Hello everyone, now that the shipping has begun and the dance is on its way the story can really kick off. I get to break away from the main plot now and write what I had planned all along. This fic is actually gonna be what I think might happen for Volume 3 (which I am super hyped for) so it'll be kinda cool to see if I'm right about it or not. Anyway, without any further ado, I present chapter 9. I hope you enjoy it.
The sun was shining brilliantly as Jaune and his team walked their way down to the airport of Beacon combat academy. The past one had been one of excitement and anticipation for the impending tidal wave of students from the other three kingdoms. Since Vale had been chosen to host the Vytal festival, students from all over the globe were gathering for the tournament. And Weiss wanted to scope out the competition. Rumour had it that the first shipments of students were due to be arriving at Vale's docks later that day so the petite heiress had grabbed her team and dragged them out for the day under the pretence of 'Team Bonding.'
With a collective sigh of resignation Jaune, Pyrrha and Ruby had all agreed to her scheme. None of them were under any illusions about the heiress' true motives but they each needed to top up their supplies of ink, ammunition and maintenance gear so it made sense for them to go along with her. The Schnee led their little procession, humming a song that none of them had ever heard before softly to herself. She seemed in unusually high spirits considering it all. They boarded their aircraft and took their seats, ready for take off.
The aircraft's interior was comfortable enough with plush seats to recline in and a friendly hostess wheeling around a small trolley of snacks and beverages. Just one of the many things the Valean council had done in preparation for the festival was improve the services provided on all of the public transport networks. After all, the kingdom couldn't afford to give off such a poor image when so many guests were flocking in. The festival was likely to decide the prosperity of the tourist industry that year so everything had to be tip-top.
They took off surprisingly on-time and banked around, their craft angling for the city. The ride felt unusually smooth to Jaune, so much so that his stomach hardly troubled him. He sat calmly in his seat and actually relaxed, enjoying the view of the clouds. They all seemed so light and puffy, they both entranced and confused him at the same time. It was odd knowing that if he were to just put his arm out the window, he could touch them. His was torn from his stupor by one of the air hostesses with her trolley. Between them they bought a few nibbles, it took everything they had to persuade the hostess not to sell Ruby her entire stock of chocolate chip cookies.
It wasn't much longer afterwards they they all stepped out into the sun in a surprisingly controlled manner, the knight not having to fight his way through the crowds in a frenzy before he threw up. They followed the crowds into the packed terminal before making their way over to the exit and into the city proper. It was heaving. On an ordinary day Vale might have been considered busy, but if Jaune had to have guessed, he might have placed the number of people at ten times their regular level. It was astounding to say the least, and the atmosphere was astonishing.
Far from its usual subdued levels, the city of Vale felt truly alive and filled with energy. The run down looking business seemed to have been given a second wind by the festival atmosphere, and all around were men, women and children from the other kingdoms, recognisable by their strange clothing and in the case of those from Vacuo, darker skin tones. To see such cultural diversity all gathered in one place was an incredible sight. Jaune cast his gaze around taking in all he could about them, their unusual clothes had a certain endearing quality about them, though whether it was the bright colours or elaborate designs stitched into them he didn't know.
"Ugh! We'll never find the foreign students in all this!" Weiss cried out in anguish.
They made their way through the city, swerving around various different people and keeping an eye out for any exchange students in the crowds, though to no avail until at last the heiress simply gave up searching and they all moved on to option two on their list. It took them twice as long as normal as they made their way into the down town shopping district, a quaint little collection of trendy boutiques and second hand shops all contained within a couple of blocks one each other. The four teenagers followed the well worn path to the large weapon store in the central plaza. A path walked by hundreds of students before them and one that would be used by hundreds after. It was a large store when compared to those around it, though it only had a simple display with the primary item being a large sign which read;
'Weth and Smisson, producers of fine ammunition and weaponry. Proud suppliers to the prestigious Beacon combat academy, trainers of the finest huntsmen and huntresses on Remnant. High quality at affordable prices, check in-store.'
They opened the door and entered the little shop, chimes rang out overhead notifying the owners of their presence. The inside of the store was brightly lit and the thick smell of gun oil and metal hung heavy in the air. The store's interior was a simple one, devoid of all unnecessary decorations. All along the walls were hung large cabinets in which were displayed a wide range of high quality weaponry, the craftsmanship clear for anyone to see. At the back end of the shop was a long wooden counter, behind which was a fully functioning gunsmiths workshop. Thankfully it wasn't in use or the sound might have been unbearable.
Sat at the counter, leant on his elbows with a bored expression was a burly man with cropped, greying black hair and the most bushy beard that any of them had seen. He had the sleeves of his t-shirt rolled up past the elbow and wore a thick brown ox hide apron that was scarred and scuffed from years of working in a workshop. He smiled warmly at them as they approached.
"G'day! I'm Smisson, one of the owners. How can I help you kids today?" He had a deep booming voice.
"We're looking to replenish our supplies." Weiss said in a business-like manner. "I was told that there would be a dust delivery here for me from the Schnee Dust Company?"
"Ah! Miss Schnee, my apologies I didn't recognise you. I'll be right back." He nodded and disappeared out of sight for a moment before returning with a large crate marked with the Schnee Dust Company logo. Opening it up he remove two smaller briefcases and opened them in front of her. Inside each one and set into small hollows in the padding, were twelve vials of dust of varying colour from blue to red and every one in between. The heiress plucked them out and held them up, inspecting the crystals. Seemingly satisfied she put them back in and closed the case with a nod.
"Please have these shipped up to Beacon for me along with anything that my team here order." She said, handing over a fair amount of money for delivery costs. Smisson nodded and lifted the cases off the counter and packed them back in their crate. With a slight grunt he moved the crate off and stowed it away under the counter.
"An' what can I do for you guys?"
"I need about five hundred high impact .50 dust rounds." Ruby said with a smile placing one of her own rounds on the counter as an example. Smisson picked the round up with an appreciative whistle, looking over it and taking a few quick measurements before handing it back. He made a brief note on some paper and pinned it to a corked notice board. Ruby handed him enough cash to cover the costs of her order.
"I think we can do that for you little Sheila. Be done a week today. Anything else?"
"Yes, I need a quart of gun oil and about five hundred .303 rounds." Pyrrha said with her signature warm smile. Again Smisson made a note on his paper and told her that her order would be ready in one week, she too handed him a small wad of cash. With their orders placed and paid for team JSPR left the store and headed back out into the bright sunshine of Vale. The fresh air was a stark contrast to the must nature of the weapon smiths store.
No sooner had they gone two steps when a blonde boy came sprinting down the street at full pelt and crashed straight into Pyrrha, sending them both sprawling to the pavement. Quick as a wink the boy was back on his feet again and running down the street a golden tail trailing behind him. Jaune offered his partner a hand up and she dusted herself off, checking herself for injuries a look of anguish crossed her face.
"M-my wallet! It's gone! H-he must have stolen it when he bumped into me..." She sighed, her face dropping.
"Well don't just stand there! Lets go after him!" Weiss cried, setting off down the street at a dead run. Her team watched in surprise before following after. Weiss ran on, seemingly by instinct alone. Ahead of them they soon caught sight of the faunus thief and it seemed for a moment that they might actually catch him but as they rounded a corner the heiress collided with something and fell to the ground in a heap. Lifting her head, she watched hopelessly as the thief ran off and out of sight. JSPR caught up with their combat-skirted crusader and helped her up to her feet.
Looking down they found that she had collided with a girl. She had a pale complexion, with a scattering of freckles all framed by bright copper hair in which sat a green bow. She slowly climbed back to her feet and dusted herself off. Looking up she locked team JSPR with bright green eyes. She was dressed rather simply is a grey top and skirt with black pants with a bright green stripe running the length of the leg.
"I'm so sorry I didn't see you, are you alright?" Weiss blurted out apologetically.
"Am I alright? Why yes, I suppose I am." The girl smiled.
"Okay... Well we had best be going." Weiss said as she began walking in the direction that the thief had run.
"See you round friend." Ruby chirped and began to follow after her partner but was stopped by a gentle and yet firm pressure on her wrist. Turning round to investigate she was met with the intense emerald stare of the orange haired girl. Ruby's eyes widened in a slight panic, her team watched on, ready to step in at any moment.
"Am I really?" The girl asked with what sounded to be hope in her voice and her face so close to Ruby's that their noses nearly touched.
"Are you really what?"
"You called me your friend, am I really your friend?" Ruby looked around at her teammates for help but they looked back at her with as much confusion in their eyes as she felt.
"Y-yes..." The little reaper replied. She almost fell to the floor as the girl suddenly released her.
"Sen-sational!" She cried "My first friend! I'm Penny!"
"R-Ruby... Pleased to meet you." Ruby replied, clearly unsure what was going on if the look on her face was anything to go by.
"And are these your other friends?" Penny asked enthusiastically, gesturing to the three teenagers stood nearby.
"Y-Yeah they're my team. We all go to Beacon together. That's Jaune, Pyrrha and my training partner Weiss." She explained and pointed to each of them in turn. Penny eyed the blonde knight intensely, making him feel uncomfortable in his own skin and blush slightly. Penny's eyes widened with some form of profound revelation.
"Is he your boyfriend?" She whispered, although everyone nearby could still hear perfectly well. Ruby's face turned bright red, of all the questions she had to ask why that one? It felt as though all of her blood was building in her head.
"N-no! He's a friend that's all, just a friend!" She stammered.
"Do you like him?" Penny persisted. For Ruby, things had begun to go from bad to worse. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to evade the subject, after her disastrous attempt to ask him to the dance, she had been keeping her head down and avoiding the subject like one might avoid the plague. Today had been the first mention in a while, the three girls had planned to go shopping for their respective dresses while they were in town.
"Uh Penny, I uh... no?" Ruby internally cursed at just how weak her reply had sounded. It was simply too weak a response. Fortunately, Weiss came to her aid before the conversation could go any further.
"I'm sorry Penny but we should really be going. We have quite a lot to do today. I'm sure Ruby could give you her scroll number and you could arrange to meet another time?" The heiress said sternly, grabbing her partner's wrist defensively. Ruby hastily relayed the digits to her new friend and shouted a hasty goodbye to her new 'friend' before the heiress managed to drag her off. They were followed shortly afterwards by a giggling Pyrrha and a very red-faced Jaune. As he walked past her, Penny gave the sleeve of his hoodie a gentle tug and pulled him aside.
"As Ruby's friend, it's my job to tell you that I won't be very nice if you break her heart ok? Right after she and I get done comfort-eating ice cream."
Was this girl even real? Jaune wondered to himself before nodding nervously and rushing off with Pyrrha to chase after their teammates. They rejoined them some ways down the road to find them discussing their brief encounter with the ginger girl.
"Well that was... Weird." Jaune said with a slight shiver.
"I don't know, she seemed nice enough to me, a little bit embarrassing but nice all the same."
The four teenagers made their way through the shopping district to the shop of their desires. It was a flashy fine clothing outlet. The window displayed three elegant flowing gowns in white, emerald and black and above the door was hung the name of the store. Jaune chuckled as he read it, 'Frock, stock and two smokin' heels.'
The girls lead the way into the store and found it much the same as the window display had suggested. All around them were hung countless dresses of all shapes, sizes and styles from open backed to strapless. Their choices were endless. Weiss stepped around the store, eyeing the clothing appreciatively, followed by an equally impressed Ruby. Yet Pyrrha hardly move, instead she looked around the store forlornly.
"What's wrong Pyrrha?" Her partner asked.
"That thief took my month's allowance. I can't afford any of these gowns. It looks like I'm going to have to have one sent from home."
"N-no Pyrrha, I can't have that. Choose a dress that you like and I'll pay for it." he smiled.
"Jaune I can't take your money off of you."
"It's alright Pyrrha, I want to do this. I wont lose out, I have more money than I need anyway. I don't use bullets remember? Now you go ahead and choose a dress." He smiled and handed her roughly half the cash from his wallet. She looked at him and her smile grew. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you Jaune! You're the best friend ever!" she cried.
Ruby heard their raised voices and turned round to face the commotion to see Pyrrha hugging Jaune. A pang of jealousy manifested itself in her heart as she looked on, her stupid crush. Why did it have to be him? She didn't stand a chance... How could she compete with the champion of Mistral? She spent so much more time with him.
'But what if I spent more time with him? Then he might start to see me for who I am!' She thought to herself with a mischievous grin. A half baked plan began to form in her head. One that might just work and snatch him from the champion's grasp. It almost seemed a dirty and underhanded tactic to try and take him for herself, after all Pyrrha was her friend. But it was like Yang always used to say. 'All's fair in love and war Rubes.' Now all she had to do was bide her time and wait for the opportune moment.
It was well over an hour later that they re-emerged from that clothing store, the whole experience had left Jaune feeling thoroughly tired. He had been measured and had paid for his tuxedo inside of half an hour while the girls were still debating whether or not frills would work well for Ruby or not. In the end they had decided yes, and had begun the process of picking dresses. At this point Jaune had been sent outside, none of the girls wanting anyone to know about their dresses until the day of the dance, except for each other of course.
The blonde had settled onto the pavement and leant back against the store front to wait for them to come back out. It was a long wait, he pulled out his scroll and was surprised to find a text from Ren. To his surprise, the lotus claimed to be in the exact same predicament outside of another one of Vale's elaborate clothing stores. Seemingly, Weiss and Yang had both had similar ideas when it came down to getting ready for the dance. He exchanged texts with team BRNY's stoic until the three girls came out onto the street again, wide smiles playing about their faces.
"Did you all manage to find something that you like?" he asked nervously. He was pretty sure that he already knew the answer but he wanted to be sure.
"Of course we did you dolt!" the ice queen answered.
"So we don't have to go through all this again?"
"No..." She sighed, rolling her eyes and setting off for the airport. Along the way Pyrrha walked beside her partner in silence, looking like she was deep in thought.
"Jaune, I can't thank you enough for what you did today. I'll pay you back as soon as I can, I promise." She said breaking the silence at last. Jaune only chuckled in response.
"Pyrrha, you don't have to pay me back. You've been training me for weeks now, it's the least I can do."
"W-well, if you're sure. I picked out something a bit special, I hope you'll like it." She said with a blush.
"Pyrrha, I'm sure I'll love it." He smiled.
The day of the dance was a busy one for the teens of team BRNY and JSPR. Both Weiss and Yang had gotten together in collaboration to arrange the dance since team CFVY, whom would have been organising the event, were still off on a mission outside of the kingdom. Ozpin had made the executive decision to appoint them to the organisational role. Although, it seemed that the two never could agree quite on what they wanted. Their personalities clashed on a base level and this showed in their work . Weiss seemed to be angling towards an elegant and classy event with flowing ball gowns and slow music for the couples to dance to, whereas Yang was trying to drag them into a much more relaxed party with giant speakers, lasers and fog machines. The two had met in the middle and taken the best aspects of both to create what seemed to be an interesting hybrid between the two polar opposites.
Yet finally after much planning and altogether too much bickering about doilies and song choices, the big day of their dance arrived. Two hours before the dance was even due to start, Jaune had been thrown firmly out of his dorm room and into the hallway with his tuxedo following shortly after. All of the girls from both BRNY and JSPR piled into the JSPR dorm room in order to get ready together leaving Jaune to find himself another place to prepare. With a sigh he headed across the hall and rapped his knuckles against the door of team BRNY's dorm. The door opened within moments and Ren's face peered around it at Jaune, he raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"All the girls are getting ready across the hall in my dorm so I got thrown out. Mind if I change in there?" He explained with a slight smirk. Behind him excited voices could be heard shouting to one another even through the walls. To Jaune's relief Ren nodded and opened to door wide enough to let the blonde in.
Jaune stepped in and hung his tux on one of the closet door handles. Looking around he was surprised to find that the girls had stacked their beds one on top of the other to form makeshift and rather unstable looking bunk beds. Jaune chuckled and took a seat on one of the spare beds, given how messy the covers were, the blonde assumed it to be Yang's.
With little to do for the next couple of hours Jaune made himself comfortable, an easy silence settled over the room as Ren continued to go about his day, reading through one of the school's textbooks for nigh on an hour before deciding to go for a shower. Jaune felt grateful for his decision to shower right before the girls kicked him out, it was lucky if nothing else. It would leave him feeling fresh all the way through the dance.
Time passed unusually quickly for JSPR's leader. He sat on Yang's bomb site of a bed and thought carefully about the impending dance with growing trepidation. He knew that he would be expected to dance and that wasn't the problem, growing up with seven sisters had solved any issues in the dancing area. No, the problem remained in the fact that he was taking the Pyrrha Nikos and that was no small thing. He was terrified of letting her down as her date, that he might not be able to dance in a way that she would enjoy. What if he choked up and ended up standing on her toes?
In truth he had no idea why he was getting so nervous, they were just friends after all. Partners, and nothing more. So why then did he have butterflies in his stomach, and why were his palms clamming up? It made no sense, in his head were a scramble of different thoughts and feelings. He shook himself free of them and put it down to nerves before one of the biggest social events of the year. He turned to Ren to try and take his mind off of it.
"So Ren, how long have you and Nora been a thing?" He asked casually.
"Oh, we're not an item. We're just close friends and always have been, ever since I can remember." He replied with a hint of a blush on his cheeks.
"Oh come on, I've seen the two of you together. You smile whenever you see her, and you look incomplete when she's not around. Even I know that there's got to be something going on there. You like her don't you?"
"I-I uh.." The stoic stuttered. "I'll admit that my feelings for her aren't entirely platonic but I can't say anything out of fear that it might drive her away or ruin my friendship with her. In the end I would rather live on without ever told her my feelings, so long as I get to keep her as my friend.
"But Ren, I don't think she would go anywhere. If anything, I think she might feel the same for you. I mean, just look at the way she acts around you. She's always at your side, whenever possible. You two have something special and I'm not entirely sure that its purely friendly. Either way, if it were me I'd tell her. Its better to try, find out and gain some kind of closure than to live on wondering what could have happened when it's too late to do anything about it."
"Thank you Jaune. You make a good point and I'll give it some consideration, but it will be a long time before I am ready to make a decision on the subject."
Before he knew it, it was time for him to get ready. With a sigh he took up his tuxedo and changed into it. Within ten minutes he was suited and booted, fighting with his bow tie. Ties had never been his strong point, horrible little neck-traps the lot of them. Even the clip on ties had caused him more trouble that they were worth when he was younger.
After having rearranged his hair in the bathroom mirror for what must have been the thousandth time he nodded half-heartedly, he was out of time and it would have to do. He only hoped that his date didn't think he had only made half an effort. Stepping out and across the hallway once again, he tugged at the bottom of his jacket and brushed off the dust from one of his shoulders. This was it. Ren closed the door to BRNY's dorm and stood behind him, giving the blonde a reassuring nod. Jaune took a steadying breath, reached out and knocked on the wood it opened a tiny bit and Yang's face snaked around and peered at them.
"You guys are early!" she replied hastily, her eyes widening at the sight of them.
"We're on time, the dance is meant to start in like ten minutes!" Jaune retorted.
She shot back behind the door and slammed it shut again. From the other side of the door the two boys could hear the occasional bumps or exclamation as the girls increased their pace and began to put the final touches to their outfits. It was still a further five minutes before the door opened again and a very flustered looking Yang stood blocking their view into the room. She blew a loose lock of hair out of her face and composed herself.
"Mr Ren, are you ready to meet Miss Valkyrie, your beautiful date for this evening? Cause heeeeere she is!" Yang announced and stepped aside to reveal Nora stood shyly behind her. She had donned a pink dress and heels. Her hair had been brushed rigorously and shone brightly like burnished copper. The Valkyrie looked down at her feet nervously under the eyes of her partner. Ren himself seemed quite taken aback by the sight, his usually impassive expression had been replaced by a slight smile. He held out his hand to her and she timidly walked over and took it, swaying a little in her heels. He gently clasped her hand in his own and blushed.
"Nora, you look beautiful." He said, a slight blush working across his face.
"T-thanks... You look great too" She replied, lacking her usual self confidence.
They linked arms and set off down the corridor together, enjoying some small talk between them. Jaune watched them go for a little while before turning back to look at Yang again. He raised an eyebrow expectantly and shot him a quick wink. Behind her, the knight could still hear the rustling of fabric. At last Yang turned back with an ear to ear grin and locked eyes with him.
"I hope you're ready for this Vomit-boy." She whispered. "Mr Arc, are you ready to meet your date, the wonderful and talented Miss Nikos?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." he chuckled, nerves bubbling up within him.
"Well, you had better be! Here she is!" Again, Yang stepped aside and behind her was a sight that made Jaune's heart skip a beat... or several.
For there, stood in the centre of the dorm room was Pyrrha and she looked beyond beautiful. To him it seemed as though one of the angels above had descended to earth and was stood in front of him. She had her hair tied over to one side so that it cascaded over her shoulder like a glorious waterfall of liquid fire and resting just above her brow was her golden circlet, polished brightly and catching the light.
Her dress itself was incredible, complementing her womanly figure perfectly. It was an elegant red number, trimmed with golden thread, that flowed down to her ankles with one side cut open to the mid thigh to allow her a little more freedom of movement. Her make-up seemed to follow her usual minimalistic approach, with only her usual green eyeliner complementing her viridian eyes. She blushed a little under his gaze as he stared slack-jawed, unable to move. His knees felt as though they were jelly and might give way underneath him at the slightest pressure.
"Psst! Jaune! Stop staring and offer the girl your arm!" Yang whispered. Jaune blushed brightly and clamped his mouth shut. He took a slight bow and offered her his hand. Pyrrha blushed but took some nervous steps over and took his hand. The feeling of her hand in his sent shivers down his spine.
"P-Pyrrha, you look... Amazing" He stammered, the butterflies in his stomach felt as though they were having some kind of butterfly rave with the worlds butterfly population having come along. His hands clammed up as she linked arms with him.
"Thank you Jaune, you look incredibly handsome this evening." She beamed back at him, her eyes sparkling brightly as she spoke. With their arms interlaced, the two of them slowly walked their way over to the school's grand ballroom where their dance awaited them. Looking at the girl beside him, Jaune was confident that not even the stars themselves could match her beauty. Unnoticed, a warm feeling bloomed within his heart. It was strange and alien yet undeniably there.
Behind him, leaning out of the door and watching after the two partners with a pang of jealousy was Ruby. The little rose sighed to herself and cast a quick look at her sister.
"How can I compete with that?" She asked, her eyes dimming as hope left her.
"What do you mean?" Yang answered, cocking an eyebrow at her little sister.
"Well look at her! You saw Jaune's face when she stepped out, he couldn't take his eyes off of her." Ruby cried, throwing her hands in the air.
"Rubes, look in a mirror. You look amazing too! When we get down there, you walk in with your head held high and I'll bet he comes to talk to you! Just you wait and see." The brawler said with a smile. She smoothed out her dress and took hold of sisters arm, interlocking it with her own and setting off towards the ballroom. The other girls fell into line behind them chatting excitedly about their upcoming night.
Ruby smiled to herself as she thought of what was to come. She hoped that Yang was right, would he really seek her out? That all remained to be seen. The petite rose took a steadying breath and her eyes began to glow with a new-found confidence.
'Ready or not Jaune, here I come'
Ruby got her 'grr' face on, looks like this is one little rose that has thorns!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you thought in the reviews. As always, please do favourite and follow if you liked this. Your support really does help me write, you provide the inspiration that I need. You are all the best fans in the world, given that you have offered nothing but support, friendly advice and constructive criticisms.
Next time we see how the teams react to the dance, and a certain masqueraded intruder. The nefarious team CRME put their evil plans into action, how will team BRNY and JSPR cope and fight back? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Dragon ball... I mean 'A Rose for the Champion'!