Hello again everyone, did you miss me?
Well we're back to our regular updates again. first off, i would like to thank you all for your continued support, and secondly id like to apologise. This may not be up to scratch, i've not really proof read it and my brain has turned to Jam. so please bear with me. And now, on with the show!
It had been two weeks since Team Juniper had returned from their first assignment, and in that time they had escalated to celebrity status amongst the first year students as well as some of the older hunters-in-training. They had been bombarded by questions about their bout with the Mega-Grimm Ursula and about how they had succeeded.
They had enjoyed it at first, but being the centre of attention is rarely fun for long, and as the weeks wore on it became more of an irritation that anything else. They struggled to get time to themselves, their usual conversations with team RWBY were cut short by a continual stream of interruptions until they eventually stopped trying to speak and ate in silence.
A first year with bright teal hair came over to their table, Jaune knew why before he even arrived.
"H-hey, did you rea-"
He never finished his sentence, Jaune's fist had slammed down onto the worn wood cutting him short.
"YES! It's true, it has been true for the last two weeks and will continue to be true until we all die! Now please can you all stop pestering us!?"
The Knight's voice was filled with a mixture of anger and frustration as he stood up.
The canteen went silent, not a single sound was made as they all stared at the blonde leader of team Juniper, anxiously awaiting what he would say next. The first year whom had incurred his wrath cowered back with a look of absolute shock on his face.
"It goes for all of you! Just let us be! I swear the next person to question us about that blasted mission will be getting personally acquainted with Magnhild courtesy of Nora!"
Nora gave a maniacal laugh and cracked her Knuckles to support his threat. There wasn't a single student in the cafeteria that didn't visibly cringe at his threat. They had all seen Nora's monster hammer in action and the accounts of her feats against the Mega-Grimm's legs had only served to strengthen their fears.
He gave a long sigh and returned to his seat shooting Nora a thumbs-up for her part in the performance to which more Ren,Blake and Weiss rolled their eyes. Conversations sprang up around the dining hall and soon it was filled with the sounds of dining and laughter once again. Team RWBY and Juniper weren't disturbed again, in fact the other students seemed to actively go out of their way to distance themselves from the Blonde leader and his team, and it was bliss.
"Well, well Vomit-Boy. Didn't know you had it in ya." Yang remarked earning the collected scowls of the Knight, Champion and oddly enough Ruby. The brawler recoiled in her seat and contented herself by chatting quietly with Blake. Pyrrha placed a hand lightly on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze as she stood to return her tray. The two teams enjoyed small talk together for the first time in two weeks, the old jokes were re-ignited and all was good with the world.
Team Juniper left their last class of the day, history with Oobleck and made their way out, laughing at the large berth the other students were giving them. Jaune's head was still spinning from his attempts to follow Oobleck as he rocketed around the classroom at break-neck pace. He made it into a kind of game, he would do his best to follow the Doctor with his eyes until he lost eye contact. His personal record was precisely seventeen seconds.
Juniper made their way back to the dorm for their post lesson pancakes, courtesy of Ren. The rich smells of Ren's secret-recipe pancakes permeated throughout the halls of the residential block. It was common belief amongst Pyrrha,Nora and Jaune that the batter had a hint of cinnamon and various fruits, although they would never find out if they were right. Ren Guarded his recipe jealously even from Nora. Although it always surprised both Jaune and Pyrrha that she hadn't worked it out yet, given how many she had eaten in her lifetime.
Before long, team RWBY knocked on their dorm door, drawn by the sweet smell of pancakes and the opportunity to catch up with their friends for the first time in weeks. Ruby led them in carrying armfuls of snacks and followed by her sister who hefted the drinks, Behind them came Blake and Weiss whom carried sleeping bags. All four girls were in their Pyjamas. JNPR looked at them quizzically and awaited an explanation.
"It's been so long since we have hung out, and since it's a Friday we thought we could all catch up and have a sleepover!" Ruby's excitement shone through, reiterated by her teammates.
Jaune was about to object but remembered just how difficult it was to argue with the four girls, they had a tendency to gang up against you and so it was usually best to just roll with it. And besides, what's the worst that can possibly happen.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea Rubes." he said surprising them all.
"Is this your way of seeing us all in our Pyjamas Jaune? Hoping to catch an eye-full?" Yang teased waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Both Pyrrha and Ruby glared daggers at the brawler, catching their looks she piped down again.
"What exactly did you have in mind for this evening?" Ren's dulcet tones came through from the kitchen as he busied himself cleaning up the kitchen.
"Usual sleepover things" Ruby dismissed him casually "Chat, laugh, play spin the bottle."
At the mention of 'spin the bottle' Yang's eyes lit up and a look of horror crossed the faces of the other girls present. Unbeknownst to Jaune, Yang was a fiend at the game. The other girls feared her 'truth' questions and her 'dares' even more. They had had to enforce additional rules since she had duct taped Weiss to the outside of the dorm door as a forfeit. She had been there for three hours red-faced before they had cut her down, although not before she had been seen by half of all the first-years. Her embarrassment had reached entirely new heights, she still hadn't forgiven Yang for that one in particular.
With their night planned team Juniper changed into their respective pyjamas, with Jaune opting for a pair of lounge pants rather than his rabbit onesie. Pyrrha had on her bronze and red nightgown, Ren his green t-shirt and shorts and Nora was in her 'boop' t-shirt and black lounge pants.
Jaune plugged his scroll into a speaker and put on some music, whilst the others made space and gathered into a circle in the centre of the room. Jaune joined them, taking his place in between Pyrrha and Ruby. Even Ren sighed and sat next to Nora, willing to play along. Yang produced the bottle and held it aloft like some form of ritual object, Jaune's palms grew sweaty as his trepidation grew.
"S-shouldn't we lay out the ground rules first?" he stammered nervously.
The five girls agreed, fervently. Yang rolled her eyes.
"OK, what rules do you propose?"
"Everyone gets one 'pass'. A-and nothing too...inappropriate." said Weiss.
"Forfeits must stay inside this room" Pyrrha chimed in.
"No dares that risk the wrath of Goodwitch!" Ruby exclaimed.
Yang sighed at the rules, they stifled her capabilities to no end but she could work around that.
"Fine... now can we begin?"
They all nodded and Yang spun the bottle. Jaune watched it nervously and was relieved to see it end up on Weiss.
"So Ice Queen, truth or dare?" Yang gave a smirk as Weiss' eye twitched at the use of her nickname.
"I choose truth." The Heiress stared down Yang defiantly.
"Very well... What's the deal with you and Neptune?"
"N-nothing! We're just f-friends!" Weiss stuttered, her face flushing with colour. She hid behind her hands in an attempt to hide it from her blonde tormentor.
"Sure~ whatever you say 'snow angel'" Once again Yang's eyebrows went mad.
With a glare at her brash teammate Weiss sent the bottle spinning, it landed on Blake.
"Truth or dare Blake?"
Blake pondered her options briefly, the heiress was known for being quite tame and so she'd be quite safe regardless.
"Dare." she said with a smirk.
Weiss paused a moment in thought when, to Blake's absolute horror, Yang leant over and whispered something into the Schnee's ear. The Schnee's face lit up with an evil grin.
"Blake, I dare you to read a chapter from your 'Ninjas of Love' novel, out loud to us."
Blake dead-panned at the heiress, growling slightly as she considered whether it was worth going for it or not. She thought back on the contents of her smut novel and swiftly decided against it.
"Pass..." she grumbled to herself before spinning the bottle once more.
Jaune sighed resignedly as the bottle landed on him. He looked Blake in the eyes and awaited his fate.
"Truth or dare Jaune?"
The Knight considered his options, it was either he most likely spilled a secret of his or he would perform in some way for the amusement of others. Embarrassment had to follow one way or the other.
"T-truth." he whimpered
"Very well, Tell us all exactly how you feel about Pyrrha."
Jaune's cheeks burned as blood rushed to his face. He contemplated passing, but decided against the idea. It was likely that worse rounds would follow. He took a steadying breath and cast a brief glimpse at his partner. He began to talk, pouring his heart out slowly but surely, gaining confidence as he went along.
" W-well, to put it simply, I love her. S-she's the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on, everything from her hair, to her eyes, to her lips to her perfect body. I love every curve and contour. She's kind and compassionate and has been the greatest of friends to me, looking out for me when no-one else would and taking me under her wing, she even went so far as to save my life when I was no more that a total stranger. But she's even more than that, she is the first person here to have had actual faith in me, and that is worth more than anything. But I guess what I love most is that I feel totally comfortable around her, she likes me for who I am, warts and all."
"Y'know Jaune, I think they do a cream for that." Yang taunted.
Those gathered burst into fits of giggles, Ren and Blake smirked behind their hands. Only Pyrrha refrained from laughing. Instead she leant over and drew her Knight in by his t-shirt and locked her lips around his oblivious to the girls around him. The kiss was long and passionate, on an instinct he gently ran his tongue across her lips, she parted them and their tongues met in a dance of passion.
They finally separated, gasping for air. Jaune collapsed back his eyes glazed over in a daze of passion. Jaune had never had a kiss quite like it, but it left him desiring ever more from his partner. He recovered from his stupor five minutes later to find all of his friends watching him intently, Pyrrha's face was a solid red though her eyes were sparkling brightly as she did her best to hide her face behind her hands. He reached out and pulled her hand away and entwining his own with it. With his other he reached out and sent the bottle spinning once more.
Their game went on long into the night with each subsequent forfeit becoming more and more extreme until at its highest point Ruby was forced to eat a raisin cookie, she still hadn't emerged from the dorm's en-suite. The sounds of her heaving could still be heard loud and clear. After that they had called it quits, not wanting to end up hospitalising anyone.
Over the course of the night Jaune had fallen victim to his fair share of forfeits which had seen him (much to both his and Pyrrha's horror) having to make-out with each and every girl present. It seemed that team RWBY were organising in an attempt to get under the champion's skin through him, and although he hated being used in such a manner he couldn't help but enjoy his forfeits a little.
Once Ruby had returned to them they, one by one, retired for the night. Pyrrha and Jaune through mutual agreement decided on separate beds for the night, just for whilst their friends were sharing the room with them. Team RWBY lay sprawled out all over the floor space in their various sleeping bags.
It was not long before they had all fallen asleep, save for Jaune. He couldn't bring himself to sleep, both because of Yang's harsh snoring and because his bed lacked the familiar warmth of a certain Champion. He missed the feeling of her head upon his chest after so long sharing his bed with her, it felt hollow and empty.
Across the room from the Knight Pyrrha tossed and turned, unable to find a configuration of her pillows that matched the feeling of Jaune's torso. She had grown accustomed to its steady rise and fall as well as the rhythmic beating of his heart, a heart which belonged to her just as much as her own heart belonged to her blonde goofball. Their two sighs sounded within the darkened room, followed by a soft chuckle from the Blonde's direction. It seems the two were in the same boat after all.
Pyrrha awoke the next morning to the smell of fresh pancakes. The team's collapsible table and chairs were out and all of her friends were gathered around each with their own stack of pancakes. At her approach Jaune stood and handed her a plate, on it was her usual amount of pancakes, but on top was a collection of summer fruits sliced up and arranged to form the words; 'morning beautiful'. Looking back at Jaune he beamed a wide toothy grin which she couldn't help but reciprocate. She took her place and tucked into her breakfast whilst the others discussed their weekend plans.
"So, are we gonna do our usual and head into Vale this weekend? My armour could use a touch up." Jaune suggested off-handedly.
"No you dolt! Don't you know that the qualifiers for the Vytal festival tournament are today?"
Team Juniper stared in disbelief.
"W-when was that announced? We hadn't heard a thing about it."
"It was whilst you were away on assignment. Ozpin called the whole school into the auditorium for an announcement and warned us that we only had a few weeks to hone our skills in preparation for the heats."
Weiss took a deep breath as she finished her explanation. Juniper all looked on in shock, before at long last Pyrrha broke the silence.
"So what time do the qualifiers start?"
The Heiress took on a look of satisfied pride.
"The singles division starts in around an hour-and-a-half, and the partnership division is late afternoon, at four."
"Wait what? We can fight in two divisions?" Asked Jaune whom had, up to this point, never watched a tournament in his life. It was Pyrrha who explained the situation to him.
"Basically Jaune, the singles matches are when each contestant fights one-on-one through the heats right up to the final. In the Partnership division the contestants compete with their team partners for the title."
"So which are you going to compete in Weiss?" Jaune asked, having grasped a better understanding of the way the tournament worked.
"Well, Ruby and I have decided to compete in both divisions."
Again, all those assembled dead-panned at the Heiress. It was widely known that the Ice queen was excessively competitive, but the concept of fighting two big league matches and three opponents was no mean feat.
"Well, if you can do it, Jaune and I can too." Pyrrha said with a grin, standing determinedly with one fist raised in the air.
Jaune looked up at her and loosed an anguished groan, he knew there was no changing the Spartan's mind when she was like this. He would simply have to go along with it and hope, no, pray that it all worked out OK. And besides, in saying no he'd break her heart, she loved to fight and he had to admit he enjoyed fighting alongside her.
Once they had all finished breakfast, showered and packed up, the two teams made their way down to the training facility for the qualifier matches. They joined the queue and registered with the Vytal tournament officials, whom checked over their weapons and clothing to ensure they all conformed to tournament regulations.
Once registered they made their way through into a temporary antechamber, from here they would be called one by one into the main arena to have their combat abilities tested. Contained within the room were a few familiar faces, Jaune spied Velvet sitting with her team as well as team Cardinal.
Jaune's nerves flew to previously un-reached levels as his hands trembled in a way they hadn't since his first date with Pyrrha, as the combatants were called up. The ring of steel on steel could be heard clear as day. He felt a warm hand clasp his own and turned to face Pyrrha. The Mistralian gave him a reassuring smile and held his hand until she too was called up.
Jaune was the last to be called a robotic voice called his name through a PA system. With a steadying breath he rose to his feet and made his way out and into the qualifier arena, It was pitch black. All of a sudden he was engulfed in the blinding light from four or five floodlights.
Before his eyes had time to adjust he caught the faint sound of footsteps sprinting towards him, followed by a dull hum. Every instinct in his body screamed as he knew what was coming, his vision adjusted just in time to catch sight of a sword swinging straight for his head. He couldn't reach his own weapons in time to block them, the blade came down.
At the very last moment possible he threw his body off to the side and out of the path of the sword's deadly bite. He rolled to his feet, drew his own sword and assessed his surroundings. Across from him where he had just been was a robot not dissimilar from those the beacon students use to train on. In its hand was a long and exceptionally cruel looking scimitar, a series of small ridge cut into the spine of its blade. Emblazoned on the droid's chest was the four ring symbol of the Vytal festival. Looking around he could see no sign of spectators or judges.
'Very well, if they want a show, then a show they shall have!' he thought to himself, a chuckle erupting from within him.
He rushed the training robot a sent a slash at mid-level only to have it blocked. To his surprise the robot countered with incredible speed, hacking and slashing in a wild flurry forcing the Knight onto the defensive. The robot's weapon connecting eliciting a yelp of pain from him.
Jaune staggered back with a growl, trying to put as much distance between himself and the metal swordsman as possible. He checked his scroll's aura gauge and was dismayed to find his own to have decreased by a sizeable amount.
He readopted his 'ready' stance, keeping his legs wide and his body lower to the ground just like Pyrrha had taught him. He raised his shield and waited, circling his opponent. This time the robot took the offensive, launching a withering offensive as it flowed seamlessly between forms. During one of its transitions Jaune caught sight of his opening. It was a small opening but it was exploitable.
He edged forwards, his shield off to the side in the hopes of goading it into a favourable strike pattern. As he expected the Scimitar whistled towards him, its owner engaging him ferociously. During one movement the training droid transferred its weight onto its right foot and stepped forward with a heavy overhead slash, Jaune seized his opportunity.
He lunged forward with his shield and knocked the machination off-balance and following it up with a diagonal slash rending it from its mechanical shoulder to hip, leaving ragged metal and frayed, sparking wiring in his wake.
In a sudden flash the droid exploded violently sending shrapnel all over the arena, Jaune failed to raise his shield in time. He felt something collide with his leg and a searing pain that followed. Casting a glance down he saw a large chunk of razor sharp metal protruding from his thigh, just above the knee. His jeans were slowly being dyed red as his life essence leaked from within him.
His head swam at the sight as he grew unstable on his feet. He got the feeling of flying as the ground rushed up eagerly to meet him, his weapons clattered to the ground and his head connected with the cold hard stone. His world went black.
Thank you for reading, this is the beginning of the Vytal tournament arc. i dont know how many chapters i want to do on this segment yet, but itll hopefully take me up to around christmas for a bit of a seasonal arc.
As always; follow, favourite and review.
Poll:A fascinating little experiment, the majority of interest has pooled in three ships in particular
Arkos-14
RoseArc-9
JaunexCoco-7
WhiteRose-3
JaunexVelvet-1
WhiteKnight-3
seems you guys enjoy the Arkos, keep voting for your choices, poll is linked on my profile. It shall remain open until the 19th of december. Go mental guys! let me know what you want so i may do my best to provide. in two days ill remove the two lowest voted options options so vote for the ones you want.
see you all in the next chapter.