Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! If all goes well this might actually come out on Christmas somewhere... Anyway, thank you all for your support and please Review, Favourite and Follow if you enjoyed!
Reviews!
Fuzzyjacket: In a future chapter maybe? Who knows?
TheHumanoidTyrant: Wow, good to know you enjoy my fanfic that much. Hopefully this chapter lives up to expectations.
Hahli Nuva: Thank you!
Amvmaster: Yep. Can't tell if he's lucky or not though.
DarkElucidator: Yeah that was a reference, nice catch. Though the boatload of pancakes would obviously float with the magic of sloths, duh.
The Truth of Words: Well considering a major plot point of the story is Jaune trying to make sure no one figures out his secret, it may take a bit for everyone to learn it.
BDFun97: Yeah, the reference came along naturally when I was writing it.
LaughingLefou: Thank you, it's fantastic to know that this is one of your favourite fics! I enjoy The Phantom Nevermore and Immortal by the way, you've done a great job with those.
garoorar: You may be right, you may be wrong. However, if you are right I give you permission to say you called it. Do you really think I'll let Jaune substitute with his sister when there's so much potential for him to be unfortunate in every way possible?
StygianSloth: Hopefully this is still relatively in time for Christmas when I post it.
Thehidden6lade: Nope, you were spot on with that reference. Thanks for the praise, and I'm better but being sick is still a pain.
Cloy552: Then you obviously haven't seen me, and by extension Jaune, use a bow. Seriously, if you want to clear a room just give me a bow. I've even managed to hit a golf ball backwards.
And Jaune hasn't found out through the magic of plot, childish trust and the fact he doesn't watch the news.
NinjaFang1331: Thank you!
Guest (Guest): Thank you. I enjoy writing scenes with Coco in it, always makes interactions between other characters, namely the ones interested in Jaune, funny.
Daedelus' Muse: Yes, yes it was.
CrazyTrollR49: Yeah that conversation was pretty funny. Can't wait 'till Jaune, Neptune and Sun are in the same room talking about snacks…
Zyxis Ouroboros ReArchtypist: Yes, Chicken Little.
SMxABULM: Thanks!
Dutoc: Thank you, Neo is one of my top three characters to write interactions with Jaune for.
AD Lewis: Well… it's still Christmas some parts of the world now right?
The Richmaster: The trip will be fun and full of antics to say the least.
guy (Guest): That part was pretty funny, yes.
Disclaimer: I still don't own RWBY or anything I reference in this fanfic. They are all owned by their respective owners.
Chapter 18- A date with destiny… and Cinder
The group stared blankly at Sun. "Um, who are you?" Queried Pyrrha curiously. The red haired champion gave the blond Faunus as mistrusting look upon noticing the familiarity in which he looked at Jaune with. "And how do you know my partner?" She added on. The knight's eyes widened when he realised Pyrrha hadn't been at the docks the night he introduced Sun.
Sun's eyes widened. "She's your partner?" He exclaimed loudly as he gestured animatedly at the woman, "dude, nice!" He laughed, smacking his friend across the back. "Honestly, I initially thought Blake was your partner considering how concerned you were." The young writer laughed it off, stating the two were just book friends.
Blake shook her head at her fellow Faunus, "Anyway, what's this about training?" Queried the female bookworm, obviously annoyed. "You said something about a facility in Vale?" Sun grinned at the black haired girl and nodded affirmatively,
"Ozpin was kind enough to tell me about a facility just outside of Vale that is used in training for the Vytal Festival. Its got everything, hot springs, arenas, shooting galleries and state of the art fighting simulators. It even has an arena of similar make to the one used in the festival." His grin widened when he saw that he had won several of them over with his pitching skills. Weiss frowned, she was all for the idea of one-upping- er, preparing for her enemies, but such a high-standard facility would surely cost fortunes in lien. "And the best part is, it's free until the beginning of the Vytal Tournament!" Jaune smiled thankfully at his childhood friend. A shooting gallery meant he had better equipment to train using a long ranged weapon.
"So when are you planning this trip? 'Cause Team JNPR will be with you all the way." The two blonds grinned and bumped the back of their fists.
"Sweet, though it'll probably be just Neptune and I with you guys, Sage and Scarlet are busy. We're thinking of heading there in two or so days, sound good to you guys?" Ruby grinned along with the two blond leaders,
She smirked mischievously as she put her hands on her waist, "I hope you aren't leaving us out, because as leader of Team RWBY I decided-"
"It was a group decision." Interjected Weiss.
'Yeah, whatever, we decided we will join you." Sighed Ruby, her parade snowed on by the Ice Queen.
Coco smirked, "Yatsuhashi and Fox are busy with some stuff, but Velv and I will definitely be there." Sun's eyes sparkled, this is going to be great. He knew it would be a great idea inviting Jaune around his friends.
"Dude, you have no idea how happy I am to have you for a friend." He admitted, a few manly tears falling down his cheeks. "I'm serious, this trip will be a million times better thanks to you."
Jaune frowned when the monkey Faunus turned away, the last time he had heard that line from Sun was when he… Ruby, Yang and Nora all 'aww'd' at the unexpectedly sappy line from the blond. As the groups split up for the day, chatting excitedly about the trip, the blond hunter in training towed his long lost friend around the corner by the tail. "Alright spill. My sisters aren't around this time so who are you after now?" He stated with all the seriousness in the world. Sun gasped dramatically,
"I can't believe you think I have an ulterior motive for this." He clasped his hand over his heart in mock hurt, "What ever makes you think that I-"
Jaune just gave him a disinterested look in response, "The last time you ever mentioned how happy you were to be my friend was that one family trip to the beach. You really enjoyed watching my sisters and the beach balls."
Sun scoffed, "Of course, they were really colourful so they caught my eye now and again."
"… We didn't bring any beach balls." Stated the blond pointedly. The other male blinked, well played.
"Alright fine, I did want you to come, but then I realised if I could bring you then Blake would come since she was your partner. Well, that was before I found out the red head was you partner instead. I'm still fine with you coming with Neptune and I though, it'll be a bro's vacation!" Cheered the open shirted boy.
Jaune rolled his eyes, "Blake is on Ruby's team."
"SCORE!" Cried the student much more enthusiastically. "I mean, the more the merrier right?"
The knight gave his friend blank look, "Right, well if you need me I'll be headed to the library to make some plans." Muttered the knight, leaving his pal to fantasise about the upcoming trip. The young man frowned as he traversed the maze-like halls of Beacon, each looking just as similar as the last. According to the announcer, someone that went by the name of Cinder Fall would be the one having to meet with 'Jane Caur' after winning third prize and he needed to make sure nothing fell on the date of that. Neo had told him to be on the lookout for clashes like that as Roman had been feeling under the weather lately and forgot to cross-reference the timetables before making appointments.
He walked up the stairs deep in thought, increasing his awareness of his surroundings using his semblance to avoid accidents. There were a lot of things he had to make a schedule for before the start of the tournament, such as days to train, study, writing and socialising as well as free days to keep the schedule flexible. Usually, his favourite ice cream would be helping him out but she was busier than normal as of late.
Roman had joked that she found some guy to entertain her but he subconsciously hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't know what he'd do without her- as his publisher of course. Jaune sighed, all he could do was believe that she wouldn't stop publishing his works. It sounded slightly pathetic, but it was true.
"Remnant to Jaune?" Called Amethyst as she waved her hand directly before him. He leapt back in surprise at the sudden appearance, how did she get the drop on him he had the senses of a Faunus currently? "What's shakin'?" She asked curiously, flopping carelessly backwards onto one of the many couches in the library. The young hunter in training rolled his eyes at her carefree nature. At time she reminded him of Yang, only less violent.
"Just planning trips and things." He answered with a sigh. The older woman smirked at his tired visage, taking note of the obvious lack of sleep.
She beckoned him to move closer and gestured towards the open space next to her. The blond writer smiled thankfully and sat politely in the space, trying to use as little possible so the purple haired woman was still able to lie down. "So I heard from Yang you came first place in that competition thing and won a bunch of pancakes. How were they?" Jaune shrugged,
"Dunno, ask Nora's stomach." The two shared a quick laugh. The young Valkyrie didn't know how to hold back when it came to her favourite treat. "We also won a boat. Though who would expect that a literal boatload of pancakes would also come with the boat?" Amethyst snickered at the thought and shrugged, it was unorthodox but nothing to worry over.
"So what's keeping you up now? Still upset over Alice?" She asked with a concerned tone, stretching her arms as she did so. Jaune smiled warmly at the girl but didn't answer immediately.
He shook his head slowly, "I know you're trying to be a worried older sister right now, but it's fine really." He chuckled lightly, "Besides, I already have four older sisters worrying about me and the look doesn't suit you." The woman pouted,
"Well excuse me for trying to be a good friend, especially since I still owe your sister a favour." She pursed her lips at the knight, "To think you wouldn't be ecstatic that your beautiful upperclassmen was worried about you, what kind of man are you?" He rolled his eyes at her antics, she really didn't suit being an older sister.
"I'm serious about wanting to know what's biting at you though." He would stagger back at the sudden seriousness in her one if it weren't for the fact he was sitting down. Though that didn't stop him from giving her a blank stare in response. The librarian gave him an irritated, yet still playful, look. "C'mon Jaune, out with your secrets! I need gossip for Yang." He grinned,
"Aha! You reveal your true colours!" He exclaimed triumphantly while pointed down at her with a finger, "And the answer is no by the way." He added in a polite tone.
She shrugged her shoulders, not too disheartened by the defeat. "Fair enough." She sat up with a short stretch and lazily got off of the couch, "I'll be sorting some books over there if you change your mind and want to have a heart to heart. Blake just returned the seventy three books she borrowed from last month and I haven't even gotten through half of it." Jaune chuckled and wished her luck with her admittedly futile endeavour. By the time she was finished with those Blake would probably be back with another stack of books.
He sighed, now onto more pressing matters. He had to deal with the meet and greet as Jane Caur. Roman, in his infinite wisdom, accidentally signed him up on a day where his sister wasn't available. Meaning he'd have to wear that annoyingly believable woman disguise again. A loud bang echoed around the library as Jaune headbutted the table, whyyyyyyyyyyyy?
The knight sighed and turned back to his schedule reluctantly. After I get through that ordeal I have to do a little basic training until we head to the facility to, well, train. Then there was the books he needed to be writing and the fact that school was still going throughout this. He sighed, soon he would have the blissful relaxation that came with the mid-semester break and hopefully recharge his batteries enough for the Vytal Festival and more training. He had a lot to play catch-up with if he wanted to be up to scratch before the tournament that came with the Vytal Festival. With his schedule sorted the blond author nodded to himself, glad that a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
There was still one thing disturbing him though. A nagging feeling that had been growing since a week ago. He had asked Blake to teach him about Faunus for his research, not that she knew about the true purpose, and he had psyched himself up to tell her only to chicken out at the last second. Now though, that feeling of doubt and need to tell someone had been growing since then. Normally he'd be fine with it but after making so many friends he felt guilty for keeping such a secret from them, especially after the whole revelation with Blake.
Jaune mentally tore his hair out several times over. It was slowly killing him and tearing him apart, not telling anyone. He felt like he had to tell someone or he'd explode with guilt, but who? Blake, Yang and any of the teachers or his female teammates were out of the question. Ruby would be easily bribed by cookies as it was not a life or death matter, Weiss would hate him forever if she found out and Ren would eventually be forced to tell Nora, who would in turn tell everyone else. Coco wouldn't let me near Velvet if she caught wind of it and Velvet would probably think badly of me if I told her about it.
There was only one option left. He had to tell Sun. It was definitely a bad idea considering the blond Faunus was definitely the type to not be able to keep a secret, case and point him 'spilling the beans' of Blake's background not even a minute after she told him. But he was his best friend from childhood and wouldn't judge him too harshly... right?
Once again the second thoughts came in as he began to doubt his choice. He was sure if he told anyone else they would overreact, hate him forever or not be able to keep the secret, so it didn't leave him with very many options. It was either tell him or suffer, and many may not have realised it, but Jaune really didn't like suffering. He frowned with reluctant acceptance, he would do it. Next time he saw Sun he'd tell him-
"What's up bud?" Asked the monkey faunus in question as he dropped down from the roof. Jaune leapt out of the couch in surprise.
"Not yet Sun, I'm still not mentally prepared for this!" He cried, hiding behind the red furniture.
Meanwhile in their dorm room Ren was worried about his own childhood friend who had suddenly flown backwards through a wall. "Nora what happened?" He asked curiously, wiping down the bloody mess she had made. The girl grinned as she wiped the blood from her nose, stars in her eyes.
"Renny, give me a pen or a scroll to write down on stat!" She cried excitedly, "I have a spontaneous urge to write down another short story!" The boy winced, hopefully it wouldn't be another partly slash fiction about him and his leader. Pyrrha still couldn't look at the two males talk without losing a copious amount of blood.
"Aww, don't you just look adorable." Cackled Roman as he looked upon the dress-clad form of Jaune. The writer growled dangerously at his editor, if he didn't know any better the man set this up on purpose. "My little Janey Waney is going on her first date. Don't worry kid, I got you the best table seats at the most expensive restaurant for this. If you couldn't tell, I'm pretty professional when it comes to women. After all, you can't spell 'romantic' without 'Roman'!" The blond boy dressed as a girl grew a tick mark as the man began to guffaw at his own joke.
"I swear, I am going to strangle you one day and it is going to be glorious." He stated simply. From behind the two Neo grinned, she was definitely going to be there strangling the orange haired headache alongside with her cute little author. "And never call me 'Janey Waney' ever again if you don't want that day to be today."
Roman grinned, nonplussed about his threat. "Sure sure kid. Good luck with the date though." You'll need it if you're dealing with that woman. He added mentally. Poor guy now had to deal with Cinder and that obviously would not end well. He had to question what exactly she was scheming by writing her own story into the mix though. Neo had been the one to decide on what short stories were the best, and in order to make things fair for the contestants Roman had removed the author name from the stories. That made it all the more amazing that she still managed to pick out Jaune's. Sure it was a pretty good story, but there were a lot of stories that were just as good. Honestly, by that brat's usual standards it was pretty mediocre. The male criminal did wonder though why she had picked that story about a boy named 'John Arch' for second place... Never mind. Note to self, smash something heavy over the brat's head while he's asleep to keep Neo's 'innocence' intact.
The young looking woman grinned enthusiastically at the blond, 'Just be yourself and she probably won't murder you' she said to him confidently as she grabbed his arm to make use of his semblance. Jaune blinked, she wasn't serious about the murder right? 'Honestly, I'm not sure myself... Good luck!' He yelped loudly as she suddenly pushed him out the door, shutting it closed with a loud bang. Well that didn't bode well for him.
From behind the door Neo was seething, how dare that fiery seductress rig the results to go on a 'date' with her author! It was outright unfair, why didn't she think of that!? Roman watched the girl go on a temper tantrum fitting of her childlike visage, tossing furniture and kicking walls. He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned his gaze skyward whilst adorning an 'are you kidding me' expression, this was going to be a pain to deal with until the knight got back from his date.
'Jane' sighed as she looked at the card Roman had handed her earlier. It was about a twenty minute walk from her current location. That meant a twenty minute walk through Vale in a dress. The cross dressing knight sighed, she never thought she'd be forced to wear this convoluted disguise once more. Luckily she had managed to convince Neo to let her not wear the high heels along with it on account of her nearly breaking her legs after three steps. She shivered at the thought of Nora figuring out that the only thing she needed to do to break people's legs was to force them to wear high heels.
After trudging through a very embarrassing walk through Vale Jane finally made it to her destination, a classy fine dining restaurant that was no doubt very expensive. The blond writer slowly stepped into the establishment and took note of just how high class the place was. As always, the colour white was used frequently along with inside plants to make the restaurant feel all the more fancy. She spared a glance at the customers and stifled a giggle- er, manly chuckle at how uptight and high class they all were. Almost reminded her of Weiss.
"Good evening miss." Greeted a rather well dressed waiter. He bowed politely to the young woman, "Do you have a reservation?" He queried, looking over a list rather diligently.
Jane smiled and put on the best girl voice she could muster. "Uh, y-yes. Table for two under, um, Caur?" Her heart skipped a beat when the man shook his head upon skimming through the entire list. How could that be? Roman said he had already gotten seats for him. Unless... "Perhaps they may be under..." She swallowed audibly, blood rushing to her cheeks in embarrassment. "Janey Waney?" The young writer resisted the urge to storm out of the high class restaurant and strangle Roman where he stood as the waiter's eyes brightened.
"Ah yes, a table for two. Right this way." Jane nodded and followed him through the tables to a window seat upstairs that overlooked quite a large amount of Vale. There were very little customers up here and the area appeared to be of an even higher class than before. How Roman managed to afford these seats was a mystery. "Please sit. Do you wish for some refreshments or are you still waiting for another?" The blond forced a polite smile.
"Um, I'm still waiting for someone, a Miss Fall. I will order when she gets here." At least, she hoped it was a she. It would make for a very awkward night otherwise. Cinder was a girl's name right? "Until then I am content with just water." The waiter nodded curtly and walked off briskly. Jane sighed in relief once he was out of earshot. She really felt out of place in such a posh establishment, there wasn't really much around to pass the time other than her own thoughts.
She thought back to an idea she had realised earlier in terms of her semblance. In combat, the novice knight normally used it to increase perception and speed up thought process to pull off long chains of attacks and blocks, but it also occurred to her that she could augment her reaction time as well. It was an interesting concept, but she would have to wait until the conjoined trip between her, Ruby and Sun's teams. That brought him to his next thought, the trip. Sun definitely wasn't the type to suggest something like that unless he had another plan hidden within, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not considering her childhood friend's personality. Another motive to question was Ozpin. What did he have to gain by notifying Sun of the existence of that facility? In fact, why did he tell Sun and not the teams that actually went to his school? It wasn't as if he knew that Sun would relay it to them, after all he had no idea that someone from Vacuo could know people from Vale well enough. That also begged one more question, what was Ozpin planning?
His thoughts about his enigma of a headmaster was interrupted as a woman approached the table. "Miss Caur I presume?" Putting on his 'Jane' persona he smiled politely and gave a nod. "Perfect, my name is Cinder Fall, it is a pleasure to meet you." Jane gave the older woman a gander and was surprised to find a rather attractive black haired beauty wearing a well fitting red dress. "I've heard a lot about your work." She continued upon taking a seat. "Your writing is very good, almost as if you've experienced everything you write firsthand."
The writer gave an appreciative laugh, "Well, it's always nice to meet a fan." Jane looked over the menu, there were quite a lot of expensive looking meals that she didn't particularly want to waste on the trip back to Beacon. She grimaced at that thought and decided to try find something that would be alright going back out rather than coming in.
Cinder laughed and waved her hand dismissively, a slight shine in her eyes as she observed her date's behaviour. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan, in fact I hadn't read any of your books before a week ago, but I am... interested, in you." Jane's eyes widened as she felt something touch her knee briefly. Some pervert had better not be under the table or they would be in for a surprise.
"So I take it you weren't too pleased with getting third place in the competition? Unless you wanted half a years worth of canned tuna." The two laughed briefly,
"Well you can't say I was disappointed. I have always wanted to meet you ever since I first heard of you." The blond writer shifted uncomfortably as the woman before her gave her a sly look, licking her lips noticeably once the two made eye contact. Surely she wasn't one of... those, types of women right? There was nothing wrong with that, oh no. But there would be dust to pay if she tried to do something to her only to find out that she wasn't a her. "So, what are you thinking of ordering Miss Caur?" Jane shivered at the way her alias rolled off of the woman's tongue. This was not going to end well she knew that for sure. She whimpered slightly as the black haired woman traced her hand along her cheek. It was strangely warm, hot even.
Cinder grinned, taking pleasure in just how submissive the toy knight was being. She could see the hesitance on his eyes, it was almost empowering. She smiled to herself as she feigned looking over the menu to steal a couple of glances at her prey, if she played her cards well enough she would have one more pawn to add to her little game of chess. Who knows, her little pawn might actually promote himself to knight if he did well enough.
"Um, I guess I'll have this soup as my entree and uh..." It was really hard to want to eat something you know you'll only regurgitate in a couple of hours. Such good looking and sounding food was hard to pass up on. "I'll have the burger with a side of chips and salad." Not exactly fine dining, but surprisingly still on the menu. At least she wouldn't feel bad with a dish as plebeian sounding as that.
The breathtaking woman in front of her paid no attention to her internal struggle and called the waiter to order the food. Jane blinked as she heard a string of words she was unable to follow flow out of the woman's mouth as she ordered her dinner. Was that even a food? Or edible? She looked over the menu once more and realised that there were indeed pages upon pages of foods she dared not attempt to say out loud. Her eye twitched at one of the names, it sounded more like a chant to summon some monstrous being than something you'd want to call a food. The knight continued to get lost in the absurdly complex names for what was more than likely a leaf on a plate until a cough caught her attention. That was right, she still had to entertain this woman until the night was over.
"So, what is it like being a renown writer?" Asked Cinder curiously, a playful tone hidden in the edges of her voice. "Anything special you do in your downtime between stories?" She gave a light smiled to the blond girl, "Perhaps maybe learn how to combat Grimm?" Jane laughed nervously,
"Why would I need to learn that? We're in a time of peace and if there's ever trouble the hunters will come protect us." For whatever reason that appeared to strike a chord within the black haired beauty before her. She swallowed lightly at the slight annoyed face of her 'date'. "A-anything else you'd like to know?" Cinder shook off her unwanted thoughts and tapped her chin, a small grin slowly growing.
She put on an 'innocent' tone of voice, "What do you know about Roman Torchwick?" Jane frowned at the question, why did she ask that? The seductress smirked upon seeing her confused expression, "It's a simple question, no need to overthink it."
The young woman nodded slowly, "Well, he's my editor. He lives with my publisher and apparently works with dust in his off time." She said cautiously. Cinder resisted the urge to laugh in a condescending manner at his obliviousness. Did this boy really not watch the news or look at the Internet? Surely he should've realised his 'editor' and his lackey are actually wanted criminals by now. In fact, it was a miracle Roman had lasted this long with the boy. At least she knew the blond was trusting to a fault. "Did I say something funny?" The woman shook her head negative,
"I just think it's cute how dense you are Jane." The writer felt her skin tingle once more with the way the woman said her alias. It both alarmed and intrigued her, which was a dangerous combination when it came to women. "It's rather refreshing seeing someone as trusting as you." The woman in red smirked inwardly, she wouldn't really use the term 'refreshing'. Maybe 'pitiable' would better suit the childish writer.
Jane frowned, what exactly had she meant by that? "Your entree Miss Fall and Miss Caur." The waiter slowly placed the food before the two women and began to pour a bottle of wine into their glasses. She paled a little, this is worrying. She was still a minor. The blond woman smiled politely at the waiter and gave her thanks, making sure to move the drink to the side slightly after he left.
Cinder raised a brow at the action, "I take it you're not one for alcohol?" The young writer shrugged,
"I've never had a drink that I enjoyed." She responded truthfully. It was technically true considering she had never had a drink full stop. "So, what do you do for a living?" Cinder smiled dangerously as she took a sip of her wine.
"I'm a criminal." She stated simply. Jane laughed hesitantly, she definitely misheard. The black haired woman raised a brow at the lack of reaction, either she misjudged him or he really was trusting to a fault. Then again, for all she knew the young author was actually aware of and in cahoots with Roman's dust schemes. The woman frowned as she crossed her legs, she hates not knowing everything. "Do you like to play games?" She asked whimsically, the knight nodded enthusiastically.
"Mostly video games, what about you?" She replied, not wanting to reveal too much about her private life.
"I dabble. I do enjoy a good game of chess though. What do you think is the most important piece of the game?" Cinder smirked at the confused gaze of the blond, she may have been right with her initial opinion of him. "I for one think the queen is the best piece. It has the best range and flexibility and inadvertently controls the entire board with its moves." Jane furrowed he brows in thought,
"Honestly if we're talking about usefulness of a piece I'd say the knight would be better. Its usefulness when thinking through strategy is the greatest as it is the one of two pieces that can break the rules and turn the game on it's head." Cinder motioned for him to continue, her interest peaked. "The knight is probably the most unpredictable piece on the board."
The older woman took another sip from her glass, "You mentioned a second piece capable of breaking the game, what is it?" She was curious, other than the knight and queen, what piece carried the functionality to turn a game on its head?
"The pawn." Cinder held back a scoff, the pawn? "You're probably thinking I'm talking about it's ability to promote to any other piece except the king, but there is one key similarity between the pawn and the knight that no other piece share that has the power to decide whether or not a player wins." The young leader paused for effect as she gave the woman before her a smirk, "They're the only two pieces you can move first." It suddenly made sense to the seductress. The first move was always the most crucial and could change a person's entire style of gameplay, defence or offence.
She gave a short laugh, she had indeed misjudged the boy. For all his seemingly predictable exterior, he was actually very tactical in his way of thinking. Jane gulped as Cinder gave her a look. Her spine shivered under her gaze. If she could describe it in one word it would've probably been... hungry. The food better get here soon or I might end up being dinner.
The two sat in silence as the waiter came in once more with their food. Jane's jaw dropped at the sight of the burger, she wasn't sure what it was but something about it just screamed expensive. It was just a burger, so why did it look like it costed an arm and a leg? She tentatively took a bite out of the inexplicably expensive looking food and nearly teared up at the burst of flavour that seemed to melt in her mouth. She slowly chewed the food to savour the flavour before finally swallowing the expensive burger. This continued for several more minutes until the writer left the plate empty of crumbs and sauce. She spared a glance at whatever Cinder was eating, she hadn't exactly caught the name of it but it sounded fancy and hard to say.
"I didn't exactly get a chance to read your entry. Mind telling me what it was about?" She asked curiously, trying to bring up some small talk now that their meals were done. It wouldn't do to bore the woman. Just like Neo and Nora she looked like she would be dangerous when she was bored.
Cinder gave an enigmatic simper at the blond woman. Checkmate toy knight. "I'm sure you've already heard it." Jane gulped audibly as she felt a hand slowly draw circles on her leg. "After all, you were in the crowd as a contestant, weren't you Mr Jaune Arc?"
Jaune's eyes widened, "Wh-whatever are you talking about Miss Fall?" He stammered out, "It would be unfair for a professional author to participate in a writing contest meant for amateurs." She chuckled slyly in response to his nervousness,
"Perhaps, my mistake." He let out the breath he hand't realised he had been holding. "Well, we've finished eating, I'm done with my wine and I have an early day tomorrow. Is it alright if you walk me to the airship?" The cross dressing knight gave her a skeptic look out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to look around in interest. He nodded reluctantly.
The two exited the restaurant after Jaune paid for the bill with the money Roman had lent him. He smiled politely at the woman to his right as they walked down the dark empty streets of Vale. Even with the light of the shattered moon the street still seemed eerily dark. The walk to the airship was spent in relative silence. The blond felt reluctant to say anything after she called him by his real name rather than his alias and his experience walking through Vale at night gave him the habit of focusing on being aware.
Once the two reached the airship he gave her one final smile as a goodbye, "I still have business in Vale so this is where we part ways unfortunately. It was a pleasure having dinner with you." Even if you were practically molesting me half the time. "Good night Miss Fall." He bowed slightly and turned away. Thank dust that was over-
His eyes widened when he was turned around and pulled closer. He gawked slightly when he saw that Cinder's face was mere inches away from his own. First Coco and now this? Couldn't he just have a break from the embarrassment already? "M-Miss Fall?" She smirked dangerously and swiftly moved her dominant hand. Jaune's jaw dropped as he felt a pressure on his lower region.
"If you don't want me to reveal your secret then don't be surprised the next time we meet." He nodded vehemently, he wasn't exactly in a position to deny her oh so kind proposition. She had him by his balls, both figuratively and literally. "Yes? Good. Remember that." He sighed in relief when she let go of his jewels. He watched as she slowly strut off in the opposite direction. "You belong to me now, toy knight." She called from over her shoulder.
He finally relaxed when she was out of view. "Well... that could've gone better."
"That could've gone better." Stated Roman simply after the knight relayed the events of his rather interesting date night. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would've been, but it could've been better." Jaune blinked,
"How bad were you expe-" A small tick mark grew when he was interrupted mid sentence.
"Honestly I thought the next time I'd see you would be in pieces at the end of a dark alleyway." Admitted the criminal smoothly, "Thankfully you're still in one piece." He was kidding right?
The blond writer shook the thoughts of getting killed in an alleyway out of his head. A sudden realisation brought him to examine the area around him, only to find a lacking of a certain ice cream. "Where did Neo go?"
Roman scoffed, "Wouldn't you like to know you playboy?" Jaune tilted his head, what was that supposed to mean? The orange haired man rolled his eyes and gestured to the miserable ball of depression to the left of the two. "She's over there." He stated simply.
"What happened to her?" Asked the blond worriedly,
The editor sighed, "The guy she likes went out on a date with another girl." He doubled over in pain when Neo appeared to suddenly teleport in front of him and hit him in the gut with all the force of a train before collapsing back into her ball of depression in the corner.
The novice knight glowered at the air, "Who was stupid enough to not go with Neo? She's like the cutest yet still dangerously sexy girl I kno- dust did I say that out loud?" Roman resisted the urge to wring the boys neck, he called bullshit that the dense brat didn't know he had said that aloud. There was also the glaring fact that Jaune didn't even realise the hint he had placed.
Neo's eyes shined multiple colours as she tackled Jaune to the floor, eyes watering sadly. The young author visibly flinched, he wasn't used to seeing the young looking woman so vulnerable. He smiled warmly at his publisher and wiped a tear off her cheek affectionately, "You shouldn't cry. You look better when you're trying to kick Roman's behind and annoying me into submission." The multicoloured girl gave a small thankful smile and hugged him tightly,
'Don't you dare tell anyone about this.' She 'said'. Jaune laughed dismissively, it wasn't like he could tell anyone even if he wanted to. From behind the boy's shoulder the ice cream lover grinned mischievously, unbeknownst to him her plan was working perfectly to get her cute little author to feel sorry for her. All that was left was to get him alone for some pity s-
"So who was the blind dolt? I'll help you kick his teeth in." Roman rolled his eyes, it was more of a blond dolt rather than a blind one. Neo laughed nervously, refusing to tell him, "You're not going to tell me?"
She gave a cheeky grin at the student through her tears, 'Are you perhaps jealous?' She teased,
Jaune gave the idea some thought before nodding, "Yep." He admitted honestly, throwing the two around him for a loop. Neo flinched backwards, not expecting him to admit it that easily. "When I think that someone's going to try and take my publisher away from me I can't help but get a little envious." Neo blushed as she tried to turn away from the dense boy, he couldn't actually feel that way about her. Well unfortunately she definitely didn't think that way of him. He was just her cute submissive author that she could boss around... and use as a meat shield when there was a thunderstorm.
The two blushed together when their eyes made contact. Blue eyes stared blankly into pink for what felt like hours before they slowly moved closer. Jaune was having a mini heart attack in the back of his mind. He was vaguely aware of what he was doing and was trying everything in his power to stop it as questions bounced around in his head, did he really like Neo in that way? What about Weiss? Before the two could get any closer Roman pulled them apart angrily,
"Sorry to interrupt the two lovebirds but Jaune should really be going now, wouldn't want to miss the last airship to Beacon after all. Toodles!" The man waved goodbye to the boy as he pushed him outside and slammed the door shut. The blond blinked in confusion as he heard the distinct sound of the door locking. He was thankful for the orange haired man's intervention though, he wasn't sure if he was really in control there.
Roman sighed in relief as he wiped some sweat off his brow. That had been... close. He swallowed audibly when he turned to see an absolutely livid Neo. Let it be known there was dust to pay at the residence of the two criminals.
Pyrrha frowned and hastened her pace, where was her partner? It was getting late. She had been scouring around Beacon for the past hour trying to find the blond boy but couldn't find him anywhere, even the library where he had taken to staying whenever he didn't have classes. She had even tried Cardin's room of all places.
Team RWBY hadn't seen hide not hair of the knight and Sun was nowhere to be found as well, and the young champion still didn't fully trust the monkey Faunus. She grumbled in irritation as she turned the corner, just where was he?
Ruby walked through the halls of Beacon aimlessly. She was bored and hadn't had a cookie in days what with all the commotion as of late. According to Weiss her boredom had begun to affect the 'air' around her and suggested going for a walk, but the reaper knew she just wanted her out of the room so the heiress could feast on her gift from Velvet without feeling guilty about the sheer amount she was eating. Yang had gone dust knows where and Blake was currently reading in the library and having a conversation with Amethyst about the latest book from an author she didn't particularly know or care about. Though the name sounded eerily similar to that of her fellow leader.
The Rose grinned as an idea came to her, why not go find Jaune and get some cookies? Maybe if he felt like it the two could spar for a little. She nodded to herself, it was a sound plan but she had no clue of his whereabouts. Not even Pyrrha knew where the novice knight was currently, and surprisingly he wasn't in the library. Nora and Ren were out getting supplies for ISLOTH so she couldn't really ask them for help in finding their leader.
She maintained a brisk pace as she continued her search for the missing student. What if he went to Vale? There would be no way of finding or contacting him. The red and black haired girl came to a halt and blinked, "Wait, I have his contact details." Considering how often their two teams interacted the leaders believed sharing contact details would be for the best, and in this case it definitely came in handy. The rose jumped on the spot giddy at the thought of more cookies and quickly dialled up her first friend.
"Hello?" Came the distorted voice of the knight from the speaker. Ruby blinked, he sounded pretty worse for wear. "What's up Rubes?" His voice seemed to be pretty sickly through the speaker.
"Are you okay?" She asked curiously only to receive silence as her answer. "If it's a bad time I can call you later?" The young huntress in training leant against the wall,
The blond shook his head despite knowing she was unable to see him, "No it's fine, um, just a little queasy." He explained, feeling the burger from before crawling back up his throat. "Why did you call me? Is something wrong?"
Ruby ignored the questions and asked him her own, "Why are you queasy? Are you on an airship? You went to Vale didn't you?" Jaune flinched at the accusatory tone, what was the problem with heading out to Vale? "Pyrrha's been worried sick about you, and I want you to make cookies and spar with me." Oh that. He sighed, after the whole Cardin thing Pyrrha had become a stickler for not keeping secrets around each other and telling the other if there was a problem. Which he was abiding to horribly, not that the red haired champion knew.
"Wait, why do you want to spar?" He said warily. She wasn't mad at him right? Over the months he had learnt that if a girl wanted to spar with you that meant they were going to take out their anger with their fists or mechanical shifting weapons, whatever was more convenient at the time.
Ruby shrugged, "I want to see how far you've come Vomit Boy, and I also want to get a little bit of training in... before we go train." That had made a lot more sense in her head. "So what time will you be back?" Silence. "Jaune?"
"Oh thank dust we've landed." The writer laughed loudly in relief and collapsed on the ground, causing the girl on the other side of the call to jump at the sudden noise. "We aren't leaving until later tomorrow so we can spar then, if you need me I'll be sleeping. And could you tell Pyr to come back to our room so I can apologise to her?" The rose was silent for a moment before accepting his decision, there was still plenty of time before they would leave the next day. Though he owed her even more cookies now.
As the call ended the blond knight groaned. He really needed to start notifying his partner when he'd be out for a while. She was kind enough to help him train to be adequate and yet all he's done in return is make her worry over him. The hunter in training shook his head, he'd make it up to her somehow. Jaune gave a small smile and made a mental note, if he could become equal to other first year students in a one on one match by the end of the training trip, without the use of his semblance, then it would be worth it. Then afterwards he could find a way to make it up to Pyrrha. "Maybe she'd like to keep the SS. John Ark." He muttered to no one in particular. In any case, he needed to get back and have a shower before he apologised.
He rolled on the ground lazily in a feeble attempt to get up only for his arms to collapse from under him. This was going to take a while.
"How do you know Jaune is back at our dorm room?" Asked Pyrrha skeptically several minutes later. She had checked there not too long ago and the blond student was nowhere to be found.
Ruby tapped her hand as she recounted events, "Well I called him on my scroll-" The champion blinked, why does Ruby have his contact details? "and after a short exchange he told me to tell you he'll be waiting for you at the room to apologise for making you worry." Apologise? A thought occurred to the spartan girl that slowly snowballed down to an embarrassing one. What if he is willing to do anything to make up for it? She blushed at the implications, maybe she could... Wait, what if he's already planning to apologise that way? The image of a half-naked Jaune laying on a bed surrounded by candles filled her mind before she could stop it, causing a small trickle of blood to escape her nose. "Pyrrha are you alright?"
The girl turned to the innocent reaper with a look of exhaustion, "I think I've spent too much time around your sister." She replied before beginning the short walk to her room, ready to forgive the blond knight and just get to sleep as soon as possible. Imagination was one scary thing.
Ruby nodded, "I'm sure anyone that has met her even once can attest to that." She admitted under her breath. "Well, see you tomorrow!" Pyrrha smiled and gave a half-hearted wave to the younger girl. Sighing as she faced the direction of her dorm room she steeled her nerves, wiping the excess blood from her nose. There was no way Jaune would do any of the things she was currently in the midst of imagining... right?
She slowly opened the door, "J-Jaune, are you there?" She called out tentatively. The red haired girl jumped slightly as his voice echoed from the eerily dark room.
"Pyr is that you? Could you help me?" Cried the knight. The champion opened the door fully to see a half clothed Jaune in a pitch black room on the bed in a fairly provocative position. "Thanks, I was having a shower when all the lights suddenly cut and I couldn't find the light switch or my scroll for any sort of light." Explained the blond from the bed. "Um, I kind of got tangled in the bed sheets in the dark. Don't ask how. Could you help?" He probably looked pathetic in his current state. What kind of hunter in training gets incapacitated by a couple of sheets? "P-Pyrrha?"
He rolled around on the bed in a feeble attempt to get a view off his partner only to see her unconscious form. This was going to take a while.
"Ren and Nora had better get back soon. It's starting to get cold in these sheets."
As the days pass our dense protagonist's one weakness appears to worsen each time he becomes exposed to it and for the first time a person has 'figured out' Jane Caur's true identity. What is Cinder scheming and what is Ozpin up to? Next chapter we see our group of intrepid students go through their first day of training at the facility.
Well, I don't think I made it in time for Christmas but I tried. Unfortunately family takes priority over writing so it is out a little later than I had hoped. Anyway, we got some pairing moments and plot in there so all's good. To think, this is the last chapter for 2015. It's been a good year, had several highs and lows. I'll see you all next year then in the next chapter, look forward to it!
Those who spot a specific reference get a fancy burger meal!
