The Mandatory Training Arc, Part 5!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to Weiss Reacts! It's been a long time since we used that normal greeting! Anyway, so, as promised, we're getting back onto the main plot. Damn, have I been waiting to do this a LONG time. Yes, despite it having been almost three months, Volume 3 still pisses me off. I hold grudges. Unfortunate, but I've tried.

Anyway, enough of me ruining my already ruined image, let's go!

DISCLAIMER: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, otherwise RWBY Chibi would make Velvet/Weiss canon (do it).
All mentioned franchises and characters belong to their respective owners.

The next day….

"That's it, Jaune." Pyrrha reassured her partner. "Your footing is getting better. A bit more force behind that blow and I would've been forced back."

The spearmaiden's shield was currently held over her head, with Jaune's sword bearing down over it. The knight staggered back, shaking his head.

"T-thanks!" He stuttered out, stepping back into a defensive stance, placing his shield up just in time to deflect Pyrrha's charge, knocking Milo aside. He looked impressed at himself for the briefest of moments, before regaining his composure and sliding backwards to avoid the sideward slash from his partner.

It was Pyrrha's turn to be impressed. "I see you're learning well. Our evening lessons are paying off."

"Well, I do have the best teacher in the world." He grinned at her, causing the spearmaiden to blush slightly.

"…..t-that's not fair. You're trying to distract me!" Pyrrha cried jokingly, chuckling as she blocked Jaune's forward stab with her own shield.

All around them, their peers were training with Qrow overseeing them. Ruby's Crescent Rose slashed the air in the spot where Weiss had been a moment before, a glyph flickering out of existence on the ground. Nearby, Yang's gauntlets punched the air where Ren's head had been a moment prior, while the gunslinger delivered a slash to her back, sliding aside to avoid retribution. To their left, Blake and Rook's weapons lashed at each other, black ribbon meeting silver whip and black pistol being knocked aside by the silver revolver, and Winter's Frauenmantel knocked aside Nora's Magnhild, the lady's spear shoving the head of the hammer into the ground. Closer to the tents, Norn's twin chain-knives wrapped around Velvet's axe, forcing the weapon into the ground and out of Velvet's grasp.

Qrow took a drink from his flask, shaking his head.

'Hmph. Better than two years ago, definitely.' The Hunter noted. 'They've still got a long way to go before they're actually ready for the real world, but…..these kids aren't as screwed as they were before.

And that Arc kid ain't half bad. He still looks like an absolute idiot compared to his partner, though, but who doesn't?'

"It's the eye of the tiger! It's the thrill of the fight! Risin' up to the challenge of our rival! And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night! And he's watching us all with the…."

The seasoned Hunter felt his eyelid twitch.

"YANG!" Qrow snapped as he turned towards the source of the music. The brawler grinned cheekily as she held up her scroll.

"It was the perfect opportunity!" Yang pointed out.

Qrow grumbled. "I thought I told you not to play that song!"
"It's a training camp! Why wouldn't you?" The brawler sighed. "Man, I thought you were supposed to be the cool uncle!"

"I'm your only uncle!"

"I still have a point!
"Just turn the music off!"

"Don't get distracted!" Ren announced in a deadpan voice as he slashed StormFlower at her. Yang yelped and dodged, placing her hands over her hair.

"Ren, I swear, if you touch my hair, I'm going to kill you!"

"All's fair in love and war." The gunslinger shrugged. "I taught you this in your Antic training."

Meanwhile, Jaune grunted as his sword met Pyrrha's, trying to push it aside with both hands. However, his partner was putting up a good effort to parry his attack, giving out a grunt herself as she pushed his sword away and pointed her sword at his throat.

"…excellent job, Jaune." Pyrrha congratulated him, smiling. "You've learned well."
"…..dammit, I still can't beat you." The knight sighed, shaking his head as he dropped his weapons and put his hands up. "Thanks, anyway."

The spearmaiden shook her head as she lowered her sword. "The purpose isn't to beat me, but to defend yourself. You did that well enough.

You could get better."

'That's not good enough! If I can't even defend myself, how am I supposed to defend you?' The thought crossed Jaune's mind, as he suddenly remembered why he went on the trip to begin with. He held his tongue, but he knew he needed to say something.

The prophecy was still there, hanging like a sword over Pyrrha's head. The clock was ticking. Every second that passed decreased the time he had left before it came true- and he didn't even know the precise time.

All he had to go on was that, sometime between now and the end of the year, his partner and friend, the girl he loved so dearly, the person who'd changed his life more than anyone else he could care to name, was going to die- no, be killed.

At the thought of losing Pyrrha, a sharp pain shot through the knight's heart, and he clenched his fist. He banished the returning memory of her dying gasps and panicked eyes, shaking his head, reminding himself again that that was not the Pyrrha he knew, not the one he loved, that the one he needed to worry about was in front of him, alive and well and not choking-

'Not for long, not if I don't fight for her. Dammit….I've got to get better. This isn't good enough.' The knight thought to himself. 'I've got to keep training. Get stronger. Fight better. I can't be satisfied with 'good enough'. Not now.

I won't let that thing come true. Dust help me, Pyrrha, I won't see you die again-'

"Jaune?" The spearmaiden's voice shook him out of his fugue, as he looked over at her, confused.

"Y-yeah?"

Pyrrha tilted her head. "Jaune, do you want to take a break? You were just…..staring at me-"
"No, no." The knight held up his hand. "I just needed to catch my breath. Really, I'm fine.

Let's keep going."

"Are you entirely sure? You looked like something was…troubling you." The spearmaiden pointed out, frowning. "You should tell me if something's bothering you. You know, you can always talk to me about it. I've said this many times."

'…..no, I can't keep this a secret. She has to know. She deserves to know. After all, if I tell her, she can do something about it for herself, right?'

Jaune nodded hurriedly. "...actually, I do have something to tell you."
Pyrrha's eyes widened. "…..you do?" Her tone of voice told him she hadn't expected him to open up so easily. The knight nodded.

"Y-yeah. I do have something t-to say. C-can we…..c-can we talk about it after training, though? In private? I want to get through this first." Jaune requested. "It's not so important that I need to talk to you now, but….."

"O-of course." Pyrrha nodded, smiling reassuringly. "We can talk about it any time you want. I'm just happy you came clean with it before it went too far.

Now…..if you want to keep training…."
Her smile turned into an audacious smirk as she picked up her sword. "You should be prepared."

Jaune closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

'…..a bit more training, then I tell her.' He nodded. 'Yeah. Good plan, Jaune. Good plan.'

"Yeah." The knight looked up at her, returning the audacious smirk with one of his own. "You don't need to say that twice."

He picked up his weapons and charged.

Minutes later….

"Alright. That's enough for today." Qrow announced as he walked past everyone, taking a look at the afternoon sun. "You've trained since morning and if we head up to the Grimm nest, we'll be there by evening. Not a good time to fight Grimm, even with a party this big.

Anyway, we have a few days before the Grimm come out in full force."

"Awww…." Nora pouted. "I was looking forward to riding on an Ursa again!"
"You always ride on an Ursa." Ren pointed out helpfully. His partner frowned.

"But it's fuuuuuun! You guys are always so boring!" The berserker whined, crossing her arms and huffing. "Meaaaaanieeeeeees!"

"Good grief, Miss Valkyrie." Rook sighed, shaking his head. "Yer more excitable 'n a squirrel on a sugar high with a death wish."

"Well! I'm going to go take a nice beauty nap! I'm pooped!" Yang declared, walking confidently towards her tent. She didn't bother looking at Blake as she passed her at all, simply heading directly back to the tent with her usual pompous air.

Norn looked between Blake and Yang, her eyes flickering as her scanners detected something.

"…Miss Belladonna, have you and Miss Xiao Long been fighting?" The inquired. Blake stared at her, genuinely confused.

'Fighting? I've barely even spoken to her.' The catgirl thought to herself.

"…..no. You've been with me the whole trip. Why?"

"…..huh." The robot maid nodded slowly. "You will have to excuse me then. I may have to recalibrate my scanners later on. They must be malfunctioning."

"Hey, Pyrrha." Jaune gestured to his partner. "Uh….I-I kinda…..yeah. The thing." He rubbed the back of his head. "In private."
"…..alright." The spearmaiden nodded, turning to the others. "You guys, do you mind if you give us a moment?"

Taking Jaune by the hand, Pyrrha marched off to their tent, pulling her partner inside.

….

Team JNPR's tent's interior resembled a hodge-podge, with the four sections looking so different, you could have sworn they were from two different tents. Ren and Pyrrha's sections were incredibly neat, with their bags at the foot of their dark green and bronze sleeping bags respectively. Nora's, right next to him, was disorganised, with her neon pink bag strewn over Ren's and pancake and candy wrappers littered everywhere in her section, while Jaune's was mercifully less messy, but had the odd sock or boxer under a book or bag.

It was in their half of the tent, closest to the front, where Pyrrha and Jaune sat. Jaune took a moment to look outside, making sure there were no eavesdroppers.

'If everyone heard this, they'd panic…..I mean, they've got to know, but…..I-I think I'll tell Pyrrha on her own first.' The knight thought, before he spied a strangely shaped bush next to their tent.

"….Yang." Jaune's expression instantly looked deadpan. "Go away."

"…hmph." The bush stood up, with Yang's legs popping out under it, walking away from their tent. The knight sighed, retreating back into the tent and turning back to his partner, who was waiting patiently. She blinked, rubbing her temples slightly.

"…..alright. We're alone." The knight concluded. He breathed heavily, closing his eyes. "…..alright."

Pyrrha tilted her head, frowning. "So, what's wrong? I'm glad you wanted to tell me, but that's not the only thing we're going to talk about."

"…..well." Jaune started. "…..y-you see….r-remember when….r-remember when we watched that RWBY show, right….a-and that thing happened to you?"

"…..y-yes. I do." The spearmaiden shuddered; seeing herself be run through the heart with an arrow was not a pleasant experience. "…..why?"
"I…..I…..well….I've been scared, since then. You know I've been scared." Jaune continued, swallowing. "Scared that….it'll happen. That I'll lose you a-and that I'll just have to s-sit there and watch it happen.

I….I was really worried, when you were on that mission a-and the storms were s-stopping me from talking to you."

"I-I'm sorry." The spearmaiden looked apologetic, but Jaune shook his head.

"It's a-alright. Y-you couldn't have done anything about it. Weather'll be weather.

A-anyway…..I-I went to Professor Faust, to see if she could use her abilities to g-get to you, somehow; just to talk to you, to make sure you were….a-alright."

"….d-did you?" Pyrrha's cheeks turned red. "….I-I didn't realise-"

"S-she couldn't do it." The knight continued, breathing deeply. "S-she couldn't do it, b-but she did say she…..she had a prophecy about you."

The spearmaiden's eyes widened. "A….prophecy?"
"….s-she said you….that you were supposed to…..t-that….

….t-that you were supposed to die in battle b-before you left Beacon." Jaune uttered solemnly.

Pyrrha paused. "….w-what?"

"I-I've been trying to find a way t-to tell you, and I've just….I-I need to get stronger. I-I'm not letting that happen. I p-promised!" The knight shook his head, blinking back some tears. "I-I….dammit, I already saw you die once, Pyrrha, I'm not losing you here!"

"I-It's okay." His partner grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes. "I….I won't die. I told you, Jaune, I-I'm not leaving you."

"How do you know that?!" The knight cried suddenly, taking her aback. "Just…..I-I don't even know if it's possible, or if all my effort's going to waste! I just…."

He sniffled, shaking his head. "….I don't want to lose you. Y-you're the best thing that's e-ever happened to me, a-and….I just don't….I don't know what I'd do if….

I-I don't even know when. I-It could be tomorrow, it could b-be in a few days, it's just…..I don't want..."

The knight struggled to find any more words. "I….s-sorry..I-I shouldn't be-"

"….d-don't apologise. You're just…..you're worried about me." Pyrrha smiled reassuringly. "I…I know. It's okay."

"H-how can you be so calm a-about this?! I-I just told you-"
"And when it c-comes, I'll find a way to d-deal with it." The spearmaiden reassured him, before wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug. "B-but for now...I'm not worried. Between y-you and our friends…..I-I don't have-ach!"

Suddenly, Pyrrha slumped towards Jaune, one hand clutching her head as her expression immediately twisted into one of pain. The knight's eyes widened as he caught her by the head-

"Pyrrha!" He yelped in surprise. "You're…..you're burning up! What's going on?"
"I…..I don't feel so good….." The spearmaiden uttered weakly, before vomiting over to the side of the tent and collapsing onto her sleeping bag.

Jaune immediately crouched to her side, catching her as she slumped. "PYRRHA!"

Needless to say, his shout was heard throughout the camp immediately.

"Stomach flu." Qrow concluded, placing the back of his hand against Pyrrha's forehead. The spearmaiden was groaning, her eyes closed as she clutched her stomach in pain. Jaune was right next to her, having helped place her into her sleeping bag, with a concerned expression on his face as he gripped the side of her sleeping bag tightly. "She must've caught it from the woman she was replacing on her last mission."

The others at the camp- yes, even Roman- were gathered around the scene, looking concernedly down at the stricken Huntress. Even Nora and Yang looked worried, the former biting her lip and the latter playing with her fingers nervously.

"W-will she be alright?" Jaune looked over at Qrow. The seasoned Hunter scoffed.

"It's a bad case, alright…..but Pyrrha here will live." Qrow concluded. "She's stronger than this.

However, we'll need to get her out of here. Keeping her here where the Grimm can get at her'll just be risky. She can't stand in her condition, let alone fight."

"D-don't w-worry about me, M-Mister Branwen…." Pyrrha uttered, trying to form a reassuring smile and failing as she swallowed to suppress the urge to vomit. "I-I can fight…."
"No, Pyrrha, listen to him." Jaune implored her. "Please."

"Don't we have medicine for this?" Weiss inquired, frowning. Qrow shook his head.

"I packed some for the usual issues. I didn't expect her to get ill like this.

Well, anyway. I've called for a transport to get her out of here, it'll arrive by tonight."

"I-I'm going with her." Jaune instantly declared. Qrow shook his head.

"No, Arc, you're staying here." The seasoned Hunter declared, taking a drink from his flask as he stood up. "You need to train and keep your strength up. I don't care what excuse you have; if you really want to protect your girlfriend, going over to her bedside when she so much as has a cold isn't going to help you."

"But I….." The knight sighed, surrendering.

However, Roman, who was looking outside the tent, held up his finger.

"Actually, Qrow, you may wanna hold that thought." He declared, as everyone else stood up and peered out of the tent flap, looking towards the skies where Roman was looking.

The thick, low grey clouds that signified heavy rains and storms were approaching their camp. And very, very quickly.

"…uh oh." Ruby uttered, looking concerned. "T-that's not good."

"No." Qrow sighed. "No it isn't."

…..

Meanwhile….

"That's where those guys went."

"So this is your brilliant plan. Those are kids."

The stag Faunus nodded. "Exactly. They'll be too distracted to do anything about us. We tie the kids up, leave them for the Bullhead to show up, and while they're busy looking for us, we jack the transport and get to Vacuo."

The tall poacher shook his head. "…I don't like this scheme very much."
"Do you want to get free or not?" The small poacher uttered. "Well? Do you?"

"….It's more that there's like twelve kids. How are we going to tie up so many?"

"…..divide and conquer." The stag Faunus poacher thought. "Hey. Koschei. Do you still have the Grimm whistle?"

Koschei, the tall poacher- now sporting a small mask resembling that of a stylised skull- whipped out a small whistle. "Got it, boss."

"Rumps, you've got the rope?"

The short man, referred to as Rumps, nodded. "Got it here."

"….excellent." The stag Faunus poacher chuckled. "Let's do this.

We're going to need to make some noise."

To be continued…..

A/N: Well. Everything seems to have begun to go to pot. Where might it go after this chapter? Who knows?

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!