CH 9
Blake stretched and glared at the display screen. Surprisingly enough, this didn't cause it do change what it was displaying. She checked the time and winced. It was time to finish her little investigation, lest sh be late for her next class. And she preferred to not be the one to test how forgiving Miss Goodwitch was.
On the way to class, she thought over what she had learned. After yesterday's conversation, she tried to fish for more information about Jaune. Doing so discreetly might have been difficult - if not for Yang. Her partner apparently latched on idea of there being something between the heiress and blond knight. Or just wanted to tease her.
Either way, that worked out well for Blake. To avoid unnecessary hassle, Weiss had decided to answer every question the blond brawler had. It wasn't too hard to throw in a few of her own, or subtlety push Yang to ask them.
In the end, she didn't learn much more besides what Jaune himself had told them. After completing his job as Weiss' bodyguard, he left Atlas for around a month. When he came back, he and his teacher were frequently taking jobs from the head of SDC. The only interesting bit of information she got from this talk was that Jaune would often accept payment in rare, or high-quality Dust rather than money. Weiss didn't know - or simply wouldn't tell - how much Dust he was getting, but Bake somehow doubted it was for crafting a weapon of mass destruction, supplying his private army, or some other, similar crazy thing.
Her own investigation didn't provide her with much more. She confirmed that both Jaune and Leon were registered Company members, and that Leon was currently doing some long-term job in Atlas.
And that was it. The Company was very serious about privacy. The only information publicly available was who was a registered member, if they were currently under contract, and the location of the last Company office they visited.
She walked into class and noticed her team sitting near team JNPR. Blake focused in on Jaune. He was currently pouting, arms crossed over his chest, and looking away from Yang, who was grinning widely. Judging by the others' reactions - namely Ruby and Pyrrha's blushing, Weiss' scandalized expression, Nora's grin, and Ren's raised eyebrow, Blake could guess what happened.
Jaune Arc proved very vulnerable to teasing, something her partner was more than happy to take advantage of. No doubt she threw out another innuendo, embarrassing the young Hunter.
Well, he doesn't look, or act, like he is hiding something. Blake thought.
She had some experience with these kind of people. Afterall, she lived with them for most of her life - and was one herself. People with something to hide usually were much more reserved, they would steer conversations away from them, or try not to stand out.
Jaune Arc didn't fit this description at all. His reactions were too honest, too natural to be fake, or just discretion.
Either I am too paranoid, or he is Remnant's best actor.
Blake had enough self-awareness to know which option was more likely to be true.
Yang spotted her and waved.
"Hey Blake-y. Where have you been? We were starting to worry you decided to skip."
"In the library."
Yang blinked.
"Library?"
"Yes, library. You know, the place where they store books? You could visit it from time to time yourself, maybe you would learn something."
Yang opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Miss Goodwitch announcing the first duel.
Team RWBY cheered loudly when Weiss Schnee stepped into the arena. Her opponent - some green-haired guy using two tonfas, received as much of a cheer from his own team - and quite a few females in the audience.
From her place in the audience, Blake could both observe the fight - and Jaune. He was sitting there, his arms crossed, and apparently focused entirely on fight. He was nodding to himself from time to time, when one of the combatants made some slick maneuver.
Blake sighed.
Well, he hasn't done anything wrong. And this might really be just my paranoia talking.
After some brief consideration, she decided to let go of her investigation for now. Jaune looked like a genuinely nice person, and she could always secretly observe him. If it looked like he was up to no good, she would interfere, but for now, she probably should focus more on her school life.
Blake focused back on the fight taking place. Both opponents were much more closely matched than most of the fights she'd seen up till now. Weiss was able to keep her opponent at distance for most of the time, only taking short exchanges in melee.
The green-haired boy, who's name Balke didn't catch, was able to stay mostly unhurt thanks to what she assumed was his Semblance. He was able to put up see-through screens that acted as cover... they never lasted long, but were enough to stop most of Weiss' ranged attacks, then shattering into particles of light.
This had continued for almost four minutes now, and both combatants had visually slowed down. It started to look like the fight would end in a draw - both of them were at around forty percent of their Aura, and so far they were evenly matched. That all changed in the next exchange.
After Weiss fired her next barrage of Dust attacks, her opponent put up his barriers again. But this time it flickered, and disappeared much faster. Seeing an opening, Weiss fired a few more attacks. A few were dodged, a few hit the target, and the rest were blocked by another barrier that shattered almost instantly.
The green-haired boy stood up, but he staggered. Weiss charged in, eager to finish the fight - but Myrtenaster impacted another barrier instead of the boy's chest. He smirked, suddenly far less tired than he pretended to be just a moment ago. Weiss tried to retreat - but her back hit an invisible wall too.
So that was bait… Thought Blake.
Her teammate tried to escape - but it proved futile. She was trapped in a dome-shaped barrier that prevented her from escaping. Forced into melee, she did her best, but with no place to maneuver she was soon backed into the wall.
Soon, Myrtenaster was knocked aside, and the boy pinned both her hands above her head. He leaned close, and said something - no doubt asking heiress to surrender. Blake rolled her eyes - the guy apparently tried to act like prince charming.
Now, what will you do Weiss?
The crowd was cheering.
The boy was smirking.
Weiss headbutted him.
Yang whistled.
"Wow. I wouldn't have thought Weiss-cream could pull off something like that."
Blake couldn't agree more. Everything about the heiress screamed elegance - even her weapon and fighting style. It was shocking to see her pull out a move more suited for a back alley fight.
The sudden attack was apparently enough to dispel the green-haired boy's control over his Semblance - something Weiss immediately took advantage of. She retreated and started bombarding her opponent with Dust attacks. He on the other hand, decided to just charge ahead, and try to lock the heiress into melee.
In the end, Weiss claimed victory - but by a very narrow margin. She won with only a few percent of her Aura above her opponent. People watching fight apparently appreciated a good show and were cheering loudly for both combatants. They got even louder, when Weiss offered her hand to the downed boy - and he accepted it.
When the heiress joined back with her team, it was to three people staring at her with mix of disbelief and curiosity.
"What?" She asked.
"Well… you headbutted that guy." Ruby pointed out.
Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I did. If you didn't notice, I had rather limited options in that moment."
"Well yeah, but I'm still surprised you would pull off something like that." Yang said shaking her head.
Weiss snorted.
"I fight to win Xiao Long. You will do well to remember that."
Yang's grinned at that.
"Oh, I will."
Blake shook her head. It appeared that heiress had many more surprises in store for her.
"You saw that!? You saw that, right?! It was awesome!"
Jaune smiled, and Yang rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Ruby, we all saw that."
The young Huntress' first fight went rather well. Her opponent - Russel Thrush - was a fast and agile fighter, Jaune would give him that.. But he was simply no match for Ruby. She dominated the whole fight, from start to finish, using her Semblance to great effect. Her opponent simply couldn't keep up with the tempo the young huntress enforced - though, to be fair not many people probably could.
"I was like 'poof', and he was 'bam', and I was like 'zip' and he was 'paf.'" Ruby exclaimed, waving her arms around. Both teams snickered - except for Nora. She was stroking her chin, eyebrows narrowed.
"You know what Ruby? I think at the end it was 'baf', not 'paf.'"
Everyone stared at Nora - though she didn't seem to mind.
Ruby blinked a few times, and took on a contemplative look.
"You sure?" She asked after a few seconds.
Nora nodded.
"Yes, I'm positive."
Yang opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when Jaune put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
"Don't even try. That way lies madness."
She looked back to Nora and Ruby, and after brief consideration, nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. It's probably not worth the effort."
She turned back to him and grinned.
"So, Ladykiller, how does it feel to be the only one left out?"
Jaune shrugged. Out of both teams, he was the only one who hadn't fought in Miss Goodwitch class yet.
"It's not like it matters. I can always practice with my team."
"Well you could practice with me…" Yang said, winking at him.
Jaune opened his mouth to answer, but paused, thought about something for a few moments, then looked up and considered both teams for a moment.
"You know what…" he said eventually. "That is actually a pretty good idea." He nodded to her and called out to the rest of their teams.
"Hey guys, what would you say about some joint sparrings between our teams?"
"Right now?" Asked Ren, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Nah, we just left combat class afterall."
"So how about this weekend?" Offered Pyrrha.
"I have something planned for Friday. So how about Saturday afternoon?"
"Sounds good." Ruby said nodding.
"Ok, then we are set. See ya later guys." Jaune waved and both teams separated. JNPR went to the room, while RWBY headed towards the library.
Ruby leaned against the wall, and let out tired sigh. Beacon had proved to be everything she hoped for - and more. Much more - possibly too much. At first, she was excited when she was appointed leader of her team - but now she was starting to have doubts. She was two years younger and everyone in her team was so… awesome.
Yang - her beloved older sister, and all around badass fighter.
Stoic Blake, who was always calm, with sharp mind and sharper senses. She was like a ninja!
Weiss Schnee - heiress to the biggest company in all of Remnant - and a person who apparently knew everything.
None of them said a word about her being leader, none of them complained. But Ruby still felt doubts gnawing at her. How was she supposed to lead so many amazing people? She had no idea what to do!
She pushed off of the wall, and continued wandering Beacon's corridors. After the study session in the library - where Weiss had to help her with homework again - she excused herself when rest her team went to the room. She just needed some time to herself, to think things through.
Why me? Why was it me who was selected to be team leader?
She let out another sigh, rounding the corner - and bumped into someone.
"Ruby?" She heard a familiar voice ask.
She looked up and forced a smile.
"Hey Jaune. What are you doing here?"
"Just went on a walk to clear my head. You?"
"The same."
"Did something happen?"
She tilted her head to the side.
"No… why do you ask?"
"Well... you look pretty down."
"Nah, you're imagining things. I feel great!"
She exclaimed with a big smile.
Jaune just tilted his head.
"I'm serious, everything is great. I got to go Beacon two years early, I got to be on team with my sister, I got amazing teammates, I've already made more friends in two days than I did for two years at Signal. And I was even made team leader! How could things be anything but great?"
He crossed his arms and continued to stare at her. After a while he spoke.
"But they're not, are they?"
She stared back. Then hung her head.
"Am I so easy to read?"
"Well… I have seven sisters. Six younger. So I have a lot of practice with detecting when girls are feeling down."
She smiled.
"Yeah, I guess you would."
"So, what's bugging you? I don't know if I will be able to help, but just talking about it might make you feel better."
She considered it for a moment. Jaune was cool - maybe even cooler than Yang - though she would never say it in front of her sister. He had lived in the Wilds for four years! So he was almost like a normal Hunter.
And he is a team leader too - maybe he can share a few tips!
She nodded to herself. It couldn't hurt to ask - afterall, he offered to help!
"What makes a good team leader?" She asked looking him in the eyes.
He was stroking his chin for a few moments, then smiled at her.
"I have no idea."
She started at him.
He stared at her.
"W-what do you mean you have no idea?!" She exploded. Was he making fun of her? Couldn't he see it was a serious problem for her?
"Calm down Ruby." He said raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I really don't know."
"B-but you were training in the Wilds! And you were able to come up with a strategy to beat the Deathstalker on the fly! And you are always so confident, and you always know what to do, and what to say, and…"
"Ruby."
She looked up at him.
"First of all - me training in the Wilds does not mean I'm a great leader. I've never led a team before - it was always Leon who did the planning, I just followed orders. Second, I might have come up with a plan to kill the Deathstalker, but you came up with one to take down the Nevermore - which was a much bigger threat, and harder target to take out. Third - yeah you are right. I act like I know what I'm doing. But in reality - I'm just winging it."
She stared at him for a few moments, hoping it would turn out to be very bad joke. But it didn't. She hung her head and whispered to no one in particular.
"Then how I'm supposed to get better?"
"Well, just learn."
She looked up at her fellow team leader.
"I mean - we are in school, aren't we? And this is a place to learn new things. So, if we don't know how to be good leaders, we just study it."
"B-but what if I make a mistake?"
He just shrugged.
"Then you'll learn from it. I've made tons of mistakes - some more serious than others. Sometimes it was me who had to pay the price." He looked above her, through the window.
"Sometimes it was someone else."
He looked back at her.
"There was a time when these mistakes were holding me back. I doubted myself, never believing I could do something right. Because of that, I was making more mistakes, and that made me doubt myself more. At one point, I was so convinced I was just a failure that I wanted to resign from becoming a Hunter.."
She gasped in shock. Jaune - not good enough to be a Hunter? That was ridiculous!
Jason smiled wistfully.
"When I told Leon about this, he said "the only people who don't make mistakes are the ones who do nothing.' He also said 'I didn't train your scraggy ass for two years for you to resign now.' He then proceed to beat my doubts out of me. Both literally and figuratively."
He smiled and Ruby giggled. This Leon guy sounded a lot like her uncle Qrow.
"So, don't worry If you are making mistakes at the beginning. No one can become perfect at something they've never done before on day one." He paused for a moment. " Well, maybe except for Weiss. But that's kinda her thing - being perfect. Better not intrude on Ice Princess territory."
She giggled again. Then let out a long sigh.
"Thanks Jaune. This helped a lot."
"Sure thing. What are friends for? If you ever need to talk again, or just hang, out let me know. Us team leaders have to stick together."
She shot him a smile.
"Sure thing."
He looked like he was considering something for a moment, then spoke up again.
"Hey Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"Actually, I was going to go out to Vale,\ to buy few things. Wanna tag along?"
Ruby almost said yes. Almost. She opened her mouth - and then shut it.
Wait, wait, hang out, as in just him and me? Wouldn't it be like a d…
She cut off this train of thought instantly. Nope, nuh-uh. No way. Jaune was a friend - her first friend at Beacon. Sure he was a boy - a male friend, but still friend. They could just hang out and it didn't have to mean anything, right? Yes, definitely. But this left another problem. If Yang found out - and she would find out - that Ruby hung out with a boy alone, the teasing would be unbearable. No, she couldn't risk it.
But then again - refusing would be rude, wouldn't it? Jaune proposed to hang out with her to cheer her up, and if she just shot down his proposition - it might hurt him. What if he doesn't want to hang out with her afterwards?
The buzzing of her scroll broke her out of her thoughts. She checked it - and smiled at the message she saw.
"Sorry - Weiss demands my presence. Apparently my homework was less than perfect, so I need to redo it." She said with an apologetic smile
He laughed.
"Yeah, that sounds like her." He then looked around and whispered to her conspiratorially
"Wanna know a way to pacify the Ice Princess?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow. That sounded interesting.
"Sure."
Jaune grinned.
"Listen well. If she looks like she is in bad mood - so probably like 99% of the time - just feed her some chocolate muffins with blackberries. She loves them and will be much more manageable. Just don't overuse it - only once per two or three weeks."
Ruby nodded. She could understand that. She prefered cookies herself, but muffins weren't bad either. And while blackberries were clearly inferior to strawberries - everyone had their own tastes, and she was tolerant so she wouldn't judge.
They said their goodbyes and walked away. Ruby smiled. This little talk really helped.
Jaune was right. She didn't have to be perfect from the start, right? As long as she put in the effort, she would get better - and this was why she was going to school. To learn new things.
Jaune made his way towards the Beacon air dock, making a shopping list in his head. Just as he was about to board the bullhead heading to Vale, a few familiar voices caught his attention. He looked around, and sure enough - his team was marching towards the other bullhead. Well, Nora was marching, dragging Ren along, and Pyrrha followed after them.
He waved his hand to catch their attention - and soon enough, they were sitting inside the bullhead together.
"So, I thought you guys said you want to study more? What made you change your mind?" Jaune asked his team.
"Nora." Was Ren's simple answer.
Said girl smiled widely, apparently taking this as a compliment.
Jaune raised his brow at that and looked at his partner.
"Well, we were studying. But then Nora started complaining that she and Ren only visited Vale briefly, and didn't have chance to look around properly."
Jaune nodded.
"Ok, I think I can imagine what happened next. What about you Pyrrha? Have you visited Vale before?"
The red haired Huntress nodded.
"Yes, on several occasions. But it was always work-related, interviews, Pumpkin Pete promotional campaigns, that sort of thing. Never had a chance to do any sightseeing in peace myself. That's why I decided to tag along. How about you Jaune? You are from around here right?"
"Well, kinda? My hometown is about four hours by plane from Vale. And I haven't visited the city too much for the past four years. Though I know a few nice places we could visit. I could show you around a bit if you want."
Pyrrha smiled.
"That sounds lovely."
They reached Vale soon after. After around two hours walking around the city, they decided to take a break in a small restaurant. The food was good, and a reasonable price. It was quite nice to just sit there and talk, while enjoying a meal and each other company. That is until they had to run away.
Surprisingly, it wasn't because of Nora - but Pyrrha. Jaune was in the middle of a grand tale about his first solo Grimm kill - when sudden a gasp draw the attention. A few tables away, two girls were staring at them with open mouths. One of them pulled out her scroll, they both looked at it, then at them again.
Not them but at Pyrrha, Jaune realized. One look at his partner's resigned face told him what would gonna happen.
Sure enough, soon they were surrounded by people. Jaune had no idea where they come from - he was certain that there was nowhere near as many people in the restaurant just a few moments ago.
His partner stood up, and told them to wait for a bit.
"They will go away when they get what they want." She said walking away under one wall to take picture with the two girls that recognized her. But it didn't end at that. Soon, more people followed - each eager to take advantage of the situation.
After around ten minutes, Jaune was starting to get impatient. Pyrrha already dealt with far more people that there were in restaurant, and the queue to his partner wasn't getting any smaller - quite the opposite. He walked to the bar to maybe order few more drinks -and froze when he heard what some guy next to him was saying into his scroll.
"Yeah, it's her I'm sure. Got my picture already… No, I'm not 'shitting' you. Here I'll send it to you… Yeah, I told you! Now stop wasting time and get over here. And call…" At this point Jaune stopped listening. A quick look around confirmed that there were more people sharing the news of the great Pyrrha Nikos appearing in some random restaurant in Vale.
He looked back to his partner. She was still standing near wall, taking pictures, and signing autographs with a smile on her lips. Jaune decided that he absolutely hated that smile - plastic and forced. It was nothing like the one Pyrrha had when she was genuinely happy. She looked up after singing yet another piece of paper - and for a brief moment their eyes met.
Jaune could feel something could stir in his stomach at look of utter resignation on his partner's face. He took a step towards her. He wasn't sure what he should do - but he knew he had to do something.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Ren and Nora. They both looked uncertain of what to do - but also determined to follow him if he decided to act.
Jaune took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it go.
"You guys hold the door. I'll grab Pyrrha." He didn't wait for a response - didn't even look back to see if they followed his instructions. He didn't have to.
A few people let out angry yelps when he pushed through the crowd surrounding his partner. Someone grabbed his hand, but he tore it free. The closer he got the harder it was to move forward. Jaune scowled and started to push even harder. There was no way he would let his partner go through this hell any longer.
Smile. Nod. Sign autograph. Laugh at joke. Simle. Pose for photo. Thank for compliment. Smile. Tell joke. Smile. Sing autograph.
Smile.
Pose.
Sign.
Pyrrha was in trance. How many times it had she done this? Tens? Hundreds? She was sure it hadn't reached thousands yet.
It was always the same. Masses of faces and names she couldn't hope to remember. Plastic smiles and laughs from her.
Plastic praises from crowd.
Smile. Pose. Sign.
She felt like a robot, like a machine programed to do only these three things.
Smile. Pose. Sign.
Over and over again. Until everyone was satisfied. Until everyone got their chance to interact with the idol, their hero, The Invincible Girl.
Pyrrha Nikos wondered what her friends were doing now. It was such a nice day - they had walked around Vale, joked and laughed together. It was going so well - and then she ruined everything. She hadn't even done anything- beside being there.
Beside being Pyrrha Nikos.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed another person stepping up to her - and used this as an excuse to free herself from guy who held her way too close when taking a photo - and just wouldn't let go.
She turned to the newcomer, hand extended and practiced smile on her lips. She already opened her mouth to greet him - and paused when a strong arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Ok ladies and gentlemens, showtime is over." A very familiar voice called.
She just stood there, mouth slightly agape, staring at her partner. She didn't protested when he pulled her closer. She didn't try to stop him when he started to guide her towards the exit.
There were quite a few disappointed, or angry, shouts - but Jaune ignored them.
Pyrrha only vaguely registered them - she was still staring at her partner. His eyes were hard, face set in stone.
Someone got in they way and tried to stop them, then let out surprised yelp when they were lifted up and tossed aside, revealing a grinning Nora.
She skipped to them, and took her place on Pyrrha's left side.
They finally made it to the exit - where Ren was preventing any new people from entering the restaurant. He nodded at them and took Jaune's place on Pyrrha's right, while the leader of Team JNPR walked out and scanned the crowd outside.
Then they moved out, Pyrrha surrounded by her team. They pushed through the crowd, and she could hear the shouts. Some people were asking for autographs, others for photos. Someone was screaming that they loved her.
They walked ahead, and the crowd followed. Pyrrha took a deep breath and steeled her resolve.
"Jaune, I think…"
"Nope!" Shouted Nora.
"Rejected." Exclaimed calmy Ren.
"Denied." Stated Jaune.
She blinked a few times, unsure what was happening.
"Wha…"
"No Pyrrha." Said her partner. "We're not leaving you with these."
"They're just going to follow us. It's ok Jaune, I've done it many times. I'm used to this."
Her partner spared her a single look and scoffed.
"Well then MIss Nikos, you better get used to not not dealing with it, because I'm sure as hell not letting some random people pester my partner."
He look around, scanning the crowd that was still following them. Somewhere along the line, several people with professional cameras appeared and started taking photos.
Jaune scowled.
Paparazzi. I hate those guys.
"Ok guys we're making run for it. Follow me, I know a place where we can get some privacy not far from here. Ready?"
They nodded.
"Go!"
They broke into a sprint. The crowd stopped, surprised at the sudden motion. Then, with a roar, it followed.
Pyrrha wanted to stop her team. Wanted to tell them that this was a mistake, that the best way to deal with this was to just stop and please crowd, give it what it wanted. But she couldn't.
She was laughing too hard.
"So… What is this place Fearless Leader? Some secret meeting place?" Asked Nora looking around room couriusly.
After around a half an hour of running around, they managed to lose people chasing them (good luck to civilians trying to keep up with Hunters). Then Jaune led them to an ordinary two-story building. There was a signboard above doors saying it was a pub. Pyrrha had a bit of reservation about visiting such an establishment. It wasn't too run-down, but they were all underaged. But with little choice left, she followed her leader.
When inside, Jaune walked towards the counter and showed something that Pyrrha couldn't see the barman. The man nodded and gave the blond Hunter some keys.
Jaune then led them through the back door to hallway filled with black, unmarked doors. He opened one, and let them in into a spacious room. Team JNPR made themselves comfortable, but understandably, they all had questions. What was this place? How Jaune did know about it? For once, Nora's statements sounded plausible at least.
"Well, you are not wrong Nora." Their leader said, walking towards one wall - and what looked like a control panel on it. He tapped a few buttons and soft, classical music started playing.
"I know you guys have some questions, but before I answer them, I want to make sure of something. You all know what the Company is?"
"You mean the Worldwide Independent Taskforce Company?" Asked Ren, and, after his team leader confirmed, he paused for a moment.
"All I know is that they are the go-to place if you need to hire qualified personnel for a limited time. Some call it a mercenary agency - but they can put you in touch with any type of freelancer professionals. From simple workers, or truck drivers, to qualified medical or science personnel - they have it all."
Jaune nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, that sums it up pretty well. They also organize professionals courses. And this." He said motioning over the room. "Is one of the Company's special meeting places. It's used when some influential people do not want anyone to see with whom they meet. It's all legal, an officially registered business - so don't worry, I'm not dragging you into a life of crime."
His last comment earned him a few chuckles from his team.
"But how do you know about this place?" Pyrrha asked
"Well isn't that obvious? I'm a registered member of Company, so of course I would know about it."
"You are?" Three voices sounded at the same time.
Jaune looked over his team, and the rubbed back of his head.
"Well… yeah. I mean, I told you guys I was working as a freelancer, right?" They nodded.
"Yeah, so I figured out it would be obvious that I'm also a part of the Company. Every freelancer with half a brain is registered there. It's too hard to get a good job otherwise."
His team nodded at that, but Pyrrha still looked uncertain,
"But still, it seems a bit strange you can just go in, and request such a private room out of nowhere. Aren't there any… regulations about using these rooms?"
Jaune just shrugged.
"There are. But if you are registered long enough, and have a good track record, they will let you bend the rules a bit. As long as you will don't interfere with normal meetings, or try to organize something illegal, you will be fine." Jaune chuckled. "Hell, me and Leon used places like that as free hotels more than a few times."
"So, if you don't mind me asking, how do you get registered in Company? I thought you had to pass some test before they let you. And don't they have an age limit?" Asked Ren.
"Not really. The only condition to be registered as a member is that you can't be under education, employment or training in any official institution. There is no age limit, but if you are not legally an adult, you need to have permission form your legal guardians. After you register, you can take evaluation tests to determine your skills - that way, if you already have experience in some field, you will be able to sign up for better jobs."
"Does that mean you can't take any job on your own after you register?"
"No, you are free to do what you want. Though if you sign a contract for longer than three months, or register for any form of education for more than six months, your licence will be suspended. You don't lose anything - it's just that, bar some special cases, you won't be taken under consideration when assigning people for Company contracts."
"Ummm , Jaune?"
"Yes, Pyrrha?"
His partner looked uncertain about something. She fidgeted in her seat few times, then took deep breath and looked him in the eyes.
"Please don't get it wrong way, I'm just curious. Why did you decided to attend Beacon?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by his partner.
"I-I didn't mean that you do not fit or anything like that!"
"Pyrrha…"
"It's just that you are very skilled already, and you know a lot about Grimm…"
"Yeah, but…"
"And you were doing contracts on your own already! Even for SDC, so you obviously could earn your living. So I was just wondering.."
"Pyrrha!"
She clapped her mouth shut.
"I'm not offended or anything. And I'll gladly answer your question - if you let me speak." He said with a smile.
Pyrrha blushed slightly and quietly mumbled. "I'm sorry".
Jaune nodded and pondered her question for a moment.
"I guess there are three main reasons why I went to Beacon." he said finally.
"First is 'recognition.' How much you earn as freelancer is solely dependent on how many people are willing to hire you - and how much they are willing to pay you. Most folks prefer someone with official, documented education, over someone with practical experience, but no documented qualifications. But if you have both - you have much easier time finding a good job."
"Second is 'education'. I may have learned a lot from Leon, but there is still much more for me to learn. I could just rough it out in the Wilds on my own, being all cool and edgy, and learning from my mistakes. But it's not good for your health - it's better to learn from people who already made these mistakes and lived to tell the tale."
"And the third reason…" he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, I guess I just wanted to." He finished with a nervous laugh.
Pyrrha chuckled and sent him a friendly smile.
"Well, for whatever it's worth, I think that those are good reasons."
"So how about you guys? I can kinda guess why you want to go to Beacon - but why choose a Hunter career? It's not exactly the safest one."
Jaune's question caused his teammates to fall silent for a few long moments.
"Me and Nora experienced the horror that is Grimm early on in our lives." Ren finally said. "At first, I just wanted to run away, to hide from this nightmare. But that didn't work - images of my village's fall haunted me at nights. I first started training… I don't even remember the reason. But I do remember sleeping well for the first time in a long time after the first session. So I continued to train, to get rid of nightmares. I'm not sure when my thinking shifted from 'I want to stop my nightmares' too 'I want to stop such nightmares from happening ever again,' but I'm pretty sure Nora had something to do with it."
After finishing his tale, the black-haired boy shot a smile to his partner - who returned it.
They are so cute together. Jaune and Pyrrha though at the same time.
"Yeah, Renny was really broody type back then. I would have knocked it out of him with Magnhild, but I didn't have it."
"Then why did you decided to become a Huntress, Nora?"
The ginger haired girl stared at her leader, like he asked the dumbest question ever.
"Well, duh? Who would take care of Renny if I wasn't there? He is fragile, you know. and he needs his hugs, and cuddles, and for someone to wake him up in the morning, and to drag him around when he falls asleep standing."
Jaune just shook his head. Those two were just too cute.
"Then what about you Pyrrha?" He asked his partner
She contemplated the question for a few moments, before finally answering.
"I guess it just felt… right to me. My parents were both Hunters, and I always wanted to be like them. I started training as soon as I was big enough. I never even considered the possibility of not becoming Huntress. It's not like I was forced to do it or anything! It's just that… When I was five or so my mom let me hold her weapon once. And from this moment I knew I wanted to be Huntress - that it was my destiny."
Jaune was listening carefully to his partner's story, smiling all the time. Though at the end his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Destiny, huh? Well, to be honest I'm not biggest fan fo this 'destiny' talk. I believe every person makes they own fate" He said.
"Oh, I didn't mean 'destiny' as 'predetermined set of events.' It's more like… a goal. Something you know with a certainty is worth working towards."
"Goal, you say?"
Jaune hummed.
"Well, I can get behind that idea."
"So, how about you Fearless Leader? You told us why you went to Beacon, but not why you wanted to be a Hunter in the first place?"
"Well…" Jaune begin, thinking about how to answer to Nora's question. "It started similar to Pyrrha. My father is Hunter, and there were quite a few Arc's in the past who followed this path. I grew up listening to stories of the heroic deeds of my ancestors - and to stories about how my father was constantly saving people. In my eyes, 'Hunter' and "Hero' become the same thing. So, I wanted to be this cool Hero, just like in the stories I heard when I was little. But that was at the beginning - it changed when I started traveling with Leon. I saw that world is not as nice as in the stories, and heroes tend to die stupidly, fighting lost battles, when simply retreating would let them save more lives."
"I'm not saying heroes are bad," he added quickly seeing his teams somber expressions. " It's just that… well Leon was always saying that there are two types of Hunters - Heroes, who inspire people and are loved by the masses, and professionals, who would just get the job done as fast and as efficiently as possible. Both types are needed, both types will help people. But professionals tend to return home more often."
Jaune sighed and continued.
"I love my family, and I want to make them proud. I love to help people. I also greatly enjoy traveling, and even fighting Grimm. Being a Hunter allows me to do all of these things. I will still risk my life to protect civilians from Grimm. But I wouldn't throw my life away in some heroic last stand. Those things looks cool in stories and might inspire people. But they really suck for the ones who cared for the person doing said last stand."
After Jaune finished speaking, all of them fell silent, each one lost in they own thoughts.
Around half an hour later, Jaune got a message at his scroll informing him that they should vacate the room.
"Well, it has gotten pretty late." He said when they left the building. The sun was already touching the west side of horizon, and it was quickly getting dark.
"We better head to Beacon fast. It wouldn't do to miss the last bullhead, right?" His statement was met with a hum of approval from his team.
Before they reached air docks, the somber mood from earlier was lifted. Nora was telling some crazy tale, and Ren was trying to calm her down. Pyrrha was laughing, throwing the occasional question that Nora answered with a serious expression. Jaune was just shaking his head at his team antics.
Things were good. Really good. He wondered how long they would stay like that.
And here we go. Another chapter out of the way. Some people were asking in reviews why Jaune would want to go to Beacon - so there are his reasons. I also decided that if Jaune will be giving his - rest of team JNPR should follow the suit.
Pyrrha was easy enough, since she basically said it herself - she felt like it was her destiny.
Nora and Ren were tricker. We know nothing about they motivations. After such traumatic experience it wouldn't be surprising for them to just want to hide. I would imagine this being the case for Ren - he watched his home being destroyed, and his family dying. So I guess this had bigger impact on him than on Nora. I could see him just wanting to stay as far away from Grimm as reasonably possible.
But then Nora happened. And Nora do not care about silly things like common sense and reasons.
In other news: This Thursday the second season of Fighting Mean, titled Fighting Smart starts. Written of course by JJD - so stay tuned.
JJD: Hey folks. Cr00cy was kind enough to let me put in a shameless plug here. Fighting Smart launches on Thursday, and if you've read Fighting Mean, then you know the drill. If not, well I'm a simple man - I enjoy writing violence and snark - with MAYBE some character growth and emotions...if we have the time. Hope to see some of you over there!
And now this week omake:
What's Your Type?
She smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress for what must have been the hundredth time in the past few minutes. Her eyes scanned over the tablecloth she had laid out, assuring that everything was in its place.
The basket was perfectly centered, not too close to one end or the other, neutral.
The glasses were clean and set.
The napkins folded and ready.
Everything sat on a grassy hill underneath a shady oak tree overlooking the river that ran by the town.
Everything was perfect.
Except Jaune…Jaune was late
.
Was it too romantic? She meant for it to be a little romantic, but what if she scared him off? Was it too much? Did she overdue it?
Breath girl! She thought.
It's Jaune, he's always late. If he wasn't late, he wouldn't be Jaune. Just be patient.
As if on cue, she watched as a crop of messy blond hair started to crest the hill.
Oh thank God!
He smiled at her, "Hey Sam." He looked over the picnic and raised an eyebrow. "This is really nice, what's the occasion?"
"N-no occasion! I'm allowed to do nice things!" She blurted. "Besides, you're late!"
His smile widened into a grin. His stupid, charming, 'you love me anyway' grin. "I usually am."
She poked a finger at him. "And it's rude! You'll be lucky if you get any!"
He cocked his head to the side. "Am I going to?"
She sighed.
I need better bluffs.
"I suppose…"
He clapped his hands together. "Great!"
Damn you Jaune Arc.
She motioned for him to sit, then started passing out the food.
Alright, hold it in Sam. Wait till he starts eating, till he's relaxed before starting operation 'Dork Date.' You can wait.
She almost strangled him as he took roughly an hour and a half to put mayonnaise on his sandwich. At least it FELT like that long.
Breath.
She distractedly went about preparing her own food in an attempt to make time pass faster.
"Sam, you ok?" A slightly concerned voice called.
"Y-yeah, of course!" Does he know!? "W-why do you ask?"
He shook his head. "It's just…I've never seen someone spread mayonnaise on their apple before."
Dammit!
"I'm...an innovator?" She tried weakly.
He shrugged.
Bless you for being dense, Jaune Arc.
He took a bite of his sandwich.
Finally!
"Hey Jaune?"
"Yeah?" He answered around his sandwich.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
He choked.
Was that too forward?
"What?!" He coughed.
She huffed. "It's a simple question! Do. You. Have. A. Girlfriend?"
He shook his head animatedly. "No! Who's dating anyone around here!?"
"Bobby says that Marry and him are going steady."
He laughed. "Does she know that?"
She sighed. "Probably not." She gave it a few moments. "So…if you were dating someone, what would be your type?"
"My what-now?"
Dammit Jaune.
"Your type Jaune. The sort of girl you like." He stared at her blankly. "Ok, I like older boys with lighter hair and eyes. They have to be good with family too!"
Was that too on the nose?
She gestured to him. "Now you go."
He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
Why was it adorable when he did that? Clearly some sort of dork magic.
"Geez, I never really thought about it." He hummed. "I guess…I like long hair…"
Hers was short.
"…that's a light color, like almost white…"
Hers was red.
"…maybe my age of slightly older..."
Ok, we're 0 for 3. Today could have gone better…
"…but…"
Her heart stopped.
"I think I could be ok with just about anybody as long as we could just hang out." He gestured to the picnic. "Like this."
She searched his face for any recognition of what he'd just suggested.
Nope, none. Figures.
He took another bite of the sandwich. "This is really good Sam."
"Uh-huh." She wasn't really listening anymore.
I wonder how long it'll take to grow out my hair? Will mom get mad if I dye it?
Oh, Jaune you poor oblivious fool. How is it that green eyed, red-haired girls fall for you, and you do not notice? Anyway, see you guys next week.