll admit, you're better than I thought!" He called out to the girl, who stuck her tongue out at him.
"Save that talk for when you score a hit Jaune!" She called back, vanishing again in a shower of petals.
That was getting old. Jaune thought, releasing the hard light variant of his shield. Time to show her who was boss here. And it certainly wasn't her! The more she vanished, the easier she was getting for him to track, so he could now tell the general direction that she was heading in. He knew that she had to come at him in a straight line, so all he had to do was position himself just so…
And when Ruby threw herself at Jaune, he used the gravity dust in his shield to blast her. The momentum of Ruby's semblance enhanced speed met with the force of Jaune's shield pushing her and since he was heavier than her and grounded…she was flung backward at a significant speed.
"Ow…" Ruby said, holding her hand on her hand before she felt something on her throat. She opened her eyes to see Jaune holding his blade to her, eyes cold. "And that's dead."
He removed his blade and helped her up, before putting his own weapon away. "You did much better than I expected Ruby, but I did notice some things that we can work on…"
"Like…?" Ruby asked, not even sore about losing, which impressed Jaune. He wasn't expecting Weiss level tantrum but he expected anger in some form. That there wasn't was a point in her favor.
"You use your semblance and recoil to add power to your strikes, which works fine on Grimm, but not so much when you're fighting human opponents. Because you use the recoil, that pre determines the path that you take, and it's a straight line, which if you fight someone faster than you, or observant won't end well for you."
"I never thought of that, I'm pretty used to running circles around my dad and Yang. My uncle Qrow helped me come up with this style! It works for me."
"Hmm. It does, we're just going to add a few things. First, we need to focus on increasing your physical strength, so you don't even need to use recoil. That should solve a lot of your problems right there. That way when you do use it, it should be even stronger."
"Alright chief!" Ruby saluted, standing at attention now. "What else?"
"Your semblance. It's not exactly super speed…because you leave those flower petals everywhere, but they sort of…angle in whichever way you're going. It makes it slightly easier to track you if you know what you're looking for. What exactly is your semblance?"
"Oh! I call it Petal Burst! I sort of move so fast that I teleport! And…that's it."
"And the rose petals?" Jaune asked, noting that her explanation didn't really make any sense. She simply shrugged at him. "There always there, not really sure why."
"If there always there, then that means there's an aspect of your semblance that you haven't touched yet, something else that we can work on. I'll come up with a work out plan for you and we'll go from there. Sound good?"
"I mean, it sounds pretty good to me…anything else?"
Jaune nodded, wandering how to broach this topic. "Why were you cheering for Weiss earlier? I know you two don't exactly get along."
Ruby became more animated as she hurried to explain. "That's exactly why I had to cheer for her! I wanted her to like me and for us to be friends!"
"Why? What possible reason could you have to want to be Weiss's friend?" Jaune said. Maybe Ruby was angling for a dust discount or something like that? If so there were much less noisy ways to get one of those.
"I mean…we're all together in this fight against the Grimm right? It only makes sense that we're all friends too."
"I…wish I could believe that. You can't exactly trust everyone around you Ruby. That's just asking for heartache."
"No, that's wrong!" Ruby denied instantly, drawing a frown on Jaune's face. How could he make her see without telling her…
"Ruby, you and Yang are half-sisters right?" At her nod, Jaune continued. "How did that come up, if you don't mind my asking. Was it an accident or…?"
"Oh! No no no! I was planned! I think…" Ruby trailed off blushing, before her face cleared up due to the conversation. "Yang's mom sorta…left Dad and Yang when she was a baby. Then Dad met mom and she had me."
"And she was a huntress?" Jaune asked for clarification. At Ruby's nod, he continued, "Well, that right there is proof enough that not everyone can be trusted. Weiss being one of them."
"But, maybe she had a good reason for that?" Ruby tried, before wincing at how that sounded.
"Can YOU think of a good reason to walk out on your husband and daughter? Although to be honest, I'm glad she did." Jaune said, placing his hand on his chin as the thought occurred to him.
"Wha-Don't ever let Yang hear you say that Jaune! Why would you be-"
"Well, if she hadn't done that then you wouldn't be here would you? And that would be pretty tragic." Jaune told her, giving her the softest smile that she had ever seen from the boy.
Seeing the expression that Ruby was looking at him with made Jaune uncomfortable, so he changed the subject. "You don't have to change your mind right now, but it's something that I would like you to keep in mind. Not everyone can be trusted. And just because they're a huntsman or huntress, that doesn't guarantee that they're a friend. Ally maybe, but not friend."
Ruby could only nod in a daze, giving Jaune another idea. "Hey Ruby, do you mind if I try something? It has to do with your semblance. I want to use my semblance on it." He added, sharpening her gaze and bringing her focus back to the here and now.
"OF COURSE!" Ruby yelled at maximum value, causing Jaune to flinch and her to cover her face with her hands.
Ruby couldn't believe that she just did that! Jaune had to be thinking that she was a spazz at this point! She peeked out from between her fingers to find Jaune watching her, eyes steady. That was all Jaune ever did, she noticed. He was always watching and observing everything around him. She would have found it weird, only it was due to that simple fact that he was able to track her when she used her semblance. Not even Uncle Qrow could actually tell where she was moving! He just used his old experienced huntsman mojo to sense her!
Not Jaune. He SAW her. Ruby Rose! It was a simple thing, but the sheer fact of that simply made Ruby…
Well, it made her feel weird.
"Hello? Earth to Ruby?" Jaune's rough, gravelly voice called her back to attention. "Right! Semblance! What is yours again?" She said, putting on her serious face.
Jaune looked at her weirdly for a moment so she quickly dropped it. "My semblance is called Amp. It lets me…for lack of a better term greatly amplify the aura of myself or others. So if I use it on you and you use your semblance…"
"It'll be super charged and might give me an idea of what to work on! That's brilliant!" Ruby beamed, and it was. Jaune's semblance sounded really cool now that she thought about it. She wandered how Yang's semblance would work, amplified. Or even Dad or Uncle Qrow! Well maybe not Uncle Qrow, she amended, once she remembered what his semblance actually did.
"Okay, I'm ready," Ruby said, doing her best not to blush as Jaune reached a hand towards her.
XXx
Jaune placed his hand on Ruby's head, for a lack of a better place to put it, and focused. He could feel the current of his own aura running through him and using his hand as a conduit, he 'pushed' his aura into Ruby.
Her own aura felt…intense to him. It was all over the place, zipping to and fro like the girl herself now that he thought about it. But underneath that he thought he could feel…a sadness that he couldn't help but empathize with.
Before Jaune could examine her further, Ruby Rose exploded.
She literally exploded. Jaune yelped as Ruby split into three separate streams of…flower petals and they began arcing around the gymnasium in various patterns. They weren't moving as fast as Ruby normally did, seeing as Jaune had no problem tracking them, but they were picking up speed and in no time, Jaune wouldn't have known that they were there at all if he hadn't been watching her pick up speed.
Actually now that Jaune looked closer, it looked like Ruby was creating slipstreams she was moving so fast! And if she created her own slipstreams, it would take less power for her to follow along the same paths that she had already created…
The possibilities for this in regards to Ruby, and hell team attacks were endless! Jaune was cut from his musing as he felt himself plucked out off the ground and whizzing around the world at breakneck speed.
"Isn't this awesome! I'm so fast!" Jaune heard Ruby yelling once his ears adjusted to the new speed.
"Yeah! Now that we know everything that you can do boosted, I want to try to get you doing all of this without the boost!"
"That would be amazing, I'm extremely open to any ideas!" Ruby screamed back as they whirled through the gymnasium. It appeared as though Jaune's weight didn't really bother Ruby, which was interesting as he was pretty sure that she couldn't carry him normally.
She had no problems doing it now though.
Interesting.
But that was something to consider later. For now, Jaune was content to let Ruby zip him around the gymnasium. Until her aura ran out anyway. Then it right back to training.
For the both of them now. Jaune was sure of it now. Ruby would be monumentally important to his plans. And he would die before he let anything happen to her.
And Arcs always kept their word.