A/N: This one's pretty short... enjoy!
Jaune wasn't much of a sleeper. His mind liked to race no matter what time it was, and he was known to be up during the late hours, simply pacing back and forth, thinking about whatever it is that is occupying his mind.
So when he rose out of bed at around 3 in the morning, the only reaction he got was a sleepy Blake raising her head to see who it was, before she mumbled something incomprehensible and put her head back onto the pillow, having spent most of the night with Jaune talking and reading in Team JNPR's room.
Jaune roamed the hallways, making sure to avoid the night patrols set up by the faculty, thinking about what he had learned yesterday. He had managed to keep his mind off of the subject for a good two days, spending some time with Blake and keeping himself busy, finding anything that could distract him. In those two days, he never even touched another alchemy book, didn't even bring the subject up with Blake, who was growing more and more concerned about Jaune.
He did his best to reassure her that nothing was wrong, but he never really had practice in lying to someone else, and his face showed more than his words, creased with concern, his eyes dimmed with doubt.
And so, after two days of not thinking about it, Jaune finally broke down, unable to sleep and having run out of other things to do.
He pulled out the stone in his pocket, the shattered moonlight gleaming on it, casting a soft red glare. To think something so beautiful could be the product of untold destruction. Jaune knelt down, pulling out some chalk that he kept in his pockets and started to create a circle, something he had come up with as a way to verify the stone.
The work was intricate, and delicate, and allowed for Jaune to focus completely on it, making sure that everything was absolutely perfect.
Placing the blood-red stone in the center of the circle, Jaune sat down, cross-legged, and touched the circle, causing it to glow momentarily.
The stone flashed blue for a brief second, and wisps of smoke rose from it, accompanied by a sound a lot like moaning. Actually, it was moaning. It the sound of hundreds of thousands of people screaming in pain, the souls trapped inside of the gem.
Face turning white, Jaune snatched the rock and shoved it into his pocket, halting the screaming and clapping his hands once, turning the chalk circle into nothingness.
"What was that?"
Jaune turned to see a wide-eyed Blake, who stood next to the doorway in her kimono, looking at the stone in his hand.
Blake had only pretended to sleep earlier, her curiosity overwhelming her maturity to trust that Jaune would tell her what was bothering him. And so, she waited for him to leave, counted to a hundred, and rose, following Jaune.
Blake stepped forward uncertainly, staring at the stone in his hand. "What… just happened?"
The boy looked guiltily at Blake, turning his gaze towards the stone and sighing, showing her the object.
"The stone," Jaune said seriously, looking at her. "It's not what I thought it was."
## #
"Well Cinder, may I call you that? I'm quite glad that you were able to make time for this."
Professor Port gallantly slid the chair back, letting Cinder gracefully sit, a polite smile of thanks on her face.
"Well, I think it would be rude of me to say no to this, being a token of appreciation from Beacon." Cinder said easily, ignoring the nervous laughter from the short man.
"Of course, of course. Now, I hope you have a hankering for some wonderful cuisine, my lady, because this restaurant is one of the finest in the city." Peter leaned over, as if telling her a secret. "I myself enjoy the steak options." Cinder nodded, keeping a polite and friendly air.
"I will have to make note of that." Cinder said, before pointing to an eggplant dish for the waitress to take down. This didn't phase the professor, who loudly announced that he would have a medium rare steak, handing his menu to the girl. Cinder took this opportunity to make small talk with the professor.
"So professor, what is teaching the future's protectors like?" That was all Professor Port needed, who immediately sprung into conversation, waxing poetic about lesson plans and his bonding experiences with his students. Cinder only paid half attention to his ramblings, just enough to carry on the conversation if he asked any questions. Finally, they got to the point that Cinder wanted to talk about.
"And the most promising new students I would say are those from Team RWBY and JNPR. They're quite impressive, although their leaders aren't what you'd expect from that team." He said, happily tearing into his steak. Cinder's head rose, her fork settling from its endless movements trying to pick the eggplant on her dish apart.
"The leaders of the teams? They're… quite special, are they not?" Cinder asked carefully. The man nodded enthusiastically.
"Ah yes. Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc. Both talented individuals that only need a guiding hand to become something great." The man held up a finger, mustache trembling as he talked. "Ruby Rose is one of the youngest students to enter Beacon Academy, but is quite experienced in dealing with Grimm for her age. She—"
Now that they were on the topic that Cinder wanted, her patience grew thin, and she interrupted him quickly. "Yes, I'm sure she's quite the individual. Tell me, the other leader, I've heard quite some interesting things about him. Anything you could shed a light on?" The man nodded, hand stroking his mustache.
"Yes, yes." Professor Port said unsuspectingly. "He is quite the individual. Extremely brilliant, but antisocial and has a hard time dealing with others." Cinder nodded, pretending to absorb the information.
"And I heard every first year team went on a… mission of sorts? How did the top two rising teams fare in their missions?" Cinder pushed harder than she would normally have, knowing that Peter would be too busy talking to analyze why she would be asking these sort of questions.
"Hm. Quite unexpected questions you're asking there, aren't you?" The professor suddenly grew serious, a thoughtful look on his face, causing Cinder to freeze, afraid that she had assumed wrong until the man burst into laughter, nodding his head in satisfaction. "I guess that just means that you've been paying quite a bit of attention to what I've been saying, haven't you? I'm quite impressed." Cinder sighed quietly in relief, although on the outside she still held the simple, polite smile that she had been using for most of the conversation.
"Yes, well, I'm sure you've heard that Team RWBY had been the one to discover the Breach, and helped defend the city against it." Peter said. Cinder nodded, her teeth gritting slightly. She had already made a note to make their deaths particularly gruesome. The professor continued. "Team JNPR returned well… in quite the state I would say. I can't really tell you many details, as the missions are confidential unfortunately." The professor said in an apologetic tone, actually sounding regretful. Cinder waved it away, telling him that there's nothing to worry about, which there wasn't, because she had already known what the team's mission was. After all, she had been the one to put it enticingly on their screens when they were searching for a mission.
"But they came back fine, and stronger from it I would say." The man started to gesture broadly, getting into the rhythm of his usual storytelling. "They might have been thrown in the local prison, but they came out with something quite interesting, at least to Jaune's interests." Professor Port smiled, nodding. Cinder leaned forward a little.
"Oh? And what did they find there?"
The professor hesitated again, making Cinder clutch at the tabletop. "I'm sorry Cinder. That's not for me to say. If you are interested in it, I'm sure Team JNPR wouldn't mind telling someone so interested in their stories about it." Cinder let out a frustrated breath, but leaned back in her chair, smiling widely.
"Thank you Peter. It just sounded so interesting. It's a… shame that you couldn't continue the story. I would love to spend more time… with you. Hearing about it." She purred, taking on a subtle pose. Professor Port trailed his eyes over her, mouth moving, but no sound coming out. Finally he cleared his throat noisily, leaning over a little bit.
"Well… I'm sure there's nothing of concern about the mission anyways."
And the woman smiled a genuine smile.