Hello all! I'm back with another chapter and would just like to give my thanks for all of the support! We've come a long way since the start, so once again thank you all for showing interest in this little story of mine!
As a side note, being sick is great. You can't move anywhere, you constantly feel hot and cold at the same time. Every five seconds you cough and you really don't feel like doing anything. It's the best!
Seriously though, being sick sucks.
So… anyone remember when I said there wouldn't be more than two weeks between updates? That was fun while it lasted… If you want to blame something for the chapter being late blame my ineptitude and, well, real life. But hey, I should be able to get the next chapter done within a week so look forward to that!
Well, onto review answering!
Mad Library Scientist: Yes, that was one of my favourite moments in AH history and I'm glad so many people caught on.
StygianSloth: Good to see you enjoy!
Fuzzyjacket: Good times indeed.
Dutoc: Thank you! Jaune is definitely in for some interesting events in the future.
thehidden6lade: Haha, good to see you picked up on that.
NinjaFang1331: As always, thank you.
Cloy552: I had a great time writing that chapter just because of that scene. The fact that people kept asking for more Neo made it even more satisfying.
Thebluebuffalo: Haha, glad you liked it, hopefully I can keep earning those '10 STARS' from you! I may take in the suggestion though, you'll have to wait and see.
Da Etan: Thank you, I'll try my best. And to be honest it happened to me too on several occasions during editing the chapter.
RyoTheSaiyan: Haha, yes that was the reference. Volume 1 is finally over so it's time for a couple of original chapters to help get Jaune up to scratch before Volume 2 begins.
DarkElucidator: That was actually really funny, don't worry you'll get some eventually. Though your review does give me some ideas…
Dracohalo117: Wow… considering this story is based on humour for the most part I don't think something like that will happen… maybe, but I am happy to see you liked the tumbleweed part!
DoubleRX: The fight scenes were fairly brief due to me not wanting to repeat the show too much, you've all already seen most of the scenes so I put most of the detail in the showing their thoughts and explaining the events. Even though Jaune's fight scenes were original they were kept fairly short due to his lack of skill when fighting an excited Neo. Seriously she could beat Yang easily when she was apparently holding back, I'm sure Jaune wouldn't stand a chance against her.
SMxABULM: Thank you!
Uchiha Rai: Definitely.
WaitWUT (Guest): No…? When they landed the first person Jaune saw was Pyrrha.
OBSERVER01: You'll see what happens when it happens.
Master DV: Sorry you feel that way, but I am grateful that you took the time to point out what made you believe so. I am trying to improve the points you have made, but it might not be very immediate. But hey, as a rookie writer I'm allowed to make mistakes until I get the hang of things right? Anyway, I appreciate you giving me reasons instead of flaming me in all caps. I will take them into consideration as I am writing this. Even though you may not be reading this, thanks! I'm sorry my story wasn't up to scratch, hopefully when I become a better writer you'll critique me again and actually enjoy what I wrote. Good luck in your endeavours to become a serious writer!
AD Lewis: Thanks! And Nora technically isn't writing slash fiction as long as Jaune is a girl ;D
Eogos: Good to hear you found it interesting. Who knows, you might be right, you might be wrong. All that's certain is you'll have to read to find out.
Wolfang21: Tumbleweed was a good, er, tumbleweed. He put up a great fight but was taken down too soon.
Amvmaster: Good to know you're enjoying it!
Pyro daemona: Sorry it took so long! I'm happy to know you've enjoyed it, and give your friend my thanks for suggesting my fanfic!
Syntras: Yes a Sword Art Online Abridged reference just because it's so funny.
And that is all! Onto the chapter!
Disclaimer: I'm sure you get the point by now, I don't own RWBY or any other franchises mentioned or hinted at. They all belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 17- A boatload of trouble.
Jaune growled in frustration. He sent a powerful kick at the training robot in hopes to release his ire but was instead sent straight to the ground as it took advantage of his imbalanced weight. He gasped as it swept his leg out from under him, causing him to hit the ground hard. The drone seemed to cackle teasingly while it walked back to its designated resting zone as the computer deemed the match over. The knight in training sighed, it was the fourth time in a row he had been taken down by the level two robot. Sure it was by hunter standards but with it being level two out of fifty it was still a rather heavy blow to his pride. If the fight at the docks a few days back -and these level two robots kicking his behind across the arena- taught him anything, it was once someone managed to disarm him he would lose.
These people were nothing like the street thug he had managed to beat. They were not only better than him physically, but that short woman's mental attacks were just as arousing- uh, devastating as her kicks. He had a finite amount of time to train for the Vytal Festival and recently he had come to learn time and again that there were too many things he needed to work on to become a decent hunter-in-training. That strange mailman had shown him he needed to work on his aura control, the street thug had revealed he needed to work on his awareness during a battle, and that woman proved he needed to have some way to counter-act his less than favourable skills when disarmed. He had also learnt from Pyrrha that he still needed to work on his swordsmanship, and on top of all this he had to continue training his leadership, teamwork and academic skills. There was no way he'd be able to finish everything to an acceptable standard for the festival.
There was also one more thing the hunter-in-training needed. A ranged weapon. Considering the confrontations he'd been through recently a ranged weapon would definitely have saved him quite a lot of grief. The main problem was he had no clue what in Remnant to get, all he'd ever learned to use to fight Grimm with was Crocea Mors. By Pyrrha. This year.
He thought back to the ranged capabilities of his friends' weapons. Pyrrha's Miló had the nifty ability to convert between a spear, xiphos and a rifle, Ren's StormFlowers were guns by defaults and Nora had… well, grenades. Lots and lots of grenades. The blond leader shivered unconsciously. Ruby had her customisable, high impact… gun scythe thingy, Blake's Gambol Shroud could shift into a pistol, Yang's Gauntlets had those ki-blast-esque attacks and even Sun had those gunchucks! He roughly tugged at his hair as he realised just how many ranged attacks his friends had. The only people he knew didn't have a ranged weapon were Cardin and himself. Dust, he was pretty sure Velvet had some sort of range too… maybe.
The young man growled and punched the droid in front of him in irritation only to receive a fist to the gut and a robotic boot to the face in retaliation. The air left his lungs as he was harshly flung into the wall, his back arcing in pain. I swear when I get a way to attack from afar, I am going to kick that robot's can. He hung his head, maybe he could get Weiss to show him how to use dust to make his sword shoot fireballs, or maybe he could find something in the shops. Like a bow that launched lightning or a gun that shot ice…
The knight could feel himself drool at the possibilities. But first things first, he'd need to ask the resident weapons expert for some help divining the most suitable weapon for him. The blond knight was sure she would help, after all they were best friends and fellow leaders!
"Nope." Stated Ruby simply, a small amused grin haphazardly slapped on her face. Jaune puffed his cheeks childishly. The two were currently in her dorm room attempting to strike a deal, and not wanting to disturb their belongings Jaune opted to stand while Ruby sat on her bed. The room was fairly clean thanks to Weiss' efforts but as usual the rose's bed was a mess, her pillows and blankets stuffed into the corner of her bed in a lump.
"Oh come one Rubes, please?" He received silence in return. "I'll make you more cookies." Silence. "With strawberry frosting?" Jaune watched in disbelief as the young reaper managed to deny cookies, cookies of all things. "But Rubes, cookies!"
The girl shook her finger at him, a cocky smirk on her face. "That wont work on me Jaune, you already promised that I could have cookies as long as I paid you a smile!" The writer clicked his tongue in annoyance. The red and black haired girl tilted her head to the left slightly as she brought her finger to her mouth in false confusion, "Why don't you get Pyrrha's help? I'm sure she would be more than happy to." The hunter-in-training sighed while shaking his head negative.
"I feel that lately I've been a nuisance to her. I mean, we're supposed to be partners and all I've done is hold her back by making her train a second rate huntsman like me." He explained pessimistically, dejectedly kicking at the ground, "I'm sure she's really just wishing for some time to herself to train."
"That's not true!" Cried the champion as she burst out from the lump of Ruby's pillows. The two leaders stared blankly at the red haired girl, Jaune most of all not expecting her to be there. The young student rubbed his eyes, trying to see if it was an illusion or not. What is Pyrrha doing in Ruby's bed? The Spartan girl blushed at the attention she had gained by her rash action, "I-I, uh…"
No one had any time to question the champion, much to her relief, as a rather strange object fell onto Jaune's head. The blond frowned as his vision was obscured by the unidentified falling object. Pulling off the offending thing he was surprised to see a pair of lacy red p- "Kya!" Cried the resident weapons fanatic as she leapt off the bed and kicked the poor writer out the window. The two red haired girls stayed silent as a loud scream reverberated through the shattered glass for a few seconds before being silenced by a sickening crunch.
Yang hurriedly burst out of the bathroom clad in nought but a towel, a worried expression clear on her face, "What happened? It sounded like some girl was in trouble!" Ruby blushed heavily and pointed to the shattered window. She stayed silent as her elder sister walked over to the crime scene. Pyrrha just sent the younger girl the most incredulous look she could muster
The Spartan girl moved within whispering range of the rose, "Were those yours?" The girl merely smiled at her, her face resembling that of a Cheshire cat.
"No comment."
Jaune rubbed his back with a wince, he was lucky that he had landed on that pile of branches. Pyrrha smiled warmly at him as they made their way to the arena. "Are you sure you're okay?" He returned her smile with a light grin.
"I'm fine Pyr, so what ranged weapons did you have in mind?" He asked curiously. The champion giggled in her hand once she realised that Jaune was practically bouncing through the hallway in excitement. He looked like a young child waiting with bated breath for his Christmas gifts. The red haired girl gave him a look,
"First we need to check how proficient you are with each weapon I have in mind before we go and get you one. After all, it would be a waste to get one that you weren't good at." She explained, her tone adopting one of a teacher. The blond boy nodded slowly, trusting in his partner's reasoning. "I've called in a few favours and got a couple of ranged weapons that I believed suited you, but I didn't get anything to modify your sword because I figured your family wouldn't appreciate me doing that." Jaune blinked, he hadn't thought of that. His parents would kill him if they found out he modified his weapon in any way. The two came to a stop near the training rooms.
As they entered the arena he couldn't help but marvel at the small makeshift shooting range. At the beginning of the range sat a table with several weapons lying on it, practically ripe for the picking. He grinned giddily as he observed the different types of weapons. It was a hard choice as each weapon had their own benefits and drawbacks. His hand rested on a bow. Pyrrha smiled as he partner bounced around the table, he really was like a child sometimes but that was just what she loved about him. Her mind took a step back. Love huh…
The blond knight walked up to the range with the bow in hand and took aim. He had never tried to use a bow before, instead only learning how one worked for a story of his. The young author smiled, drawing back the string after notching the arrow correctly. Using all the knowledge he had about bows he stuck out a finger to help him aim once more. Pyrrha watched in awe and shock as Jaune loosed the arrow and- hit the seats to the far right of him. The two watched stupefied at the arrow's strange flight pattern. Not wanting to give up he notched another arrow and launched it, only for it to hit the roof behind him instead. Growling in determination he continued to loose arrows at the target unrelentingly only for them to fly off at awkward angles. The blond boy only stopped once an unlucky arrow had soared out to the window and wedged itself into a passing Nora's pancake. Needless to say, they needed to take a break from the ranged training to… calm down, the young rampaging Valkyrie.
The Spartan girl sighed, unfortunately the bow wasn't the right weapon for him. Maybe a weapon that was easier to fire would suit him better. "Why don't you try this?" Jaune looked up to see that she was holding a crossbow. Accepting the training weapon he loaded a bolt and took aim at the target once more, a little less confidence than the previous weapon. The two watched as the weapon misfired, causing the bolt to lop off the crossbow harmlessly. A dull thud echoed through the otherwise silent training ground as the bold fell comically onto the floor. "… moving on." Continued Pyrrha without missing a beat to make sure Jaune had no time to feel sorry for himself. Dust knew her partner had an unfortunate negative streak hidden under his usually outgoing personality.
The blond boy looked on in interest as she retrieved a blue javelin from the table. "Maybe this might work." Secretly she was hoping that he would have an affinity for the same weapons as her. It would work to further solidify the bond they had, and more training time with him didn't sound too bad. The red haired huntress-in-training handed over the weapon and stared as Jaune took a stance. He walked a few steps back to allow for some room to make momentum before he ran the short distance forward and threw the spear.
The young man sighed. If it wasn't just plain sad, it would've been rather amusing that the spear only travelled a few steps in front of him. The head was buried surprisingly deep into the ground though, so that was a plus. "Any other weapons Pyr?" He asked curiously. She nodded hurriedly.
"There are still quite a few weapons left. Surely there will be at least one." She mumbled to herself. Jaune tilted his head,
"I don't know who this 'Shirley' person is, but I'd at least like to give each of them a try." He grabbed a boomerang on the table and attempted to throw it, only for it to circle around and smash through the window. Before she could move to check up on him, the boy just wordlessly grabbed another weapon off of the table only for it to end just as badly as each weapon prior.
Pyrrha placed a hand on her chin in thought as a throwing knife flopped over her head. Perhaps she had been going about this in the wrong way. She sidestepped to the right as an axe wedged itself into the ground she had been standing on.
"Jaune. Have you ever had any experience using any form of ranged weaponry?" She asked curiously. It would've been better if they had started off building on his past experience rather than randomly picking and choosing. The blond knight nodded,
"Kind of. I've had brief training on how to use different types of handguns, other guns and a Frisbee." Pyrrha felt the need to question the choice of 'frisbee training' but decided against it. Instead she just handed him a semi-auto pistol.
She watched carefully as Jaune took aim, hoping he'd actually manage to hit the target this time. The blond held up the gun with his left hand and fired three shots in quick succession before tossing the gun to his other hand in a flashy manner and firing three more. He clicked his tongue upon noticing that the last bullet on each hand missed the bullseye. "I missed." He commented with a frown. The champion just stood stunned at his surprising show of aptitude for the small weapon. If this was what he could do with 'brief' training, she was excited for what he could do if he had more.
"Just how much training have you had?" She asked curiously. The knight scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, holding up two fingers. "Two years?" He shook his head, "two months?" He nodded affirmatively. They postponed continuing the range practice as the bell rang loudly, signifying that the cafeteria had began to supply lunch. Pyrrha smiled happily, "We'll continue this when we have free time." The writer returned her smile and nodded.
Halfway to the cafeteria Pyrrha had a sudden epiphany, "Wait, why didn't you think of using a handgun since you've had training?" Jaune laughed nervously,
"Well, I thought of all the cool gadgets and weapons that you guys used and it kind of, um, slipped my mind?" The champion gave him a look, "Oh come on Pyr, you have to admit. A simple handgun has nothing against Miló! Seriously, a sword, rifle and spear all in one? It's pretty nifty." Pyrrha sighed,
"Yes weapons can be cool, but it's more about functionality than appearance." She explained, "a weapon that is nothing but looks will not help you out in the battlefield." Jaune frowned but accepted her wise words of wisdom. "A problem I see with a handgun though is that it might not have the strength to take out a Grimm."
"But Ren and Blake's weapons are capable of doing that." He pointed out. The red haired girl frowned, that much was true but their weapons were customised to do so. A simple handgun found in the shops wouldn't be very helpful against Grimm. Human and Faunus opponents maybe, but not Grimm.
"And then Renny and I kicked the burglar out of Nora's Bed and Pancakes! Literally!" Exclaimed the owner of the ever-changing establishment excitedly as she waved her arms about. Ruby and Yang applauded as the story ended, tossing a couple of flowers around her.
Ren chuckled and lazily outstretched a finger, "I told the detective to leave before Nora assaulted him out of boredom." Blake blinked,
"Wait, isn't the term normally 'Bed and Breakfast'? Why go to the effort of naming it 'Bed and Pancakes'?" She queried curiously.
The young man sighed, "When the only food available ever is pancakes I'd say 'Bed and Pancakes' is more suitable." He explained. The bookworm nodded slowly, seemingly accepting his reasoning as she continued with her book.
Weiss' eye twitched, "Aren't you focussing on the wrong part?" She asked rhetorically. The huntress-in-training shrugged nonchalantly, "I mean, what was a detective doing at your… erm, establishment?" Run shrugged as he took another bite out of his lunch.
"Apparently there have been a series of serial thefts occurring at several establishments across Vale." He explained, quoting the detective. "They weren't very serious thefts but they've still thrown the police for a loop. According to the detective each crime scene had several things in common." The students stared at him; their interests peaked. Something in common?
"What was it?" Asked Ruby, tilting her head in a similar manner to a dog.
Ren frowned as he thought back to the conversation he had with the man. The boy leaned in to the group, dropping the volume of his voice slightly. "The first thing they noticed was that there was a green dust crystal left at each crime scene. Whether or not this is their calling card is in dispute. Secondly, each area hit seems to draw a curve in the map. Luckily so far there have been no fatalities."
Yang frowned, "So you're saying this curve points to Nora's bed and Pancakes being the next possible target?" The boy in green nodded. "What are the names of the places that have been hit?"
The black haired boy fell silent in thought, his eyes closed as he tried to remember. "I think it was, Roses and Guns, Emily's Headlight Fluid and Mountain Ice Cream." He listed, "one of the detective also mentioned that-" Jaune's head hit the table as a ringing interrupted his teammate right at the interesting part. However, his interest was peaked as well when his scroll began to beep along with everyone else on Team JNPR.
Attention to all who participated!
The results of the writing competition will be showcased on 4PM at the fairgrounds near the docks of Vale! Prizes will be given out to those who were capable enough to achieve first through third place!
All are welcome to join in!
Team RWBY looked over Jaune's shoulder in envy, bar Blake who hadn't known of the competitions existence beforehand. Ruby pouted as she read the message on his scroll, "Jaune if you win second prize you have to share!" She demanded her fellow leader. Weiss nodded along vehemently, for once actually agreeing with her leader's decision. The blond laughed,
"Thanks, but I really doubt I'll win second place." With a cry of nonsense the two began to list reasons for him to share the prize. The group spun in surprise as another ring came from behind them, saving Jaune from the effort of prying the two girls from his arms. They were surprised to see Velvet fumbling embarrassedly with her scroll, the small gadget bouncing around as if it were a bar of soap. She gasped in anguish when she missed the expensive device by a hair, causing it to hurtle to the ground and shatter.
Or at least it would've if Nora hadn't caught it at the last second. "I got it!" She cheered happily. The group of seven collectively wiped their brow and released the breath they hadn't realised they had been holding. Velvet sighed in relief and bowed to the Valkyrie to represent her thanks.
"Th-thank you. Coco would've murdered me if I managed to drop another one." She mumbled, reading the message she just received. The knight gave her a questioning look, another one?. Noticing his curious look the bunny Faunus answered, "Um, that was almost the third time this week."
"But isn't today Tuesday?" The blush on her face as she muttered incoherent apologies answered Yang's question for her. "Uh, right well, how did your short story go Velv?" The brunette's expression visibly brightened upon the mention of her story.
"Oh, it went swimmingly thanks to Jaune!" She exclaimed happily, "oh, and thanks again for spending a day to help me. I'm sorry it took so long." Jaune grinned sheepishly as he waved it off,
"It wasn't too much of a hassle." He laughed, "Besides, who could say no to such a cute girl-" The words had naturally flowed out of his mouth and it had taken a moment for him to register what he had just said. I think my stories are starting to affect me… Unfortunately for him the damage had already been done, Velvet began blushing like mad, and Pyrrha and Team RWBY were sending him light glares behind his back.
Yang laughed dangerously, "So Vomit Boy, while you were avoiding us like the plague you still managed to find time to hand out with a 'cute girl' like Velvet huh?" The blond knight began to sweat bullets, I really regret apologising for avoiding them now…
When the members of Team RWBY and the blond duo had finally arrived at Nora's business the other day after the whole dock fiasco, he had made sure to apologise for actively avoiding them for half a week. Yang's response was, and he quoted, "You were avoiding us?" This led to her team slowly realising that he had indeed been hanging around them less, which then brought him to his current predicament. They now had that to blackmail him with, and would not let that fact go.
He smiled apologetically, "Hey, I already said I was sorry for what I did. There isn't much more I can do about it." His partner appeared to have a sudden look of realisation,
"You were avoiding them? Is that why you jumped out of the window that one time?" The knight, despite his best efforts, was unable to silence the red haired champion in time, resulting in the collective confused stares of everyone around him.
"You… jumped out of a window?" Snickered Ren incredulously. The blond student nodded, shooting an irritated glare at Pyrrha out of the corner of his eyes. The champion smiled warmly, silently apologising profusely.
"I was going through a tough time okay!" He cried childishly, "Don't judge me!" The eight other students watched the boy comically jump out of the cafeteria window, shattering it.
"…" The group fell silent, unable to compute what had just occurred in front of them. A loud cry followed by a crash rang from the general vicinity of the blond that had just jumped through a window.
"Mr Arc, what are you doing destroying school property and assaulting a teacher?" The hunters and huntresses in training froze at the strict tone of one Glynda Goodwitch. "You do understand the consequences of your actions right?" They shivered at the implications,
"N-now Miss Glynn, I'm sure I-I can explain this in a way that won't subject me to horrible punishment. Then we can just walk away and laugh about it." The teacher stayed silent, gesturing for him to continue. "… I got nothing."
"Punishment it is Mr Arc." Yang felt a cold chill run down her spine with the finality in the strict teacher's tone.
"M-Miss Glynn? I thought you said you wouldn't- b-but! No, wait you promised! Miss Glynn what are you doing with tha- Not there!" The eight students couldn't help but wince and feel sorry for the blond knight each time they heard a harsh snap and cry of pain from behind the wall. Neither of them wished to look out the window as currently no one was in the mood to be traumatised. After several more unidentifiable sounds flowed into the cafeteria and scarred the students within for life, Jaune was then gently levitated back in through the window using the witch's semblance. His shaking was the only proof of the unimaginable punishment he had gone through around the other side.
"Not a word." He stated simply, his voice cracking slightly. "Sh-shall we head out to the docks then?" He suggested in hopes of changing the conversation topic. Fortunately it appeared to work as the students hurriedly finished their lunches so they could leave, including the other groups that had overheard the harsh punishment he had undergone.
"S-so what's your story about Velv?" Asked Yang, hoping to get rid of the memory of what had just transpired. The Faunus blushed intensely,
"W-well, I uh. It's nothing really…" She muttered almost incoherently as she wiggled on the spot in embarrassment. The group looked on curiously. "Even with Jaune's help it's probably no that good- not that I'm saying you didn't help Jaune! Um… well-"
The blond laughed, "Nonsense!" He exclaimed with a friendly grin, "Your story was great!" The girl's blush somehow managed to deepen at the compliment, drawing out a knowing smirk from Ren. The knight smiled with what he assumed was a reassuring gaze. Velvet was a lot more talented than what she herself believed. She easily absorbed anything he taught her and tried to get it right to the best of her ability. She may not have been a genius, but she more than made up for it with her tenacity, and even then she was still very smart in her own right.
"D-Do you really think so?" She stuttered out hesitantly, a hopeful tone in her voice. Jaune gave her his trademark Arc grin and shot a thumbs up causing her to politely turn away. She wouldn't dare look at him in the eyes lest he get any weird ideas. "So are we going to head to the docks now or…?" She trailed off, "I'd really like to invite Coco to come with us." She admitted. The rose to her right shrugged nonchalantly.
"The more the merrier!" She cheered. Nora grinned and cheered along with her in her usual exuberant manner. Velvet smiled and bowed in thanks before calling her friend on her scroll, making sure not to drop it.
When the group started to head out and Nora was sure no one else was in earshot she whispered to her childish friend, "Why were we cheering? I kind of dazed out thinking about pancakes." Ruby giggled at her lack of attention. Feeling her mischievous streak coming along she whispered back,
"We're getting a bunch of pancakes." She joked. The pancakes and sloth-loving female cheered loudly, fist pumping the air so hard Ruby could've sworn the ceiling cracked from the force. The hyperactive girl laughed maniacally as she ran after the others and leapt onto her childhood friend's back. Ren grunted as she slammed hard onto his back, but he managed to stay upright. It wasn't the first time she had tried to tackle him into submission.
"Nora, what are you doing?" He asked curiously, not fazed by being hit with the force of a truck. While he never minds giving her a 'slothyback' ride as she oh so lovingly dubs it, certain assets were pressing up to his head that he would rather remove from his thoughts before he decided to become 'together-together' with Nora in front of all of their friends.
The girl grinned, seemingly unaware of the affect she had on the boy's calm demeanour. "Onward to the pancakes!" She shouted as a war cry, kicking Ren's side like a horse.
"Alright Nora just hold o-" He was interrupted by an exclamation of pain from none other than himself. "Nora, where did you find those?" He queried calmly while tentatively rubbing his arm. The girl had somehow managed to find cowboy boots complete with spurs.
She scoffed, "Nothing is impossible on a conquest for pancakes, nothing!" She huffed and crossed her arms, giving the group an impatient 'holier than thou' look. "Now onwards peasants! The queen of the castle demands we get there as soon as ASAP!"
Yang snickered and moved closer to her sister, "Since when was she almost as bad as Weiss?" Said girl glared at her indignantly, having heard the comment.
"Hey!" She cried. The heiress turned to the childhood friends, "and Nora, you don't say ASAP like that, it's counterintuitive. Everyone knows it means 'As soon as possible' so 'as soon as ASAP' doesn't work." She chided in a teacher-like manner.
The busty boxer moved to the youngest of the group once more, "Since when was Weiss almost as bad as Goodwitch?" Jaune yelped loudly upon hearing the name, hiding behind Pyrrha from the flat chested girl much to the champion's glee. The white haired songstress glared at Yang,
"Hey!" She cried as they continued down the hallway. Nora however glared at her in a childish manner,
"How dare you correct the Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Rule of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes!" Cried the Valkyrie. "Any further action against me and my kin will result in your immediate pun-ishment!"
Weiss blinked, "Pun-ishment?" Pyrrha, Blake and Ruby, all having been subject to the torture that was pun-ishment, shook their heads and animatedly made gestures for the ice queen to stay quiet. Ironically, their wordless messages fell on deaf ears as the girl continued, "What kind of imbecilic consequence is that?"
Nora gasped, "That is enough you flat chested hooligan! Time for the pun-ishment!
The heiress frowned, "Me? A hooligan? If anything Yang is the hooligan among us!" She shouted back. Her, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, a hooligan? She was nothing of the sort! Jaune snickered as a look of realisation appeared over his Snow Angel's visage. "No- wait- I am not flat! My chest is of average size! Average!"
Yang moved her hands over her heart in mock pain as if wounded by the girl's earlier quip. She sent a wink at Nora as she spoke, "Oh princess you wound me!" She exclaimed dramatically, "Is that really all you think of me? Weiss must you be so flat about our relationship? Can nothing get through your Weiss cold heart? Do you really Sch-need to be this frosty?" Each horrible pun left the group wincing in pain worse than when Jaune was being reprimanded. Even Nora felt sorry for the poor girl she had subjected to such torture, but she had to be a strict queen so Weiss would come to reckon her power.
Jaune in the meantime was having trouble holding in his laughter, each joke slowly bringing him closer to the edge. "Come on Weiss Queen, cheer up! Or are my puns just too cool for you?"
"Alright I yield!" Cried the beaten girl as she collapsed outside of the airship. "I submit to your power Oh Slothy One." She bowed politely. What in Remnant am I being forced to say? Then again, no price was too high so long as Yang's puns would stop. The orange haired girl smiled triumphantly and basked in her victory, high-fiving the blond girl to her right. On the sidelines Velvet giggled, their group had to be very closely knit to be able to talk to each other as smoothly as that. If she didn't already have her team she might have felt a little jealous. Though she was surprised that Ren could somehow deal with his childhood friend's continuous antics.
She smiled warmly at the two teams, a few more chuckles escaping from her lips. Hopefully they would continue to act this way as they got closer to the fair at the docks, it was taking her mind off of worrying about the results. She just hoped that after all the trouble she made Jaune go through for her sake she at least did well. "So where's Coco?" The brunette Faunus' head perked up upon being addressed.
"She'll be waiting for us at the fair." She answered. Blake nodded slowly while an awkward silence fell over the two. Velvet wriggled slightly in embarrassment, not knowing what to talk about. "G-great weather we're having right?" The older girl blushed, did she really just resort to asking that? The black haired girl raised a brow but decided not to say anything about her conversation topic.
Blake frowned in thought, am I really that hard to talk to? She wondered, "So… you never got to tell us about your short story," she started slowly, "is it alright if you talk to me about it?" Velvet nodded timidly, not wanting to offend the girl opposite.
"It's not that good though." She admitted modestly upon handing over her scroll. "I wrote it on here if you wanted to read it..." The introvert smiled and accepted the story, making sure to give her thanks to lessen the girl's tension. Velvet began to shuffle on the spot once more while Blake read the piece of fiction intently.
The bookworm read on in surprise at Velvet's writing, it was surprisingly good considering how much she was belittling it earlier. She took note of the brunette's modesty before continuing the story, slowly becoming invested in the characters. It was a little cliché at times and had a handful of points where it focussed too much on dialogue, but it was okay nonetheless. She smiled as she gave the scroll back to its owner, it was a short, pensive story about a bedridden boy sick with scarlet fever whose only friend is a pet bunny.
Though the fact that the boy's name was John Arch must have been a coincidence. Then again, Jaune did help Velvet with the story. The introvert sent a sceptic look at the blond boy currently unconscious on a seat further down the airship. Nora apparently had the bright idea of knocking him out to prevent him from releasing his stomach contents all over the ship. Fortunately or unfortunately for the air-sick knight it was working. "So, whose idea was it to name the boy 'John Arch'?" She asked curiously, an innocent tone to her voice. The rabbit Faunus tapped her chin in thought.
"It was Jaune's I think." She said unsurely. It was technically the truth, she was pretty bad when it came to making names so he had suggested not thinking too much about them. She ended up with the names 'John Arch' and 'Vivi' for the bunny. Completely original, no connection to anything whatsoever. It also appeared that Jaune either didn't notice, was being nice or didn't want to bring up the names so they went unchanged. She didn't want to bring up the problem with the names either in case he genuinely didn't notice. Though Blake didn't need to know about that.
"Oh was it now?" Laughed the cat Faunus as she made a mental note to interro- question Jaune about his choice of name later. "So what prize are you planning to win with this?" She asked curiously.
The brunette waved her hand dismissively, a small diffident smile plastered on her face. "Please. It's hardly good enough to make any of the top three." Blake watched on in interest as Velvet's smile warmed slightly, "Though it would indeed be nice if I could accomplish second place." She admitted.
The black haired Faunus nodded slowly. What is the prize for second? She hadn't been there for the whole introduction to the competition so she didn't bother learning about the specifics, like the prizes, and just rolled with whatever the others were talking about. Besides, she wasn't the type to write. She much more enjoyed reading. However, if memory served right second place was…
"I didn't know you liked frozen yogurt Velvet." Commented the introvert in an attempt to continue the conversation. She had overheard Weiss mumbling to herself about that being one of the prizes so she assumed that may have been what her fellow Faunus was trying to earn. The girl shook her head,
"I don't mind it, but it isn't exactly on my Christmas list." Admitted the brunette.
The bookworm blinked, what other prizes were there? "Then is it the strawberries?" Ruby was currently going through a drooling-in-her-sleep phase as a result of dreaming about a years worth of strawberries. Velvet shook her head once more. Another uncomfortable silence fell over the two female Faunus once more as Blake ran out of things to say.
"Nora, Ruby, Yang!" Cried Pyrrha in a reprimanding tone that reminded Velvet of a mother. "Jaune isn't a volleyball!" This peaked the girls' attention, causing Blake to ask Nora's caretaker and childhood friend, aka. Ren, what exactly was going on.
"Well, for a while after Nora knocked him out Jaune was sleeping peacefully until she threw his unconscious body at Yang out of sheer boredom. That kind of spiralled down to a game of volleyball where the loser has to buy the winner food." Velvet giggled at their antics while Blake sighed in contrast. "Oh, and Ruby joined in because she thought it looked fun."
"It's a draw!" Cried Nora as Jaune arced over their heads. The group gasped as the airborne knight woke up mid-air, much to his shock and horror. Before he could comment on his situation, and land for that matter, he came to a terrible realisation. He was on an airship.
And with the sudden realisation came the sudden urge to empty his stomach. "Oh gross, Yang! You got vomit on your shoe!" Cried Ruby, taking a step back from her older sister. Jaune landed on the ground with a flop, what was he doing in mid-air?
The knight winced slightly as the blond girl screeched near his ear. "Eew, Rubes get it off!" She squealed as she shook her foot around the airship. The group of seven shuffled around the confined space in order to avoid the young woman.
"Yang, don't wipe it on me! This is a new cloak!" Blake pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to the blond bombshell freak out, this was going to be a long trip.
Jaune groaned along with his stomach. That was a stupidly long trip. "I'm never riding that metal death trap ever again." He grumbled. Weiss rolled her eyes at the downed form of the knight, kicking him lightly to try and pull a reaction from him.
"What are you going to do, walk?" The blond writer moaned, giving the girl a determined yet weak grin.
"I can try!" He cried adamantly. The resolve in his tone unfortunately was ruined as another groan escaped from his stomach. Pyrrha hid her amused smirk as she rubbed his back soothingly,
"Don't push yourself Jaune." Having ducked into the trashcan to release the contents of his stomach once more, his partner's advice flew directly over his head. "Do you guys want to go on ahead? I'll stay with Jaune until he calms down a bit." It would just be the two of them. Alone. Without the others. The group shrugged,
"We're fine with waiting." Pyrrha nodded along with the busty blond. It was probably for the best, dust knew what she'd do to her partner if they were alone. "C'mon Vomit Boy, you're one of the reasons why we're even here in the first place!"
Jaune groaned from within the metal can, his voice a mere echoing whimper. "I can't go any further, go on without me. Just leave me some ammo, a little water, maybe some chips if you have them." Nora began to tear up at the downed form of her glorious leader,
"Don't die on us Jaune Jaune Arc! You're going to make it. Remember, you still need to tell your Weiss you love her!" She wailed as she shook his body, really not helping the situation whatsoever.
Weiss blushed, "I thought there wouldn't be any more puns." She mumbled, 'You know you liked the Weiss/Wife pun~' The heiress glared inwardly, the extra commentary wasn't necessary. "Nora, he's not dying."
Ruby burst into tears as she hugged the blond knight, "Don't go Jaune! I still need your cookies!" Blake sighed at the display, people were beginning to stare.
Ren saluted the limp body of his leader and male friend, "You were like the brother I never had Jaune." He stated solemnly. The two sane people of the group almost fell over in surprise. Even Ren, the silent stoic male of the group, was participating in the antics. "You will be remembered." Weiss grew a tick mark,
"He's not dying you imbeciles!" She barked in irritation.
Blake brought up a finger as she added onto her teammate's statement, "But he will be if you keep shaking him like that Nora." The Valkyrie opened her tear stricken eyes to see the comical gooey lump of what she assumed was her leader.
"Jaune no, don't go into the light!" She cried, shaking him harder than before. Meanwhile Yang's sides were threatening to tear as she rolled on the floor laughing madly. Not even her killer puns could make her laugh this much. To the right of the spectacle was a certain champion who was beside herself with worry along with a concerned bunny Faunus. Blake and Weiss shared a look before walking off to the fair in mutual silence, the two actually agreeing on something for once.
Nora tossed the still blobby Jaune haphazardly onto the plastic seat in front of the wooden stage the results would be announced from. The entire trip there was a lotmore of a hassle than it should have been. He lazily gave a thumbs up to his partner when she asked if he was alright. He had somehow survived losing all contents of his stomach and dry heaving for a few more minutes, and now was learning just how appreciative of the ground he really was.
"Whoa, hotshot. You don't look so hot." A voice broke him out of his bout of self-loathing. "If you needed a pick-me-up you should've called 'hun" The young student turned his full attention to the voice and was happy to see a certain fashionista. She tilted her sunglasses down and gave him a suggestive wink, "I do still owe you for these clothes after all."
Upon closer inspection the brunette was wearing a familiar looking set of clothes. "Wow, you are rocking that outfit Coco." He adorned an appreciative grin as he gave her a once over, "Seriously, you look great." Several girls gave the second year student a jealous glance but otherwise said nothing.
"Coco you came!" Cheered Velvet as she hugged her teammate. The young woman grinned and gave the bunny Faunus' rump a good slap, earning an embarrassed yelp from the girl.
The group around the girl blushed in embarrassment along with her, save for Yang who instead gave the fashionista a high five. "Wouldn't miss it for the world Velv." She responded with a chuckle. It was just too easy sometimes.
"Testing testing, is this thing on?" The group of now ten students turned to see a middle aged man on the stage holding the mic. "Welcome one and all to the results for our little competition to see who could be Remnant's new top writer! Now, we've called you all out of your busy schedules to this fair because some of our prizes, or rather all of them, aren't exactly something we can just mail to you." Jaune blinked, why did this man look so familiar?
Roman groaned inwardly, this had to be the stupidest, most obsolete job in existence. Who ever announced stuff like this live? He was just glad that Neo's disguise was working, otherwise he'd be in a lot of trouble. "Now, honourable mentions to a few short stories for being good but not quite making the cut." Yang's mind shut down briefly upon seeing the list in the announcer's hand unfurl onto the stage before comically rolling off of the stage and making it three rows down before stopping. This was going to take a while…
Nora sat in one spot bored out of her mind. It had probably been a whole hour since the weird man started reading out unimportant names. She looked at the time on her scroll. It had been exactly three minutes. That was three minutes too long! She wanted to see her glorious leader win already! "Hurry up or I'll break your legs!" She cried impatiently. The brown haired man on stage seemed to shake in his boots as he threw away the list.
"I guess that list is unimportant then. Onto the part you've all been waiting for. I'd like to present the prizes!" The contestants and onlookers stared intrigued at the spectacle as the prizes were revealed. "For third place, one lucky winner will get to have dinner with the famous author Jane Caur and half a years worth of tuna!" Yang gasped as she was suddenly tackled to the ground by a black and white blur,
"I didn't know you were the dominating type Blakey." Commented the blond, "Not that I mind~" The black haired girl rolled her eyes and ignored her partner's teasing.
"Why didn't you tell me one of the prizes was all the tuna I could ever want?" She growled, shaking the blond girl.
"Well, you weren't there for when we read out the flier so I wanted to win it as a surprise for you." The cat Faunus sighed and let go of the boxer. She had good intentions so she decided to let it slide. Yang whimpered,
"Aww, done already?" Blake rolled her eyes once more and sat on a plastic chair.
"For second prize we have a special dinner for three and a years worth of strawberries and any flavour frozen yoghurt of your choice!" Ren wordlessly moved a seat further to his left while Ruby and Weiss began to drool. "And lastly, for first prize we will publish your fiction on a magazine for all to read, and you also receive this boatload of pancakes!" The audience cheered as a sport yacht pulled alongside the docks. Nora of course cheered the loudest when she noticed that the boat was covered in piles of pancakes. She rubbed her hands together, with this her sloth army will be unstoppable! The knight felt his stomach heave upon seeing the mountain of pancakes rock back and forth.
"And now to announce our wonderful winners! To those who either won or got a honourable mention, congratulations you're all great writers. And to those who didn't, well you tried… and failed. Sucks to be you huh?" The audience couldn't help but gawk at the man's sudden change, a large grin on his face as he cast out snide remarks at the people who hadn't done too well. To be fair however, thanks to a certain Valkyrie no one knew who had made the honourable mentions list.
Roman cleared his throat, "Now in third place, a story written about the consequences of trusting strangers, please give your applause to…" The disguised crook's eyes widened by a fraction, "Cinder Fall!" The crowd gave the unknown writer an obligatory clap. "Congratulations Miss Fall for attaining third prize."
Blake gave a small mewl of protest, "No fair." She muttered under her breath.
"In second place we have a rather intriguing piece of fiction that details the life of a sickly boy suffering from scarlet fever and his pet rabbit, congratulations to Velvet Scarletina!" Ruby squealed loudly for her friend. Even Weiss was uncharacteristically radiant, opting to jump around excitedly with her partner. "Your tickets for dinner will be sent via scroll. Otherwise the rest of your prize will be available whenever you ask."
The young rose grasped the rabbit Faunus' hands firmly, "Velv, you will share some of your prize with us right? Right?" The brunette giggled at her friend's rather adorable expression of need and nodded. There was more than enough to go around.
Meanwhile Jaune was grinning from ear to ear, he had avoided the one prize that would've made his situation very difficult to explain and at the rate it was going he may avoid attention altogether. He was rather proud that Velvet managed to reach second place with his help and felt that was enough to sate his writer's pride. He stood up and stretched, the event was probably not going to go on much longer so it would be fine if he left early and hit up some stands. The blond author was starving but currently the mere sight of food left him dry heaving.
"Now in first place was a story that's intricacy stood out from the others. It's detail despite being a short story was something only a true author could pull off." Jaune's interest was peaked while he made his way down the middle of the rows of cheap plastic chairs. I swear, if Nora made first the world will end. He thought to himself, "A story about a young man who makes a mistake and is forced to traverse his kingdom in order to clear his name." His step faltered, Oh bullsh- "Please put your hands together for the author that won, Jaune Arc!" He froze mid-step, this was not happening. Roman grinned sadistically -on the inside of course- taking pleasure in the boy's expression. "Could you please come up to the stage so we can have a picture for the magazine when we publish the story for all to see?" Asked the announcer, putting a strange emphasis on his last few words. Jaune gulped, he was going to look like an overconfident asshat for supposedly getting up even before his name was called.
Reluctantly, he began the walk to the stage. The young man shuddered once he felt the gazes of the entire audience upon him and he felt his stomach heave slightly, whether from nervousness or motion sickness riding up again he wasn't sure. He gave an awkward smile to the announcer after reaching him. The walk of shame was embarrassing to say the least. The man grinned, "So, Mr. Number one writer. Smile at the camera." The knight shot the camerawoman a small smile. The device flashed and the young girl gave a thumbs up to Roman. "Alright that is all. Thank you all for coming! As a sign of our gratitude everyone here will receive a free voucher for some food stalls here." He turned to Jaune with a happy expression, "Mr Arc, here are the keys to the boat. Make sure you treat it well, it is very expensive after all. Once again, congratulations on winning a boatload of pancakes." Jaune blinked, unable to believe they had actually given him a literal boatload of pancakes. Boat included. What was he going to do with a boat, and where was he going to put it?
He said his thanks and farewells to the announcer man and grouped up with the rest of his fellow students. Weiss gave him a look, "Isn't it rather narcissistic of you to walk to the podium before the announcer even said anything. I didn't realise you were so conceited." The blond student sighed,
"That was a coincidence. I honestly thought I wasn't going to get first place so I decided to leave early to get something to eat." His brow twitched upon being on the receiving end of several unconvinced looks. "Hey, you try vomiting out the food from yesterday and not feel hungry!" He cried angrily. Ruby shrugged along with Nora and Yang. They would be pretty miffed if something like that happened to them and they didn't get something to eat.
Pyrrha and Velvet walked up to the boy, concern evident in their features as they asked if he was okay. Weiss turned to see that Blake, Coco and Ren, although initially disbelieving, were indifferent after hearing his reasoning. She shook her head, deciding to leave the subject alone.
Once the group of ten reached the docks where the boat was parked they couldn't help but appreciate the design. It wasn't too big or too small and seemed to be relatively new to boot. Yang grinned and turned to her fellow blond, "Hey Vomit Boy, can I name it?" The boy in question turned to the ship only to dry heave upon seeing the pancakes once more. Looking at food is apparently still not a good idea right now… He just nodded his head in response, not caring too much about the girl's wish. "Great! So in celebration of Velv's story getting second place and Jaune getting first place, I now present to you…" Nora grinned as her cue came up. The group of eight watched in mild interest while Yang paused for dramatic effect and Nora drummed in the background, "The SS. John Ark!" Silence ensued.
"… Why that name?" Asked Ruby curiously.
The buxom blond's smile evolved to that of Cheshire cat status. "Glad you asked sis! It is the combination of John, which sounds like Jaune but is the name of the main character of Velv's story, and Ark, which is a boat that Professor Oobleck told us about during history class." The students groaned at the horrible joke. It was twice as bad considering she had to explain how it was a joke in the first place. Before Jaune could find it in himself to get over his motion sickness and laugh three students immediately threw him onto the boat, effectively silencing him. Somewhat.
"Oh dear dust I'm going to be sick." He grumbled, "Whose bright idea was it to give the guy suffering from motion sickness a boat?" The Valkyrie quickly tackled Jaune off of the ship when she noticed his dry heaving coming back harsher than ever.
"No glorious leader, not on the pancakes!" Needless to say, it was an eventful two hours before they could get back to Beacon to celebrate.
"I still can't believe Ozpin had somewhere to store your boat." Commented Weiss upon arriving back at Beacon. Jaune felt his stomach rise once again. The one time he hadn't vomited on an airship, and it was because he had run out of things to vomit long ago. He still had no idea why his motion sickness had worsened as of late, nor why he was in mid-air when he regained consciousness on the airship to Vale but he had an inkling that they were somehow related.
Yang rolled her eyes, "Well a lot of students have personal vehicles so it would make sense that they would need a safe place to store it. For example Bumblebee." The heiress frowned, it was sound logic but still hard to accept. How did they have the insight to get a place to store a boat of all vehicles?
Coco grinned at the group, "So what are we gonna do to celebrate this occasion? After all, hotshot here managed to get first place." The fashionista grinned and spanked him, eliciting a loud yelp from the boy and causing him to jump. He gave her a hurt look,
"Don't do that!" He cried, rubbing his rump in shock. The second year smirked dangerously and sauntered up to him slowly. She roughly grabbed him by the collar, dragging him closer to her face. The two were practically a hand width apart and he could feel her hot breath on his face.
"And what are you going to do about it?" She asked curiously, a hint of suggestiveness in her voice. Jaune swallowed audibly with a blush, extremely aware of their close proximity. "Hit me back?"
"I-I j-just might." He somehow managed to retaliate between his nervous stutters. If this was what his dad referred to as banter, then he was supposed to be confident. Unfortunately he seemed to fail his dad's 'wise' advice.
Nora cheered silently for her glorious leader, turning to her best friend and partner with an excited smile. "I think they're gonna boop." She whispered to him.
Before the situation could escalate any further Pyrrha came between the two, "W-well um, so what did you think we should do to celebrate?" Coco gave the champion a confident look. Challenge accepted.
She smirked and laid her arm onto the blushing author in an almost possessive manner. "Well Pyrrha, I was planning on more of a one-on-one celebration with just me and him." His blush deepened at the look she gave him. "And trust me when I say one on one."
The Spartan girl growled at the brunette, she was not going down without a fight. She hurriedly grabbed her partner by the hand, "I think a group activity will be a lot more suitable of a celebration. After all, Velvet did well too."
Coco laughed, "I think a party of two is absolutely fine, but if you insist I guess I could involve Velv as well." The Faunus girl blushed at what her teammate was insinuating.
"Uh, we're all here too y'know. And we can hear everything you're saying." Commented Blake with a blush of her own. Ruby was currently hiding under her hood embarrassedly while Weiss tried to calm her down with a red face.
"Yo guys!" Called a voice. "There you are. I've been lookin' all over for you." Jaune sighed in relief, Sun had come to his rescue. "I have something I wanted to ask you all." The group gave him a curious look.
"What do you say to going on a group trip to the training facility in Vale to prep us all for the Vytal Festival?" The ten students blinked. Training facility?
After worrying about his skills as a hunter our hero has finally decided on getting a ranged weapon. Whether or not it will help him is left to be seen however. Our blond protagonist appears to be facing a streak of unluckiness as he had to face not only vomiting for minutes on end but also the wrath of Goodwitch and ownership of a boat he never wanted or realised he would get, and what is Cinder scheming by entering her own competition? Find out next chapter as Jaune goes on a date with the devil!
And that is where we leave it for today! Not much happened this chapter save for a few plot points sewn through and a large amount of humour as per usual. I wasn't entirely sure how to end the chapter so I left it there.
For those who skip the A/N at the top but still read this one, I'm sorry for the incredibly long delay for this chapter. Don't worry though, as an apology I will get the next chapter out within a week and hopefully in time for Christmas!
Those who can identify a specific reference win a boatload of pancakes, boat may or may not be included.
