I think I'm in a good enough place to start a schedule. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to get a chapter out at least every two weeks. Hopefully.
Enjoy another chapter my comrades!
"This is definitely not where I left my stuff last night…" Jaune huffed, as he walked to where his locker said it was now. He'd almost reached his locker when he saw Pyrrha talking to another girl near his locker.
"So, Pyrrha," The girl in white said, now within earshot of Jaune, "have you given any thought as to whose team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong and well-known individual such as yourself."
Pyrrha seemed to agree somewhat. "I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."
"Well, that sounds grand," Pyrrha said, notably unenthused, and only brightening when she saw Jaune approaching.
"Jaune!"
"Hello Pyrrha," Jaune waved, "Making friends?"
"Yes, we were just talking about which team we'll be on," the girl in white said, before introducing herself unintentionally, "Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos, partners at beacon…" She said almot wistfully.
"Pleasure to meet you Miss Schnee," He gave a small polite bow, "I am Jaune Arc."
Momentarily taken aback by his politeness, Weiss quickly recovered and returned the gesture with a curtsy, neither of them noticing the look Pyrrha was giving them.
"So Jaune," Pyrrha said, stepping a tiny bit closer to him, something that didn't go unnoticed by Weiss, "Whos team are you looking to be on?"
He shrugged, "I'd like to be on a team with you and possibly Ruby, but I'm willing to just roll with whatever happens."
"Well I think the three of us would make an excellent team." Weiss said, stepping closer to Jaune, a subtle move that did not go unnoticed by Pyrrha, who stepped a tiny bit closer.
"Possibly," Jaune said, cluelessly stepping away to his locker to retrieve his stuff, "what powers do you two have? You strike me as an ice user, Miss Schnee." He said, pulling his silvery chainmail over his clothing, and starting to affix his black plating.
"Why would you say that?" She said, now showing a little animosity.
"You remind me of the winter," He said, tightening the straps to his greaves and kneecaps, "Powerful, precise, elegant," Jaune stood up to grab his chest plate, "Rather attractive." Drawing a reddish tinge from the heiresses face.
"Stop that," She said, her hand automatically moving to touch the small scar over her eye"I-"
"I was not trained to lie so carelessly," He said, "and I think that little scar over your eye is cute."
Weiss turned away, spluttering and red in the face, with Pyrrha glaring slightly, and Jaune continuing to make things worse with every passing sentence.
"I must admit I'm a little jealous," the knight said, adjusting his black and gold tabard, "Your eyes are such a nice shade of blue, and I really like your style. But white and blue never really worked for me, I prefer bolder colors."
"T-thank you Jaune…" She said attempting to save face.
"I'd be more than happy with you as my partner Miss Schnee." Jaune said, putting his final gauntlet on. "Fire and Ice," he looked over to her, his glowing golden eyes coming in contact with her frosty blue, "Silver and Gold. I think we'd work quite well together."
"I'd like to be your partner too Jaune," She said, a fierce red hue now present on her face, and an angry glare on Pyrrhas, "It was nice to meet you." She blurted out before turning and leaving, her face only getting redder when Jaune called out to her.
"I'll see you around Miss Schnee, It was a pleasure to meet you as well." He then turned to Pyrrha, "I'd also really like to be your partner too Pyrrha."
"What?"
"You seem to be a skilled fighter," He gestured to her spear and shield, "Efficient weapons, inspiring presence, strong with grace."
'You're not going to say I'm attractive? She thought to herself, as Jaune sheathed his sword and slung a black heater shield across his back.
"Of course you're attractive," Jaune said quite matter-of-factly, causing the Mistralian to let out an audible eep!, at having realized she said that out loud, "It's just that Miss Schnee seemed like she needed a compliment."
"So you were…" Pyrrha thought for a moment, "Just saying that?"
"Of course not, shes very pretty, in a royal princess kind of way." He said, bringing the frown back onto her face, "You are beautiful in a...warrior kind of way, right?"
"What do you mean?" She said, her face now turning a little red.
"You're strong, slim, fit, quite tall," He said, now turning to her, "You're clearly a fighter."
"Well, I suppose I've got to make my way to the cliff for initiation," He said, looking at a clock and then beginning to walk away, "I also very much enjoy your style, red and bronze suits you."
"T-thanks."
A minute or two later, Jaune found Ruby, loving holding her weapon in her arms, drawing a slightly disappointed look from her sister. Waving to them, he began the conversation.
"Hello Ruby."
"Oh! Hi Jaune!" She said, energetically waving back go him, "We were just talking about the initiation, are you excited?"
"That I am," He chuckled, partially drawing his sword out from its sheath, the steely silver metal glinting in the artificial lights, "Aurum Mors has been sitting in her sheath for too long."
"You name your weapons too?" Yang said, now tempted to bring out her shotgun gauntlets.
"A weapon is an extension of your body," He reasoned, "Something that important and essential should have a name. I even named my shield," Jaune continued, drawing the black and gold heater style shield from behind his back, "This is Aurum Turrim."
"Can I see your sword?" Ruby asked tentatively, exhaling in a sigh of relief when Jaune agreed, and drew then handed the blade to her.
"Woah," She said, not expecting the weight, the sword being a bit heavier than it looked. Despite being a little heavy, and a bit large for her, it was exceptionally well balanced, and she had no trouble handling it. Looking at the silvery steel blade, she gasped. All along the blade were patterns, tiny darkened lines that seemed to be part of the metal, forming an image like a river snaking down the swords length.
"How did you do that?" She whispered, eyes wide.
"The blade is True Damascus steel, with a river of fire acid etch pattern," Jaune explained, taking the sword back from her, drawing out a small noise of disappointment, "It's a trade secret."
"How about those gauntlets? They seem to fit you pretty well." Yang cut in, before Ruby could start begging him for his secrets, Yeah, now that I've got a better look, your whole suit is really slim for plate armor."
"Here, try it on and see for yourself." He said, pulling off his gauntlet and handing it to the blonde.
She slipped it on, Jaunes larger hands lending the gauntlet to a rather uncomfortable fit, as she had too much room to move around. Then, she gauntlet began shrinking, and conforming to her hand and forearm, the cool metal tightening around her arm, giving it a nearly skin-tight and form fitting fit.
"Huh," she flexed her hand, internally remarking on how exceptionally little it restricted her movement, and looking almost longingly at the four dull, triangular studs on the knuckles, which would most probably lend the metal gloves to a hefty punch, "that's pretty cool. But how in the hell did you get it to do that?"
"Trade secret." Jaune smiled, taking the gauntlet back and putting it on his own hand, the metal expanding and contracting again to fit him.
"Rrrrr," Ruby said, now a little angry Jaune wasn't telling her how he did this. The patterns on his sword were beautiful, and apparently he had a literal one size fits all suit of armor. Not sharing was just selfish. "Well fine! It's not like I want to know how you make it, that big suit wouldn't even let me fight properly."
"The protection it affords Is a pretty reasonable sacrifice for the very small lack of flexibility. When it comes down to it, I'd rather have a steel plate in front of me than wear a dress."
"Excuse me, my combat skirt protects me well enough, and lets me move how I want!" The younger girl argued back.
"What happens if your frilly outfit gets set on fire?" Jaune retorted.
"What if yours catches on fire?" She said, poking the tough, black and gold tabard on his chest.
"Well first off, it wont, I've tried," he began, "and second, even if it could be set alight, I can just take it off and keep going."
"Alright, alright, that's enough you two…" Yang said, stepping in between the two and breaking up the argument. Before it could start up again, Glynda's voice blared over the loudspeaker.
"Attention, the initiation begins in three minutes. Please make your way to the cliff, thank you."
"Oh gosh, I've got to go!" Ruby jumped, before draggin Yang off by the arm and waving to Jaune, "By Jaune!"
"I could have sworn we were arguing a second ago…" The knight muttered to himself, before he began jogging to the cliff.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for your time at Beacon."
Jaunes head whipped to the side as a sound like glass shattering rang in his ears. Instead, Ruby's normally positive and cheery demeanor had been replaced by one of shock, sadness and hopelessness. Wincing a little to himself at seeing the girl so dejected, he forced his eyes ahead of himself, he began thinking of a way to get down the cliff. Currently, his leading idea was to just kinda jump off, and use his sword to control his descent by occasionally plunging it into the rock. From there he'd jump onto the ruined structure at the base, and make his way through the forest from there.
"...destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin said, bringing a smile onto the knights face. Instructions and missions like that were rather befitting of a Darkrusader infantryman.
"Any questions?" The headmaster asked, and seeing no hands raised, took a slip from his mug and smiled. "Good. You may take your places."
Jaune rolled his head, cracking his neck, drawing a wince from Yang and a sigh of slight pleasure from the knight. He saw Glynda, her finger hovering right above a symbol on her scroll, probably a timer of sorts. He readied himself to jump, getting his legs ready for the fall.
With a press of a button, Glynda activated the metal pad beneath all the students, launching them and sending them flying off the cliff, Jaune included, plans for a controlled and relatively safe descent flung off the cliff with him.
'Well this changes things a bit…' Jaune thought to himself as he soared through the air, the wind whistling in his slightly pointed ears. 'Ooh, there's a pond, I should probably go for that.'
"Is he going to be alright?" Morrigan asked, watching Jaune through the wraith hidden in the clouds. She watched as a flickering golden hemisphere formed around the young knight as he dropped through the sky.
"He should be fine." Acererak said, testing out the latest model of handgun his scholars had cooked up. With a design that most of remnant would consider minimalist, Acererak easily recognized the beauty in such a thing.
Morrigan still winced as Jaune slammed into the pond at terminal velocity, throwing up a huge amount of water.
"Should not have done that…" Jaune growled to himself, smoke and sparks wafting off him, "I can't waste more time drying off."
His plan had worked well enough, and the Protective Aura spell had managed to save him, even as agitated as he was. Whenever he got worked up emotionally or physically, his pyromancy just kind of took the wheel, often making things awkward for those around him, especially when he starts trailing flames, evident when he fell from the sky as a literal flaming comet, and landing in the pond with a fiery explosion, sending plumes of steam into the air as the water was vaporized.
Concentrating, Jaune used his telekinetic bond with his mount to summon it. His steed and companion of sorts had been wandering around the forest, staying out of sight and keeping hidden, but always in range to get to Jaune if needed. This was the preferable option for now, as summoning and desummoning the companion would have wasted too much time to be efficient.
With a crackle like a fireplace in winter, Vuklahn bounded out of the trees coming to a stop next to his master.
Vulkahn was a drake, a dragon like creature possessing all the qualities of true dragons (reptilian features, magical affinity), but lacked their almost signature wings, making him appear like an oversized four limbed lizard.
He was also a magma drake, as evidenced by his physical characteristics. The scales on his lupine, almost wolflike build, were a deep, dark red, and rough, like volcanic rock. Between his scales and marking his body were miniature rivers of magma, glowing orange and red streaks in his flesh, his underside aglow with lava.
His three clawed draconic feet were capped with thick talons that glowed a molten white, like forged iron, scorching the ground beneath him, just like the crocodilian teeth set in his glowing red mouth. The twin, straight horns that crowned his draconic skull were a solid black, gently pulsing with a ruddy glow.
"Hey buddy…" Jaune scratched the back of his head with a gauntlet, smirking as the line of rippling flames running down his companions spine picked up at the physical contact, "ready for some action?" He finished, as a beowulf leapt out of the woods behind him, only to be intercepted by Vulkahn, white hot claws and fiery might turning the grimm beneath the drake into a mess of black blood and ash.
"Looks like we've got company…" Jaune said, unbacking his shield and drawing his sword, as a pack of around a dozen black wolves surrounded the two. Rumbling with a sound like rocks in a washer machine, Vulkahn squared his scaly paws and bared his fangs.
A second of deliberation flashed across the eyes of the grimm, before they charged, beelining straight toward Jaune and Vulkahn. The two met the horde of darkness with equal fervor, the knight slaying the beasts with sword and shield, each strike powerful but precise and calculated, staying brutally efficient while still retaining a kind of grace, while the dragon tore through its foes with unrestrained savagery and reckless power.
Finishing off the last of the beowulves, Jaune decapitating his and Vulkahn incinerating it with a jet of fire, the pair relaxed, Jaune sheathing his sword and Vulkahn roaring in triumph, producing a noise like a roaring flame.
Only to have their moment interrupted by a massive black and white bear charge out of the woods and backhand the knight into a tree.
Feeling the crunch of the bark as he impacted the tree, Jaune dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way as soon as he could, making the Ursa Major miss him by less than a foot and smash through the tree, having too much momentum to stop itself in time.
Casting and sending a large Fireball toward the creature, Jaunes face rose then fell as the grimm shrieked in pain and surprise but quickly charged back out, only bearing a few scorch marks on its bone plating.
"Bad idea." Jaune said to himself, looking on as the flames quickly began to spread, setting the woods alight around the three figures. A tree fell towards the grimm, which swatted it out of the air with an errant paw and roared, prompting Jaune to give to another fireball to the face.
Seeing as how it only served to annoy the monstrosity further, Jaune decided to hightail it out of there, leaping onto Vulkahns back and spurring him into action. The magma drake rumbled in content as he charged through the woods, leaving a trail of fire in his wake, leaping over fallen trees and roots, bounding over the ground with insane speed.
"Good job, just try and keep hidden," The knight whispered, "Still want to keep you on the down low."
After receiving a nod from the magma drake, Jaune continued moving forward, his mount gently padding through the now less dense woods with relative quiet, only the light footfalls of the dragon and gentle crackle of its fire giving it away.
The noise of a small explosion rang out in Jaunes ears, and Vulkahns head perked up at the sound, stopping in his tracks and turning to face it. Drawing his sword and shield as he dismounted, Jaune instructed the drake to go and hide in the woods like before. Seeing the fiery reptile slink off into the underbrush, the knight approached quietly, eventually reaching the clearing where the sounds of battle were coming from.
Pyrrha Nikos stood in the center, her spear configured into a rifle, cutting down the horde of Beowulves with impressive precision. He watched as it changed back into a spear, and used as a javelin to impale another grimm. She quickly removed it from the body, and turned it into a pair sword and shield.
Now watching her fight, Jaune realized how well they would work together. She had a ranged and speed advantage, while Jaune brought the firepower, pun intended. Deciding to test this, he leapt into the fray, bringing his sword around in a spin, slicing open the back of a beowulf, and smashing in the back of its head with a punch from his shield. Pyrrha looked to him and nodded briefly, and the two began to work.
Weiss could not believe her luck. Not only was she stuck with Ruby as her partner of all people, but the only two she really would have like to be with, Jaune and Pyrrha, had both partnered with each other already.
And just to add insult to injury, they were fighting really well together. Pyrrhas obvious speed and agility bonus let her compliment Jaunes power and defense almost perfectly. She watched as the black and gold knight readied his shield for a strike aimed at the champion in front of him, only for her to spin out of the way, letting Jaune block the blow and her to bring it down.
It was so infuriating that the only two people who seemed to be on her level in the school were together, while she was stuck with this immature little girl two years too young to even attend, nevermind be her partner.
The heiresses pristine teeth clenched as she watched the two attack simultaneously, Pyrrha backflip over Jaune to bring her spear through a beowulf's chest while Jaune ducked slightly and delivered a bonecrushing kick with his armored boot, caving in the chest of the final grimm.
Just as she was about to speak, Ruby piped up.
"Hey Weiss?" She said, drawing the attention of all three people, "The forests on fire over here, is that bad?"
Rooooarrr!
"There's also an Ursa Major here!", the sound of two gunshots rang out, followed by an annoyed grunt, drawing an angry hiss from Jaune.
"Sonofabitch I thought I'd lost it…' He whispered, now looking towards the woods.
"Lost it? Were you fighting it earlier?" Weiss asked, as Ruby ran back into the clearing.
"Yeah. I kinda set the woods on fire a bit."
"A bit?" Pyrrha asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh…" He pointedly avoid eye contact with her, prefering to look at the rapidly approaching wildfire and flaming Ursa Major, "Hey, look over there!"
Dodging an errant swipe form the bear, the Schnee countered with a glyph, one that sent the grimm flying back into the fire. This had the unintended effect of knocking down a huge flaming tree, sending it racing toward the ground, the only thing between it and the earth being Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha, flames trailing from its charred branches.
Jaune acted first, shoving Weiss out of the way of the tree, and holding his shield out over Pyrrha as the tree hit them, protecting her from the branches and flames. These distractions were enough for the Ursa Major to recover and charge at them.
The grimm bear attacked with an uppercut, which Jaune barely avoided, before shielding against a sideswipe from the bear, protecting against its claws, but the force of the blow still sending him flying. He hit the ground and rolled with the momentum, right into a blazing bonfire that was once a bush.
Just as the demon beast turned back to Pyrrha, Jaune charged out of the fire, running and leaping high into the air, the grimm turning around at the noise, and getting only a flying shield bash in return.
"Weiss, Ruby," Jaune got the attention of the pair as the Ursa Major spit out a few broken teeth, "Get out of here, the fire is picking up!"
Looking to make sure they had left, Jaune turned back to his opponent just in time to block a swipe, and retaliate with a stab, punching right through the Ursas wrist. The creature reeled back, screeching in pain, only for Pyrrha to use Jaune as a ramp and put her spear through the forearm of the grimm, pinning it to the ground. Jaune gave a rising strike, crippling its arm, before bringing his sword down and severing it at the elbow.
Now no longer stapled to the ground, the Ursa Major was free to reel back and scream, black smoke pouring from its stump-arm. Before it could make its next move, a gunshot to the knee from Pyrrha flinched it, and an Orb of Fire from Jaune splashed against its chest, sending it to the ground.
By now the entire forest seemed to be on fire. Jaune and Pyrrha were in the middle of a scorched wasteland, the earth already black with ash, smoke thick in the air as fires greedily consumed the available vegetation.
"Think that got it?" Jaune asked, as he watched it rise back up from the fires, before huffing in annoyance and preparing another spell.
"Jaune," Pyrrha had already sheathed her weapons and was tugging on his black waistcloth, "There's too much smoke here, we wont be able to fight for much longer, it's already getting hard to breathe!"
Jaune hissed, angry with himself for not thinking of his partner. Of course she would have issues with the fire, she wasn't a pyromancer, and her outfit had a glaring disadvantage against fire. But then again that's what happens when you wear what is effectively half a suit of armor.
"Alright, where do we go?" He said, sheathing his sword and slinging his shield over his back. He followed Pyrrha, who led him toward a hill about a quarter mile away. The two ran through the armageddon, Pyrrha nimbly dodging burning bushes and avoiding flaming branches, while Jaune vaulted over anything in his way, often jumping through walls of fire, the tongues of heat licking his armor as he charged onward.
"In here!" His partner shouted, before ducking into a small cave. Jaune followed, joining her in the darkness. The two stopped to catch their breath before they continued one.
"It's pretty dark in here," Jaune grumbled as his hand was set alight, a ball of roaring flames consuming the end of his arm, illuminating the caves around them, "and cold…"
"Well it's better than the fires right?" Pyrrha shot back, rolling her eyes at Jaunes unenthused 'no'. She grabbed a stray branch off the ground, and held it out to him.
"Here, light this," The redhead asked as the flames jumped from Jaune to the makeshift torch in her grasp, "there. Now we can...see…"
Her voice trailed off as she came face to face with a titanic scorpion, a monstrous insectoid grimm known as a Deathstalker. It looked at her, numerous beady red eyes zeroing in with a primal malice. Always competent, she immediately drew her rifle, firing point blank into its face, ducking when Jaune shouted, 'Get Down!' As a large fireball flew over her head, and slammed into the grimm.
"Well that didn't seem to work," He said as the grimm hissed at them, snapping its pincers, "any ideas?"
AN
So there we have it. Jaune's seen some more action, and I explained why I used a Greater Restoration a few chapters back. The way I interpret it, Greater Restoration would just kinda work better on a suit of living armor. Hope that answers your question Kenmandragon.