Hello to you all once again! I present unto you all the latest chapter! I will say one thing, and that is I see the Vytal tournament as lasting two days, one day per division, I appologise before hand if this isn't in-depth enough but I'm trying to get past this arc in preparation for a 'Dustmas arc'. Cliche I know but it shall be touching I hope, please enjoy.

Jaune awoke on the morning of the Vytal tournament and eagerly leapt out of bed. He stretched out his muscles before heading into their team's bathroom and having a cold shower. He suppressed a cry as he leapt into the freezing jet of water. He shivered as he scrubbed himself from head to toe, despite how uncomfortable the experience was the water did have the desired effect, he was certainly wide awake.

He shot back into the dorm room and over to the closet to retrieve his clothes. He pulled out his newest set of jeans and his 'lucky' hoodie, complete with hood tear and ominous purple stains that simply refused to wash out completely and stood out against the rest of the faded material. He strapped on top of it his familiar plate armour and around his waist went the familiar weight of his family's treasured sword Crocea Mors.

Looking around he found that his team were still fast asleep. Even Nora was still engulfed in whatever vivid dream she was having. The Valkyrie had the single most adorable smile on her face as she lightly sucked the tip of her thumb, she would twitch every now and again, no doubt a result of the fierce battles she fought nightly against the Grimm in her dreams.

He made his way into the teams kitchenette for the final stages of his special preparation routine. Making his way over to their small fridge he retrieved some; bacon, eggs, sausages and the all important black pudding.

"Today is an important day, and I'm gonna kick it off in style!"

Pyrrha was torn from sleep by the shrill beeping of her scroll, with a groan she flung her arm out towards the sound hoping to grab it but grazed her knuckles against the corner of Jaune's bedside table. She cursed, her aura already setting in to heal the damage. Through her bleary vision she finally caught hold of her scroll after numerous attempts and shut off the alarm. From across the room came the groans and yawns of both Ren and Nora.

She rolled back over hoping to snuggle back into her partners arms only to find him missing. It was then that the smell hit her, the smell of fresh bacon and eggs. Not long after Jaune emerged from the kitchenette carrying two plates piled high with food on two trays. Pyrrha didn't know how he was doing it but he had one balanced on each hand.

He carried them over and handed one tray to bot Nora and Ren with a smile before heading back towards the kitchen. On his way he caught Pyrrha's look, it was a mixture of both surprise and confusion. He simply favoured her with a grin and darted back into the kitchen again, a few moments later he came back out carrying another two trays. He danced his way over to the redhead and proffered up one of the trays, she took it with a smile and looking down at her breakfast found that he had arranged her meal into the shape of a large heart.

"Jaune, if you get any sweeter I think you'll cause me cavities." She chuckled, giving him a light kiss and dug in.

Jaune was a master in the kitchen it seemed, the bacon was cooked to perfection, not too dry and crispy but also not underdone, he had hit that perfect middle ground. The sausages were evenly cooked and simply melted in the mouth.

Once his team had finished their breakfast and the plates had been cleared away the NPR of Juniper took their respective turns in the bathroom and came out prepared for the tournament later that day. The moment Nora was ready (for she always takes the longest out of the four) they made for the door and down to the sky-docks for their flight into Vale and the subsequent trip to the city's tournament arena.

Vale was packed out despite the fact the tournament wasn't due to start for nigh on n hour. It was no secret that hundreds upon hundreds of people had been arriving sporadically in the build up to the tournament, all of Vale's hotels, motels and hostels were fully booked up and it showed.

The streets of Vale teemed with life as the countless numbers of people flocked in droves in the general direction of the stadium. The roar of the crowds could be heard blocks away. The atmosphere within the city had changed dramatically from the usual calm and docile to the pure super-charged electrified excitement that the Vytal tournament provided.

Team Juniper made their way through the crowds to the stadium and through its huge doors, following signs they shifted into a line for competitors and up towards a grouchy looking older man in a black t-shirt labelled 'event staff' holding a clipboard.

"Name?" He demanded in a gruff and altogether fed up manner.

"Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc of Team JNPR." Jaune replied.

The old man ran a finger down the list on his clipboard moving through sheet after sheet of names, he paused when he found their names, briefly checking their photographs against the genuine article he stepped aside to allow them past.

"Partnership division, down the hallway and third doorway on the left." he pointed. Team Juniper nodded collectively and made their way down the hall following his instructions, the opened the door and found themselves in a lounge/locker room with a large group of their fellow competitors. Each wearing distinguishing T-shirts from their respective kingdom, the only ones that weren't were those from Vale being the home team.

For the most part the students of the four kingdoms refrained from mingling, and sat divided. The irony of a tournament designed to bring all four kingdoms together in a show of peace and prosperity.

Jaune led his team to Vale's corner and sat amongst the various teams on the plush sofas. There were several faces which he recognised including those from team CRDL. RWBY were absent as just two days before they had been told they couldn't compete in both divisions and had to decide between either one of the other. As a result all of team RWBY had elected to fight in the individual tournament later that week. Pyrrha had decided to fight with Jaune since he had been disqualified from the singles and still wanted to compete. Ren and Nora both saw their way to entering together as they fought far better together than they ever did alone, seamlessly working together as only a lifelong friendship can allow.

Before long the teams were being called up and one team at a time the lounge emptied itself. Jaune and Pyrrha were called up by event staff at around noon. They made their way up and into the tunnel, following it along they emerged into the arena to be met by the roar of the crowds. The stands were full to the point of bursting, the whole city was seemingly turned out to witness the preliminary matches, intrigued to see who would end up representing who.

The two partners paced their way towards the centre of the cold stone of the arena, it was marred with the signs of the previous battles, charring here, a small splash of blood there as well as a series of hefty cracks scratches from the more ferocious battles. Television cameras hovered above the main enclosure and off to the sides, live streaming to both the world and the huge television screens around the arena.

"And there they are folks! Representing Beacon and the illustrious kingdom of Vale; The world famed Pyrrha Nikos, four time champion of Mistral, that's four times folks and no mean feat! Accompanying the 'Invincible girl' is her partner and team leader Jaune Arc! The man descended from renowned huntress and hero Charlemagne Arc! Can he live up to his legacy? Together they form Team Arkos! Give it up!"

Jaune had to give it to the commentator, he certainly knew how to get a crowd all fired up even after a lengthy morning of matches. He shot a sidelong glance at his partner and smiled.

"Did you come up with the name?" He asked.

"Yes, do you like it?"

"Yeah, I don't know why but it just feels...right, y'know?" he laughed.

Pyrrha smiled, glad that her leader had accepted her choice of name. Though her thoughts were cut short as the announcer called out once again to introduce their opponents, team Arkos busied themselves with readying their weapons. They side-by-side, shields drawn forming a solid wall of metal between them and their foes.

"From Atlas, Team Cloak and Dagger!" the announcer cried.

Across the arena stood two figures concealed under heavy black cloaks, one held a glaive. Its haft was a full five feet long with a bladed spike protruding from its back end, on the other was fixed the blade itself. It was cruel looking with a serrated edge and a long curved blade adding a further foot to the weapon's overall length.

The figures partner had drawn his own weapons, two scuffed and chipped wooden handles, attached onto the end were link upon link of black chains which wound their way to two serrated axe heads, made of a bright golden metal and gleaming in a fiendish light that made Jaune all the more nervous.

"Any ideas Pyrrha?" He whispered nervously.

"You take the one with the glaive and I'll handle the other. Lets see how he handles my semblance." She smiled mischievously. "Just stay close to me."

Jaune nodded and turned his attention to the huge holographic projection ahead of them, it matched the one set behind him. Upon it were the head shots of both himself and Pyrrha as well as those of their opponents although their foes retained their hoods it seemed and their faces remained obscured. Below their head shots were the usual tournament style aura gauges.

Jaune watched the screen as the three starting lights appeared. The first amber lit up. On the second he tightened his grip on Crocea Mors. He uttered a silent prayer for both himself and his partner. And then it was go time, the final light appeared green.

Before he could even react Jaune was struck and sent flying across the arena. He landed on his back driving the precious air from his lungs and leaving him gasping like a fish out of water. He struggled to sit up to find his opponent. To his horror he saw both cloaked fighters unleashing hell in the form of swinging blades upon his partner.

Jaune staggered to his feet and stumbled over to the fray, his lungs burning. From his position, neither of the fighters would see him coming he realised. With a determined look in his eyes he crept his way forward until he was mere feet behind the cloaked assailants.

He gave a savage cry and leapt up onto the one armed with axe flails, raising his sword he repeatedly slashed and stabbed down at his involuntary mount, grunts and groans came from below him as the cloaked figure's aura flared up to protect him.

With a final buck and heave a cloaked arm caught Jaune by his hoodie and, with a yank, pulled him up and off of his shoulders. Jaune collided once again with the cold stone of the arena floor stars flew in front of his very eyes on impact he lost his grip on his weapons and through his pained head he heard them clatter off in the distance.

Above him he caught a glint of malice beneath the shadows of his foe's hood as he began to flourish his bladed flails building momentum. In anguish Jaune looked around for any method of escape but could find none. His sword lay just out of reach and he shield was even further away. His enemy raised the two flails together forming two spinning wheels of death, with a final flourish he brought them up and around to strike the final blow.

Jaune felt the familiar hilt of his sword meet his gloved palm, looking over he found it surrounded in the black aura that marked his partners semblance. The Knight grasped the blade with both hands and swung with all of his might.

Time seemed to slow down as the sword's blade connected with the torso of the cloak in a blinding flash of green light as his enemy's aura flared up to stop the hit. Jaune was blinded, his vision blacked out save for odd blotches of colour which danced around. He heard a loud metallic clang and a dull thump as a body hit the deck next to him, the audience gasped in collective shock. Off in the distance the sounds of metal on metal still rang out as his partner battled on.

Just as his vision returned there came the sound of the finishing klaxon and a triumphant roar from the crowds, he looked up through bleary eyes to see the screen, his aura gauge was in the dark orange, roughly one hit more would have driven him into the red. Both of the cloaked fighters were into the red, even Pyrrha had taken sizeable aura damage finding herself in the yellow.

The moment the green light showed Pyrrha had set off at a run towards the flail-wielder, he flourished and swung at her, she ducked behind her shield. The flail hit her shield and glanced off in a shower of sparks, spurred on she closed the gap and launched a series of well executed slashes across her opponent's body.

Her battle seemed to be going well, she had her foe on the defensive and was landing strike after strike with little opposition, his flails being rendered useless this close. It was just then that the hair on the back of her neck prickled. After years of combat experience, Pyrrha had learned to trust her instincts. She dove to the left and rolled, settling back into a low crouch.

Just in time it seemed as a glaive sliced through the air where her head had been just moments before. She managed to shoot a brief worried glance in Jaune's direction before the tables turned and she was forced onto the defensive, switching Miló into its javelin form to better serve her multi-fronted defence.

Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge were the only five things on the Champion's mind as she struggled to maintain her defences. The battle had ceased to be thought out or strategic for her, it was only a case of acting and reacting to avoid harm. Yet despite her valiant efforts she simply couldn't avoid all of the attacks directed at her. A scrape on the leg here, a hit to the arm there. It all began to add up and take its toll. Something had to change.

If there was a god watching her from above he heard her prayers, from out of nowhere came Jaune, he leapt up and onto one of her assailants, ferociously and admittedly comically, slashing and stabbing away at him like a mad-man leaving only the glaive-wielder for her to have to deal with.

With a smirk on confidence she switched Miló back into its Xiphos state and charged. She closed the gap and rendered her opponent's defences ineffective. The glaive-wielder desperately back-pedalled frantically trying to put distance between himself and the champion only to be met with the biting edge of her red and gold sword.

Out of the corner of her eye Pyrrha caught a glimpse of Jaune being brutally slammed into the ground, his weapons flying away from his grasp. A pit of worry and fear welled up inside of her as she had no choice but to watch the flail-wielder make one final flourish. In desperation she lunged out into a roll and dug deep for her semblance. Focusing upon a mental image of the Knight's familiar sword she reached out with her aura and launched the weapon towards his hand.

Before she could see the results of her efforts her foe was upon her once again, bearing down with a flurry of jabs and slashes that even the 'Invincible Girl' was hard pressed to avoid. She silently commended her opponent on the mastery of his chosen weaponry.

A blinding flash of green light shone out from behind the champion blinding the hooded glaive-wielder. Seizing her opportunity she lashed out with a vicious kick hitting her foe's leg, it broke with a loud snap earning an empathetic groan from the crowd. Following her kick she shifted up knocking his remaining leg out and taking him to the ground. Quick as a wink Miló was raised, the blade hovering a mere half-inch from her concealed foe's chest and ready to plunge in at a moment's notice.

The klaxon sounded and the crowd went nuts cheering and chanting, anything to show their overwhelming support for the victorious 'Team Arkos'. Pyrrha made a sound somewhere between a relieved sigh and laughter as she made her way over to her partner leaving the medical staff to take care of her Atlesian rival.

Jaune staggered upright, his vision still a little blurred and clumsily set about retrieving his weapons. Crocea Mors' familiar weight hanging from his hip once again he sighed and stretched his back. He practically leapt thirty feet in the air when a hand rested itself upon his shoulder. He wheeled around to find himself staring straight into the familiar emerald pools that were the eyes of one Pyrrha Nikos.

"W-we did it!" he proclaimed snatching her up into a bear hug and spinning her round in circles, inspiring another cheer from the crowd.

"Gah! Yes Jaune we did, now can you please put me down, before you break something." She gasped, struggling to breathe under the force of his affections. With a chuckle he set her down again.

"Pyrrha, I believe you saved my very life there. If you hadn't of put that sword in my hand, well, I doubt we'd be having this chat right now." He said, his expression taking on a more serious nature.

"Jaune that is what partners do, you did the same. By diving on one of their fighters like you did you granted me an opening to counter-attack."

"Well, regardless I feel like I let you down. I promise that for next time I will be better!" His eyes burned with renewed determination, just as she had seen during their nightly sparring sessions, and she knew he wouldn't give up until they were in the finals or he couldn't physically stand.

That day was one of the longest and most difficult that the couple had ever had to face. They fought bout after bout with little time to recuperate in between. Countless teams stepped up to face them and each time they were knocked down by the combined might of 'Team Arkos'.

In between matches they found themselves watching, and so it was that they saw the combined forces of team CRDL fall in the quarters and even the seamless efforts of 'Team Sloth' (Nora having provided the name) failed to hold up in the semi-finals, going out in a blazing loss complete with multi-coloured explosions and a hail of green dust-rounds.

Their opponents, two faunus from Vacuo had found that attacking in a head on assault had proven mostly ineffective and...incredibly painful if they ended up caught within the range of Magnhild. So they had settled for short and sharp hit and run attacks using their accentuated attributes to move in and out of harm's way from a multitude of different directions landing solid blows each time and sending the two lifelong friends onto the back foot.

To counter the attacks 'Sloth' had settled into a back-to-back, all round defence. Yet even then they had trouble avoiding attacks, with a resigned nod both had launched a scathing barrage of bullets and grenades completely emptying their payloads into the arena around them occasionally landing a lucky hit but otherwise missing and tearing chunks out of the arena floor. In one final, brutal attack the two faunus ran forward and in a flurry of well aimed punches and kicks disarmed and lay the royal beat down upon the NR of Juniper.

Jaune and Pyrrha had run to the arena's entrance tunnel to meet their severely battered and bruised teammates. Ren had a hand rested on his partner's shoulder both to give support and for help in walking, given that he had quite a pronounced limp.

It was Nora's eyes that broke Jaune's heart however. The unfathomable blue was bereft of their usual high hopes and joviality and were instead resigned and held a crushing disappointment. Her smile was gone, exchanged for a grimace although from pain of frustration Jaune simply couldn't tell.

"We did our best Nora, and that's all we can do. You had them running scared." Ren spoke slowly, trying to comfort the Valkyrie.

"I-I did?" She asked, her smile returning.

"Yeah! We could see the fear in their eyes from where we were watching!" Jaune replied, jumping on the bandwagon and receiving a subtle look of thanks from the team stoic.

"Well there we have it folks! After a thrilling day of matches between the finest teams the four kingdoms have to offer we have our finalists! The team you know and love, local favourites, Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc of Vale! And their fierce contenders, the gruesome twosome themselves, the faunus brothers from Vacuo! Cacajao and Alces Capulet! Would our two finalist teams please retire to the preparation lounge and ready themselves for today's grand final!"

'Team Arkos' gave a nod to their teammates and began to walk off when a solid hand grasped at Jaune pulling him back.

"Jauney! Grind them into dust!" Nora had a cold look in her eyes above her usual smile, a chilling sight to see. Jaune clapped her on the shoulder.

"You got it!" he winked.

"Be careful, keep your guard up." Ren advised.

The Valkyrie released him and the two made their way through into the now empty preparation lounge.

Despite his reassurances of imminent victory to his hyperactive teammate Jaune wasn't feeling all that confident. Throughout the day he had fought to the very limits of his abilities but seeing his own teammates picked apart by their next opponents had brought an element of realism to him. He and his partner had both qualified through a mixture of skill and blind luck for the finals of the Vytal tournament's partnership division, which was something that gave him a feeling of immense pride.

He knew that back home his family would be watching with bated breath and every available extremity crossed for him, and he prayed he would not disappoint. A young woman in an 'event staff' T-shirt came to collect them before long and sent them on their path down the tunnel.

"Good luck guys, give 'em hell!" She grinned to them.

Both fighters walked slowly and in silence, each preparing themselves mentally for what was about to go down. It was Jaune who broke the silence.

"Win or lose, I'm glad to have you fighting by my side partner." He looked straight ahead to the ever growing portal of light. She paused, grasping him by the shoulder and turning him to face her, her intense emerald eyes boring into his very soul.

"I'm incredibly proud of you Jaune. You've come a long way since Forever fall. Now let's get out there and give our new fans a fight worthy of the record books." Hey eyes lit up with determination and excitement of the kind only the adrenaline rush of battle could provide. As a final gesture she kissed him, a brief yet wholly reassuring contact. He gave her a quizzical look.

"For luck." She shrugged. "Now lets get out there, the crowds are getting restless."

And so they were, from the end of the tunnel they could hear chanting, the crowds were actively chanting their names. The two fighters locked hands and made their way out onto the floodlit stone of the arena's enclosure to the deafening roar of the crowds.

Looking around Jaune caught sight of their friends and teammates in the front row of the stands just behind them. Nora beamed down at them and gave an energetic wave and thumbs-up to them from her seat next to a bandaged but smiling Ren.

Behind them sat a literal sea of Beacon hoodies and T-shirts as well as a number of hastily made signs on which were scribbled slogans like 'Arkos4Life' and 'Lets make it two champions!' To his absolute surprise, just behind their friends sat the combined faculty of Beacon; Port, Oobleck, Ozpin they were all there and smiling down at them. Even Goodwitch had a light smile on her face. In her hands she held a sign reading; 'Do it Arkos!' which made Jaune chuckle.

With the whole of Beacon's support at their back they turned their focus to their foes, Cacajao and Alces. They stood poised and ready a short distance from them eagerly awaiting the starting klaxon. The team from Beacon readied their weapons and watched, waiting.

The klaxon sounded and Jaune threw his arm into the air eliciting a roar from the crowds with a shout of;

"For Beacon!"

There you are! I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. I'll be finishing up on the Vytal tournament next time I should think, or maybe the chapter after that ready for a Christmas special type thing. My second fic will most likely be getting posted sometime in January (giving myself some time off over Christmas). As always, follow favourite and review, all opinions are welcome.

I'll see you all in the next chapter.