The Mandatory Training Arc, Part 1!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to the latest craziest chapter of Weiss Reacts! Jeez, wasn't last chapter's ending a doozy? Pyrrha just can't catch a break, can she? As to if it will come true, well…you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Well, anyway, we should probably get a move on, no? This chapter ain't going to write itself, and the madness isn't going to start itself, yes? Woo. The wild ride of feels isn't over yet, ladies and gents!

Also, N.B: Qrow and Summer are related in this continuity. This was planned before we knew Raven Branwen was a thing. Not retconning it now.

DISCLAIMER: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, otherwise there would be more unarmed combat in the series.

All mentioned franchises and characters belong to their respective owners.

"Renny, should we talk to him?" Nora inquired, tilting her head and frowning. "He's been like that for three days. I'm starting to get a little worried…."
"He'll be fine. He's eating, at least, and he's not exactly dying." Ren responded, his arms crossed. "Besides, the mission should be over today. Pyrrha's on her way back by now, surely. The flight back from Mountain Glenn would've taken off by now."

"Yeah, but…." The berserker sighed, crossing her own arms and pursing her lips. "…fair enough."

The pair was looking at Jaune, who was sitting on his bed. His eyes constantly flicked restlessly between the window and his scroll, where Pyrrha's portrait and Aura were displayed, still covered with a question mark. He clutched the scroll tightly, as if his life depended on it, and he seemed completely oblivious to either of his remaining teammates.

"Come on…..come on…" The knight muttered under his breath, refreshing the screen for the umpteenth time in vain to see if Pyrrha's status had changed.

"He's been like this for a few days. Are you sure we shouldn't get him checked?" Nora inquired. "I mean, he's not even the fun kind of crazy! I feel sorry for him! Like a hurt sloth!"

Ren sighed, nodding in agreement. "You have a point. I-"

Someone knocked at the door. Jaune immediately perked up.

"Pyrrha?" He inquired hopefully. "Is that you?"

The door swung open, admitting Ruby and Weiss. The knight immediately looked back down, going back to his manic observation, though not without giving a sigh of exasperated frustration.

Weiss looked over at him as she walked in behind her partner, shutting the door behind her. "...is he alright?"
"He's been like that for a few days." Nora explained cheerily. "He's really worried about Pyrrha, you know?"
Ruby nodded. "Actually, we came over to see how he was. Has he left the dorm since the day she left?"
"No." The gunslinger responded. "He's just been in here, checking the scroll to see if Pyrrha's called or if her Aura changes. If she has, the call hasn't come through."

"Oh, yeah, the storms….." The reaper remembered, frowning. "…yeah, he's been really down for the last couple of days. I wonder why?"
"I can't imagine he'd be too happy about letting her go off in a mission alone like that after we watched that show." Weiss remarked, frowning. "As much as he's an idiot, he just looks pitiful like this…..

For his sake, I hope Pyrrha's fine. Forget Jaune, Dust knows what I'll do to her if she isn't….."

"She'll be fiiiine, right? She's way too badass to go out like that!" Nora reassured them happily. "She'll come back! We just have to believe in her! Right, Jaune?"

The knight ignored her, continuing to stare at the scroll desperately. Nora faltered, frowning.

Ruby sat by Jaune, placing an arm around him. "Oh, come on, Jaune! It'll be fine! She's probably on her way home as we speak, so you don't need to worry about her so much! Lighten up!"
"Can't take risks." The knight uttered. "Making sure."
"…..if she'd been hurt, don't you think they'd find a way of telling us somehow?"

"Still. I don't want to take any risks." Jaune uttered quietly. "If you want to help, tell me if you see her transport landing."

"…..Dust." Weiss sighed. "Hopeless, this boy is."

Ruby frowned at her. "Come on, are you saying you wouldn't do the same for me?"
"W-well…of course I'd be worried if I saw you leave on a dangerous mission during which I c-couldn't talk to you!" The heiress snapped. "But I wouldn't just melt down like this! Come on, Jaune, have some more faith in her!"
Ren shook his head. "This is the natural reaction a person has when the person they love's in potential danger. Don't be so hard on him. He has faith in Pyrrha. We all do.

We just want her to come home safely. He has the most reason to want her to."

The heiress closed her eyes. "…..dammit. I'm not saying he shouldn't be worried about Pyrrha, but…."

Suddenly, another pair of knuckles rapped upon the door, causing Jaune to look up. He dropped his scroll on his bed, immediately rushing to the door before any of his friends could move. The knight desperately opened the door without even asking who it was.

Pyrrha stood outside, a red backpack carrying most of her things slung on one arm, Milo and Akouo tucked safely behind her. She smiled at him.

"Oh. Hello, Jau-"
"Thank Dust you're alright!" The knight cried, immediately giving her a tight hug, pressing up against her.

"Ah! J-Jaune!" The spearmaiden squeaked, as her friends rushed up behind Jaune. "I….I missed you too, b-but…t-this is-"
"Are you hurt? Please tell me you're alright!" Jaune implored frantically, releasing his partner to check her for any wounds. "Did they hurt you? Are you alright? Did you get into any dangerous battles?!"

"Come on, Jaune, let her breathe!" Weiss pushed him away from her roughly. "Let her come in!"

Everyone moved back and aside to let Pyrrha walk into the dorm. The spearmaiden nodded at them, strolling in to sit at her bed, sighing.

"I've missed you guys so much, you know?" She stated, before frowning. "I'm really sorry I couldn't call you. The storms around Mountain Glenn-"
"We heard. They cut off communications." Weiss cut her off, shaking her head and pointing at the knight. "Thanks to those storms, Jaune's gone half-mad trying to figure out what's going on with you."

Jaune shook his head. "I-It doesn't matter! What happened out there? Did you get hurt?"
"Well, I have good news, at least." The spearmaiden replied, smiling. "We caught the trappers. They were quite heavily armed, and quite skilled-"
"Y-you weren't hurt, right?!"
"Yes, Jaune, I wasn't hurt." Pyrrha reassured him. "I'm fine, just like I promised. Anyway, we caught them. They were quite well-armed and skilled, but we managed to flush them out of their hideout in one of the old buildings, even with the Grimm infestation nearby. They're being expatriated to Vacuo as we speak via armed transport."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, it's good to have you back, anyway."
"Yay!" Nora cheered, jumping for joy. "We could all go out for pancakes again! It'll be fun! Oooh, ooh, I know the place!"

"No, Nora, let Pyrrha rest." Ren calmly stopped her by placing his hands gently on her shoulders. "She just got back from a rather dangerous mission. She needs it."

"Awww….." The berserker pouted. "Not even a little?"

Jaune released a breath he'd been holding. "…..w-well. It's good that you're here, Pyrrha. Thank Dust you weren't hurt." He looked down, as if not entirely relieved.

Pyrrha tilted her head, confused. "Hm? Is something wrong?"
"…..n-nothing." The knight uttered, shaking his head.

For the present moment, Pyrrha was safe. She was here, in Beacon, where he and their friends could watch over her.

Nonetheless, something still troubled him deeply, that something being the words of Professor Faust. The doom she had laid down on Pyrrha's head.

'Miss Nikos is doomed to die.'

Jaune looked up, gazing at his partner, sitting there well, in the best of health and alive. It was impossible simply from this that one could deduce her impending death.

'She shall be slain in battle. She shall die young, cut down before her time.'

He still couldn't believe it. Her, of all people, be killed? Maybe, he thought, by a Maiden, who was far more skilled than her. But the only possible candidate, Cinder, was both their teacher and completely uninterested in having anything to do with killing her.

Or maybe he refused to believe that he'd lose her so early. No, he didn't refuse to believe it, he couldn't believe it. The alternative was unthinkable.

'She shall perish before she has even left these halls.'

This part troubled him the most. There were months left in their time at Beacon. Mere months before teams JNPR, RWBY and all the rest graduated as Hunters and were let free to do as they wished upon the world. Mere months until it all ended.

Which meant, very simply, that sometime before then, Pyrrha was going to die- no, not just die, but specifically be killed. By who or what, he didn't know.

The image of his partner gasping for breath with an arrow through her heart, her insides slowly burning away as she clutched at the fatal wound desperately, flashed through his mind again.

Jaune felt a shiver run down his spine and his heart pound in fear before remembering.

'No, no, that's not her, Pyrrha's not dead, she's not-'

He closed his eyes, shaking the image from his mind, before opening his eyes, looking around and searching frantically for his partner, trying to give himself evidence of her continued-

"Jaune?"

He blinked. Pyrrha was directly in front of him, looking into his eyes to see if there was anything wrong with him, a gloved hand on his cheek. He nearly jumped in surprise.

"Jaune, you've been staring at me for five minutes." The spearmaiden replied, blushing slightly. "A-are you alright? Is there something wrong?"

'I….I have to tell her. S-she has to…..b-but not now. No, not now. I-I'll tell her later, yes!'

"…nothing." Jaune sighed deeply. "It's fine. I-I just…..I really missed you. I-I just…..you know? I was hoping you weren't hurt and…."

"Oh, you two! Get a room!" Nora chided them, giggling, completely oblivious to the mental turmoil her teammate had gone through.

Ruby, however, was less so. As were Weiss and Pyrrha, to a lesser extent.

'There's something up.' The reaper concluded, watching Jaune closely. '…it's more than just her heading off.

Jaune's scared- no….he's terrified. Of what, I don't know, but…..I'm going to find out. Or try to fix it, if it is what I think it's about. Let's see…..'

The reaper waved at them. "Hey! Pyrrha, Weiss! Emergency meeting! Now!"

"Hm?" The spearmaiden looked curious. "A-alright. I was looking forward to just….being with Jaune, but-"

"Nooooowwww!" Ruby insisted, grabbing her wrist.

"If Ruby's calling one, this ought to be important." The heiress remarked. "Come on."

"Alright." Pyrrha gave Jaune an apologetic glance. "I'll be back in a second, alright? Give us a few-ooh!"

Ruby yanked both girls with her outside the dorm, pulling them both by the hands around the corner, hopefully out of Jaune's earshot.

Outside the dorm….

"What's wrong, Ruby?" Pyrrha inquired, frowning. "I was looking forward to talking with Jaune-"

"That's the problem." Ruby snapped her fingers. "Jaune."

Weiss squinted. "Whoa, what? Okay, I'm missing something. What about Jaune? He's been acting weird, but-"
"That's exactly why." Ruby responded. "Jaune's not acting like Jaune. Think about it.

The last few days, he's been obsessing over you, Pyrrha. He's done nothing but spend every waking hour trying to see if you're okay, or hurt, or call you…..I'm pretty sure he even went to Professor Faust to try to see if he could call you that way."
"….I see what you mean." The spearmaiden nodded slowly. "You think Jaune's afraid for my safety."

"Hey. I thought the same thing when I heard." Weiss nodded in assent. "I can see why-"
"No, it's got to be more than that!" The reaper responded. "Look, I can get why Jaune wouldn't want to see you dying after he's seen it once, Pyrrha, but this has got to be more than that. It's been, what, a week? Two weeks since we watched that?

I don't know how I know…..I just feel like it's something else. It's still got something to do with you, Pyrrha, but it's….more than just being the usual concerned boyfriend."

This time, the spearmaiden did not protest. Weiss made a mental note of that.

"Alright." The heiress nodded. "So Jaune's not just afraid like he'd usually be. What do you think he is, then?"
"I don't know…." Ruby shook her head. "Like I said, it's just a gut feeling, but…..I don't think Jaune will tell us.

Rather, I think he'll only tell Pyrrha."

"So you want me to find out?" The spearmaiden inquired. Ruby shook her head.

"….no. We need to….reassure him. We need to make him feel like you're going to be safe, or that…..that he can protect you."

Weiss smiled knowingly. "Ah, I see. You want to make Jaune feel more confident. If he feels more confident, he'll stop panicking and obsessing over Pyrrha, right?"

"Both about protecting her and about her ability to watch out for herself." The reaper corrected her, nodding. "But…..how are we going to do that?"

"We could organise a training exercise of some sort." Pyrrha suggested helpfully. "That way, he could train up his skills, yes?"
"Not a half-bad idea. And it'd remind him that you're, well, you." Weiss nodded. "Although…..aren't you tired from all that fighting?"
"If it means helping Jaune out, I'd be happy to do it."

Ruby thought carefully. "We can't just have you and Jaune go alone. Then he'll think we're up to something.

I know! We should do a training camp! Let's get everyone we know!"

"I was onboard with this idea until you suggested that. Do we have to invite Velvet?" The heiress sighed exasperatedly. "You know what she's like."
"Come on, Weiss." Pyrrha chided her gently. "Don't be rude. She's just showing her love…granted, in a rather unintuitive way-"

"Come back to me when Jaune starts rubbing his cheeks on your chest or starts stealing your underwear as trophies, then we'll talk about 'showing love'." The heiress retorted. Pyrrha's cheeks reddened. "W-Weiss! D-don't say such-"

Ruby frowned, before crossing her arms. "Weeeeeiss. Pyrrhaaa. Concentrate."
"Oh. Right. Sorry." She cleared her throat. "Fine. We'll invite Velvet. Winter might like to come. Should we invite the new boy?"
"Rook? H-He seems nice." Pyrrha noted, shaking her head to regain her composure. "I think we should invite him. As a welcoming party of sorts. I'm sure he'd love it."

"Alright. So all our teams, plus Velvet, Winter and Rook….Norn maybe? That makes twelve." The heiress counted. "So, three teams. Wait!

How is Ozpin going to react? We need to tell him if we're going off on a trip like this!"

Ruby tapped her chin, thinking briefly. She snapped her fingers again.

"That's it! I have a great idea!"

"You do?" The other two girls stared at her curiously. Ruby nodded.

"Yep, I have a plan! You'll see. I just need to talk to someone."

Weiss squinted. "Mind telling us who you need to talk to?"

The reaper smiled knowingly.

'Oh, you'll see. I have just the plan.'

Meanwhile….

Qrow Branwen sat in a transport on his way back from Vacuo. He rested his head on his hands, releasing a deep sigh. He picked up another can of Vacuan beer, opening it with practiced ease and taking a large gulp before slamming down on the windowsill, looking towards his scroll and carefully reading some messages.

"Another meeting with those Antic Order guys." He remarked, sighing. "What do they want now? I thought we were done working together. Good grief. I'd better see what this is about.

I'd better drop by Beacon too. See if the little pipsqueak's doing well, maybe say hi to the others."

He smiled at the thought. Ruby was his favourite niece- not that he had many nieces to choose from, and not to say that he didn't like Yang. He just liked Ruby more. It was inexplicable; maybe it was her eternal happiness, maybe it was her charm, or maybe it's that she reminded him of his sister.

It'd been a long while since Summer Rose had passed.

"…..I'm growing soft." The Hunter mused, sighing as he took another gulp from his can. "Well. There's other things I need to check up on anyway. He might need-"
Suddenly, his scroll started ringing, causing Qrow to smack his head on the headrest. He winced.

"Ow….." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. The Hunter growled, checking to see who had called him. "What does Ozpin wan-"

He stopped. The caller who had surprised him was Ruby. The Hunter left his scroll buzzing gently on the armrest as he stared at it.

"…..huh. Ruby?" Qrow blinked, surprised. "Alright, then."

He picked up to be greeted with a loud squeal of joy. He flinched away from the scroll, before chuckling.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby bubbled happily. "So nice to talk to you? How are you?"
"I'm alright, Ruby." The Hunter replied, laughing. "You know, we could've talked when I got there. I'll be there in a few hours. Or did you miss me that much?"

"Well, actually…..t-this is kind of a business call." Ruby faltered slightly.

'Business?' Qrow thought. 'That's a first. I wonder what she wants.'

"Alright…." He responded cautiously. "What's this business, then?"

"Well…..I kinda need a favour." The reaper asked hopefully. "I was wondering if you could take us somewhere. It doesn't have to be today, but….can it be soon?"

"Heh. Sure, I'll take you." Qrow nodded. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Actually…I think you might need to talk to Ozpin for this one. Oh, and you might need to….err…..call in a few other people." Ruby explained. "And you might need to listen. You see, I have a friend who needs help-"
"Is it the Arc kid?" Qrow inquired. "It's him, isn't it?"

Ruby frowned. "Uh…..well…..yeah. We were wondering if you'd, erm, act as a chaperone for a training trip. Y-you don't have to do much, just be there. We wanted to, erm, boost Jaune's confidence-"

"About that Pyrrha girl. Am I right?" The Hunter finished for her. Ruby made an affirmative 'hm'.

"Yeah. About her. Pretty please? Pleeaaase? I promise, I won't ask you for anything ever again if you do this one thing for me? Pleaaaase?"

Qrow sighed deeply. "…Dust, Ruby. One day, I'll have to learn not to spoil you so much. Fine. Just this once, I'll do this for you."

"Yay! You're the best uncle ever!" The reaper squealed. "I promise, I won't ask you for something like this again! Alright, so, here are the details of the thing….."

'Good grief, Qrow, you really are too soft.' He sighed, chuckling softly. '…as for that Arc kid…..I think I have just the thing he'll need.

Time to make a few calls.'

….

Two hours later….

"Huh. Grimm trappers, eh? That's what ya got sent out for?" Rook inquired as he stood, dusting his hat off, next to Pyrrha, outside near the landing pad. The spearmaiden nodded.

"Yes. Quite dangerous indeed; I had no idea there was even an industry for such a thing."

"Believe me, Miss Nikos, there is." The cowboy responded, sounding somewhat fatigued, this being a regular occurrence for him. "Bad men always want more of those things to throw at people who don' wanna follow them. Then there's them crazy guys who just want somethin' pretty to look at. Now, I'm no trader, but I do know where there's demand, there's people willin' to provide the supply.

Back in Vacuo, I always had to stop 'em from baitin' Grimm on the farm. Pretty risky business; if those things get out of control, pretty hard to stop 'em from rampagin'. I heard it's hard enough out here, with your fancy cages and tech; back home, you've got people doin' it with ropes and metal prods and sometimes it backfires. Seen it happen a few times, and it ain't pretty. Poor guy had to be carried out in pieces."

Pyrrha winced. "Poor man, and yet they do this for money. How much do they even get paid?"
"Most? I heard they get paid somewhere 'round two….three thousand Lien per Grimm head." Rook explained. "People will do anythin' for money. Say, Miss Nikos, you ever find out where them rustlers were goin' to sell the Grimm?"

"No. The Hunters I was with were intending to make an investigation to find the buyer."
"I see." Rook nodded. "…say, you know why we're out here?"
Ruby smiled at him. "We're waiting for my uncle to show up! He said he'll be here!"

"Yer uncle, huh?" Rook chuckled. "You seem kinda happy t'see him. Who is he, if you don' mind me askin'?"

"Uncle Qrow? Oh, he's a Hunter! He's always going off on missions in other places- I think he said he was coming back from Vacuo!" The reaper bubbled. Rook's eyes widened in surprise suddenly.

"Whoa there. Did ya say….Qrow? Qrow Branwen?"

"…yes?" Ruby tilted her head. "Why's that?"

"Qrow Branwen…..and ya said Vacuo, right?" The cowboy looked suddenly excited.

Winter stepped towards them. "Why? Are you familiar with Mister Branwen?"

"Familiar?" Rook laughed, looking happy. "Mister Branwen's my mentor! He's the guy who sent me here in the first place! Yer tellin' me yer Mister Branwen's niece?! He loves talkin' about ya! Well, you and Yang."

"Yeah! He never told me he took a student!" Ruby responded, surprised. "When did you meet him?"
"Couple o'months back…" Rook suddenly faltered. "…..yeah. Couple o'months back."

"Oh my." Winter clapped. "That is a surprise! To think of such a connection….wait. Speaking of Miss Xiao Long…..where is she?"

"I'm here." Yang walked towards the group slowly, waving at them. Apart from her seeming somewhat subdued, there was nothing seemingly different about her. "Hey, guys. Ruby, is Qrow here yet?"

"Uh…." The reaper raised a hand to respond before they heard the familiar noise of transports whistling through the sky. Everyone turned their heads to face the Bullhead flying down towards the landing pad, coasting to a stop before turning to face the door towards them. As the turbines powered down, the door opened to reveal Qrow, stretching his arms and scrunching up a can of beer.

Ruby immediately rushed towards him, clamping around his waist. "Uncle Qrow!" She squealed happily. The Hunter chuckled, mussing her hair and sighing.

"Good to see you too, pipsqueak." He patted her head, looking around to see the others, focusing on Weiss, Winter, Rook and Yang. His eyes widened when he saw the cowboy.

"….Leblanc?"

"Mister Branwen." Rook tipped his hat off to him. "Howdy."

"…well. At least you're fitting in well." Qrow noted, before turning to his other niece. "Hey."

"Hi." Yang waved at him, smiling. "…...how are you?"
"Heh. I'm fine. You seem down. Beacon treating you well? Teachers getting on your back?"

The brawler nodded. "Of course it is. I'm just a little…..tired."

He noticed her eyes flit towards Blake for a second, before closing and turning away. He filed that away for later questioning.

"You. Schnee." He turned towards Weiss. The heiress huffed.

"Excuse me?"
"I've heard a lot about you from Ruby here." Qrow cautioned her. "I'm going to keep an eye on you. If you do anything to hurt her, I'll know."
"…..hmph." Weiss crossed her arms, sighing. Winter smiled at him, extending her hand.

"It is an honor to finally meet you, Mister Branwen. I'm Weiss' sister."

"…..I've heard a lot about you too. Congratulations, I actually like you. A little." Qrow returned the smile, taking the hand and shaking it firmly. "Anyway. I'm here on official business. Or, well…."
He looked down at Ruby, nodding to her briefly. She nodded back, resting her head on his stomach.

"Ruby, you can let go now."

"Oh, right!" The reaper relinquished her uncle. "Hehehe….."
"You." He snapped his fingers and pointed at Jaune. The knight, who was busy looking down, snapped out of his fugue, gazed up at Qrow.
"Huh? What?"

"We need to talk." Qrow gestured towards a nearby pillar. "Come on, Arc."

The knight followed almost obediently, nodding slowly. He gave Pyrrha one last glance before disappearing behind the column.

"Alright." Qrow sighed, looking around to make sure none of the other students were snooping around, before looking back to Jaune. "Look. I'm not a dad. I don't know how to talk to kids all that well. Except maybe Ruby and Yang."

"…..what's this about?" Jaune tilted his head. "Why do you-"
"I'm just going to let someone else do it for me." He pulled out his scroll, tapping in a number rapidly.

He turned it to Jaune's face, as Andreas Arc's face appeared on screen. Jaune's eyes widened.

"D-dad?"

"Okay, I'm going to make this simple!" Andreas declared, donning his triangle sunglasses and stepping back from the camera to cross his arms dramatically. "So! I hear you've been driving yourself crazy about some girl, right?"
"S-she's not just some girl!" Jaune cried.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've heard. The great Pyrrha Nikos, winner of tournaments! All-around badass! Girl of your dreams! You're crazy for her. I know the feeling. I was like that for your mom when I was your age-"

"D-dad!" The knight cried, blushing. "N-not in front of-"

"What I'm wondering is when my son decided to make a fool of himself!" Andreas roared. "That's not the way we Arcs roll! Now, listen up and dig the wax out of those ears of yours because I'm going to tell you something important!

You can't let the idea of her getting hurt get in the way of you being the best guy you can be! You've got to be a man of spirit! A paragon of total masculinity! If you've got a problem with seeing her hurt, you know what you've got to do; kick destiny to the curb! You've got to be the best man you can be, Jaune! A man she'll be proud of! A man you're proud of! Pick yourself up and quit moping, and start doing!

That way, when some dimwit tries to hurt her, you'll grab them by the balls and tell them this! JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?! Because that's the way we Arcs roll!"

"…I-I….uh….I get what you mean, dad." Jaune looked down. "T-thanks."

"Good!" Andreas declared loudly. "Now, I don't want to hear any more of this crap about you sitting in your dorm all day or crying because Pyrrha's gone off on a mission! She's capable of taking care of herself, and by hell, so should you be! Otherwise, you wouldn't be the greatest son, and I won't stand for that!

I'll see you around!"

With that, his father cut off the call, leaving Qrow and Jaune alone once more. The knight looked down, his father's words ringing in his head.

"…be a man she'll be proud of….." He muttered under his breath. "…..b-but how can I…."

'How can I be a man she'll be proud of? Faust said it herself, Pyrrha's going to die. If I can't even save her from that fate-"

Qrow sighed, catching his attention.

"Look, Arc. I'm not the kinda guy who you come to for romantic advice, but I know a sucker when I see one." The Hunter chided him. "You love her, don't you."
"I-I d-didn't say-"
"If you didn't, we wouldn't be here right now, trying to get you to stop worrying about her so much." Qrow cut him off. "Look, I'll throw you a bone.

Me and Oz, we had a little talk. I'm going out to the mountains. I need to go check on a Grimm nest there. Don't worry, it's not overly infested. You could probably handle it. I offered to go take you and your friends up there as a small training exercise. Then maybe you'd stop worrying.

I'll help train you and everyone else to be better fighters up there. Then you could protect Pyrrha better. You catch my drift?"

'Protect her better…' Jaune mulled it over in his head. '…...I have to take this chance.

I-If….If I'm going to protect Pyrrha…..I've got to be stronger, like my dad said. I've got to be the best man I can be.

Don't worry, Pyrrha. I won't let you die. Not this time. I'll get stronger and…..I'll keep my promise.'

He looked up, mustering a smile for the first time in a week. The knight clenched his fist, feeling more determined.

"Yeah. I catch it. When should I pack my bags?"

Qrow smiled. "That's the spirit, Arc.

We're leaving in two days. I need to catch some rest. Then I'll be back to pick you all up."

"R-right. Thanks, sir." Jaune nodded to him hurriedly. "I-I'll…..I'll tell everyone-"
"No need. I'll do it." He offered, beginning to walk off towards the others. "I'll see you around."

'…..good grief. He'll need to start training seriously if he wants to protect someone like her.' Qrow mused to himself. '…..I'd better start learning how to teach people, and quick.

Training that Leblanc kid was alright, but ten kids for a week….'

Jaune, meanwhile, leaned by the pillar, watching Pyrrha from afar. He sighed once more.

"…this settles it." He nodded, clenching his fist tighter. "I'll get stronger. I'll be strong enough to protect you!

This trip will be the beginning!

After this…..I'll start becoming a man you'll be proud of, Pyrrha. I promise."

'I won't let you go. Not this time.'

To be continued…..

A/N: I apologise for slightly spotty Qrow characterisation. I'm rather unused to writing him and I must confess, he's not as easy as, say, Pyrrha or Weiss or Winter to write. However, at least Jaune's out of his funk, right?

Anyway, so, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, comments, criticisms, reviews, thoughts and suggestions, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next time!