Chapter 3
"This is a very nice room." Thought Jack as he observed the room from where he will be straying during his time in Beacon Academy. He had already finished settling in his new home and was prepared to go and meet the students of this academy. He may even make some new friends along the way. Upon seeing the view, he was offered via the window of his room, he exited his dorm and proceeded into the library, where he can read or find some people to socialize with. That, and he wanted to read some of the books that were in the library. As he was walking, he heard the familiar sound of Atlas dropships flying around in the airspace around Beacon academy. He looked, and saw several Atlas airships landing and offloading its cargo, which consisted of Atlas students. He wasn't really surprised. He heard rumors that general Ironwood, also the headmaster of Atlas academy, was bringing a small army with him as insurance in case something happened during the Vytal festival.
Personally, he thought it was a little overkill to do such a thing as well as being concerning. Though it was supposed to be a sign of protection, it most likely be perceived as a sign of oppression and fear by the citizens of Vale. Resulting in an aura of negative emotions being cast over the city of Vale, which would bring the Grimm come storming and killing anything that gets in their way. He sighed at the heavy-handed approach of the Atlas headmaster before leaving for the library. Upon entering the library, he immediately bumped into a black-haired girl with a bow on top of her head.
"Oh, sorry miss! I didn't mean to do that." Said Jack, immediately apologizing after realizing he bumped into someone. The girl looked at the boy with an impassive look before nodding that it was alright. She then left the library. "Well that was…odd." Thought Jack as he began to look around the library and it's contents, wondering which books to read about.
As he was browsing the books in one of the libraries' many shelves, he heard some students yelling in the 2nd floor. Curious, he went up to find several students playing a board game while several others were reading. He noticed that the students where the ones that caused the big mess in the cafeteria. He also noticed Sun and Neptune where there as well.
"Well, if it isn't Sun and Neptune." Said Jack as he made himself known to everyone. "How's it going you guys." Sun grinned as Jack walked up to the group.
"Nothing much. Just watching Neptune beat team RWBY in a card game." Said Sun, pointing to Neptune, who nodded his head in confirmation. Jack looked at the board game, and saw Neptune was currently dominating the competition. The girl with the silver eyes and red hood was comically crying as she was dead last, the girl in the white haired looked like she was concentrating hard in defending her territory, while the blond girl was looking frustrated at not winning the game. He noticed with a start that the white-haired girl was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company.
"Weiss Schnee playing a board game? I never thought I see the day?" Thought Jack as he looked over to the next group, who were all reading either comics or books. "So, how's it going? I'm Jack."
"I'm Ruby." Said the girl with the red hood.
"Yang." Said the purple eyed, blond girl.
"Weiss." Said Weiss.
"And I'm Nora!" Yelled an orange haired girl as she jumped suddenly in his view, causing him to take a step back and fall on his butt.
"Sorry, about my teammate. I'm Jaune." Said a blond-haired boy with blue eyes, looking apologetic as Nora was being reprimanded by a black haired boy with a magenta steak on the left side of his hair. "This is Pyrrha." Jaune gestured to a red-haired girl, who waved to Jack. "And this is Ren." He then gestured to the black-haired boy.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all." Said Jack as he got up. "By the way, aren't libraries for reading?"
"Thank you!" Said Ren as he went back to reading his book.
"Yeah, but this game is so fun that we had to play it!" Said Ruby, looking excited over something.
"That, and it was the only place beside our room, where we can play it." Said Yang as she grinned at Weiss making a move, falling into a trap she made.
"I see. Well, can I play?" Asked Jack, deciding to play a few rounds.
"Sure. Just wait after this match." Said Weiss before scowling at falling for a trap Yang made.
"Want to play against me, Jack?" Asked Neptune, wondering if the black-haired boy will accept.
"Sure. Why not?' Said Jack as he took a seat, waiting for his turn.
"I should warn you. Neptune is no slouch when it comes to strategy games." Said Sun.
"No, worries. I can hold my own." Said Jack confidently.
Few matches later
"What was that about holding your own." Said Neptune smugly as he took Jack's last piece of territory. Jack groaned as he threw his cards on the board. That was the fifth time in a row.
"I have to admit Neptune, you're a good player." Said Jack as he got out of his seat.
"And quite honorable." Said Weiss. "You decided to spare some of my retreating soldiers, risking them to regroup and attack."
"Yeah, well. It's not cool at attacking someone that's retreating. In my opinion." Said Neptune. Weiss gave a smile as she nodded approvingly.
"Honorable!? He wiped my entire army out with a single trap!" Complained Yang, her eyes glowing red.
"Didn't you do that to me and Ruby two games ago?" Asked Sun with Ruby nodding her head in agreement. Yang sputtered a moment before pouting and crossing her arms against her chest.
"Well, I think that's enough for today. And, it's getting late too. We should all go to bed, right now." Said Jack. Everyone nodded in agreement as they all got up and left for their dorms. Jack decided to go with Sun and Neptune as they all were in the same dormitory. As they were walking, Sun suddenly had a devious idea and grinned.
"So, Neptune. I saw you flirting with Weiss back there. You got a crush on her?" Asked Sun, causing Neptune to blush and stutter while also causing Jack to raise an eyebrow.
"N-not really. C'mon man, you know me. Flirting with hot girls all the time." Said Neptune, making an excuse for himself.
"Yeah, but this time, there was more passion and sincerity in it. Like you really like her. So, do you?" Asked Sun. Neptune looked hesitant before Jack spoke up.
"C'mon, Neptune, we're all friends here. We won't tease you or make fun of you for liking her. Besides, it's nothing to be ashamed of for having a crush on her. She's quite beautiful." Said Jack, trying to convince Neptune to confess while also wondering if he loved her. Neptune sighed before nodding his head in confirmation. Sun then began to laugh.
"I knew it. I knew that you'll eventually find someone." Said Sun. "And it's the ice queen of all people! Oh man, Scarlet owes me so much money after this."
"So, what do you plan to do with those feelings? Ask her out?" Asked Jack.
"I don't know. It would be pretty bad for her if she was caught dating someone like me." Said Neptune. "I mean, I'm known for flirting with any cute girl."
"True, and her dad will rip you a new one, once he finds out you two are dating." Said Sun, causing Neptune to pale in response.
"Don't forget her sister, Winter. I seen her several times during my days in Atlas academy. And let me tell you, she is very strict and very judging to others." Said Jack. Neptune, somehow, grew even more pale at the mentioning of Weiss' sister.
"But she is rather nice once you get to know her and vice versa. She chaperoned a mission of mine during my first year in Atlas. She was cold, sure, and strict, but she cared for the people under her command and made sure that everyone made it out. I'm sure once she get's to know you, she'll approve your relationship with Weiss. If, you are planning on dating her, that is." Said Jack.
"Thanks for the words of encouragement, Jack, but I'm still not sure if I should." Said Neptune.
"Well, it's better to try, then not try at all, like my dad said. Who knows, it could end very well for both of you. And I don't mean money." Said Jack.
"Yeah, and if you do end up with her, I'll be there to support you all the way." Said Sun as he made a thumbs up for Neptune, who smiled at the support he was getting from the both of them.
"Thanks guys. I needed that. I guess I'll ask Weiss out, but not right now. It's important to take it slow, right?" Said Neptune, getting a nod from Sun and Jack. "Great. Now, let's get moving. It's getting late." The three then resumed walking to their dormitory. As they were walking they all bumped into a group of students from Mistral, two females and one male. One female had black hair and amber eyes. The other had mint-green hair and red eyes. The male had gray hair and eyes.
"Sorry, for that. We didn't see where we were going." Said Jack as he eyed the three students.
"It's fine. Just watch where you all are going next time." Said the black-haired girl as she eyed them all with a sense of superiority in her eyes, making the three nervous. "I take it, you all are coming from the other kingdoms, right?"
"That's right." Said Jack hesitantly, having a bad feeling about these three.
"In that case, go right along that road. It'll take you where you need to go." Said the black-haired girl as she pointed to a road just right of them. The three boys looked heistatnly at each other before nodding their heads in thanks. Once they were ear-shot away from the group, Sun began to speak.
"Those three seem…odd." Said Sun.
"Yeah, almost like they're...evil in a way." Said Jack, Neptune nodded his head in agreement. "Well, in either case, let's avoid them if we can. There's something…off about them I can't place my finger on." Sun and Neptune nodded in agreement as the three entered the dormitory.
The next day
Jack had just started on his homework, when he got a call from Sun. He then let go of his pencil, picked up his scroll, and answered.
"What is it, Sun?" Asked Jack as he went back on doing his homework.
"Oh nothing, just wanted to know if you wanted to…save the kingdom!" Said Sun, yelling the last part out. Jack winced in surprise at the sudden rise in volume from Sun.
"What are you talking about? Is this a joke?' Asked Jack.
"Nope. Me, Neptune, and the girls in RWBY are going out to investigate the White Fang, and why their stealing dust. You know about the recent dust robberies in Vale?" Asked Sun.
"Who doesn't. It's been all over the news in Atlas. Particularly, something about a dust freighter belonging to the Schnee dust company being attacked by the White Fang." Said Jack, remembering the news report about a freighter being attacked by the White Fang and how it was stopped by a group of first-year students from Beacon. Needless to say, it was embarrassing for the security responsible for the freighter's security that a group of teenagers did their jobs better than they have.
"So, yeah we're going out and stop…whatever the White Fang are up to, and we want you to come! What do you say?" Asked Sun.
"Well…I don't know. I have work to do, and I think we should leave this to the police and huntsman." Said Jack, unsure of going and reporting this to Ozpin or Ironwood.
"C'mon. It'll be fun. Besides, the police will attract too much attention. So, will a huntsman. But, if it is just a bunch of first-years-in-training…"
"People won't pay any mind to what they're doing." Finished Jack. "Alright, I see where your going. *Sighs* I'm probably going to regret this, but I'll come. Just tell me where to go." Said Jack. He heard some excited squeals from the other end. He rose an eyebrow at that, wondering who did it.
"Cool! Alright, since I'm going with Blake to a White Fang hideout, you can't come. And you don't seem to be the type to go pick up some files or anything like that. So, that means you'll go with Yang and Neptune to the shadier side of Vale. How about it!?" Said Sun.
"Might as well. I got nothing better to do. Besides, sounds like fun." Said Jack.
"Cool! Just meet with Yang and Neptune at the docks. They'll take you there! On a motorcycle!" Said Sun before hanging up.
"He's so easily excited." Said Jack before leaving his room to grab his weapon and combat attire, feeling that he'll need them. As he was walking, he immediately thought of something that made him stop. "Wait, if Neptune, Yang, and I are going on a motorcycle…how are we all going to fit?"
Later
"This is both uncomfortable and dangerous." Said Jack as he was holding on Neptune tightly as they were racing down the streets of Vale on Yang's motorcycle. Quite fast he might add. Due to the fact that Yang's motorcycle, at max, can hold two people, they all had to squeeze together tightly to each other in order to fit. It was something that they all were annoyed with.
"*Chuckles* What's wrong? Chicken?" Snickered Yang as she drove past cars, wanting to get to their designation as fast as possible.
"No, but I am concerned about your driving habits. This seems extremely dangerous and illegal." Said Jack as he watched Yang pass a red light.
"Relax, we won't in trouble. Much." Said Yang with a smirk.
"Wonderful." Said Jack, sarcastically. He then noticed that Neptune was quiet for most of the ride. "Hey, Neptune! You alright?" All he got was a twitch from Neptune. "Well, that's just great." Said Jack as Yang finally stopped.
"Alright, you two, c'mon. My friends inside! Said Yang as she got off and entered a run-down building. Neptune shook his head before following Yang with Jack in tow.
"Neptune, you ever got the feeling that you'll die or that something bad will happen?" Asked Jack.
"No, why?" Asked Neptune, wondering why Jack asked that.
"No reason. I'm just thinking something bad will happen today." Said Jack as the two saw Yang breaking down a door and confidently striding inside. "Yeah…we're gonna die." Neptune nodding his head in agreement with gulp.