Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, not me. This is merely a fanwork meant for entertainment purposes only. Cover image courtesy of Jan Chrt (jeni-cek on deviantART). All rights reserved.
"Mister Asbeth! How are the renovations going in sector B?"
"Apart from Ol damn near breaking his toe? Yeah, things are going alright."
"Did he require medical attention?"
"If by 'medical attention' you mean 'slapping him around the face to make him keep focus', then yeah, I guess he did."
"Just keep it civil, Mister Asbeth. I'm not paying you to fight amongst yourselves."
"It shall be as you command, O Glorious Leader." Asbeth said dryly, bellowing out various orders as he returned to his post. Shaking her head in mock derision, Weiss decided to once again survey her surroundings, glad to take a minute away from the oft confusing schematics on the table.
Project Alpha, as Weiss was currently calling it, was a large octagonal building along the outskirts of Vale and, while it had laid mostly abandoned for a good ten years or so, Weiss' firm touch and experienced workmen had, after only a day of labour, turned it into something resembling its former glory. From what she had heard, the previous owner had used the place as some kind of improvised warehouse, filling it with all kinds of questionable goods that wouldn't be allowed into the more popular district by the docks. However, once their little scheme had been figured out, the scoundrel turned tail and ran, leaving the building in the care of Vale's illustrious government. Thankfully, family connections went a long way, and after explaining exactly what she planned to do with it, the old octagon was now in Weiss' care, and she was determined to set a new, untainted history for the place.
...that was the plan, anyway, assuming the renovators didn't keep getting distracted every five minutes. First there was the peculiar sound from the second floor, later found to be caused by a 'very confused orangutan'. Next, one of the windows burst open on its own, letting in a rough summer wind sharp enough to send Oliver sprawling to the floor, prompting the lanky boy to clamour for 'hazard pay'...and, frankly, the less that was said about the lemon incident the better.
"Hey, Weiss!"
Turning her mind away from such ridiculous thoughts, Weiss soon found herself confronted by none other than Jaune Arc, swiftly followed by the rest of his team, all dressed in their usual hunter garb...with the exception of Nora, who was currently donning a white chef's hat. Inside out.
"Sorry we're late, but Nora insisted that we stop at Lizz's bakery on the way here and, well...you know how it goes." Jaune said apologetically, "Was there a reason you changed your mind about where we should meet?"
"Just differing circumstances, Jaune. Oh, and thank you all very much for coming, by the way. I know it can't have been easy fitting it around that essay we had to hand in for Grimm studies."
A look of horror began to descend onto JNP's collective faces.
"Oh crap, I forgot about the essay!" Jaune exclaimed.
"And I forgot to remind him!" Pyrrha gasped.
"And my chef's hat's totally the wrong way around!"
Wordlessly, Ren roamed the group, fixing up Nora's chef's hat and handing Jaune a very neatly folded sheet of paper. All Pyrrha got was a quick tap on the shoulder, but it seemed to bolster her mood, at least.
"O...kay." Weiss said confusedly, trying to lead the conversation back to its original topic, "Essays aside, I'm glad you all could make it. Soon enough I'm going to need all the teams I can get my hands on, and it makes me a little more comfortable to know that a few dependable ones will be close by."
"Would you be kind enough to fill me in on the details, Weiss?" Pyrrha asked politely, "Jaune said it was something to do with a business, but he didn't seem too sure about much beyond that."
"That would be my fault." Weiss admitted, "When I had my little 'eureka' moment, I was somewhat abrupt with my departure, and it would perhaps have been wise to give you a better idea of what I had planned."
Weiss gestured to her surroundings.
"See all this? It doesn't look like much right now, but in a couple of days time, this hall will be lined with tables and chairs, and at the very end there, besides the staircase, will be a job board."
"Oh, I think I get it…" Jaune mused, "It's like a hunter's guild, right? Regular people come and post jobs up on the board, then hunters and huntresses come along and pick which ones they want to do?"
"Exactly."
"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" Ren noted perceptively, "A hunter's guild isn't new. Stories say they've been around almost as long as hunters themselves."
"True, but schools as grand as Beacon haven't existed for all that long in comparison, which is why I think my idea might bring something fresh. Do you know how sometimes we have practical assignments that have us do missions akin to what the Vale government gives to the main guilds?"
"Of course!" Nora confirmed enthusiastically, "That one we had two weeks ago was totally awesome! There were lizards and horses and bears, oh my!"
"Nora." Ren cut in curtly.
"Eh heh...sorry, Weiss."
"No no, it's perfectly fine. See, I feel like Nora's enthusiasm for real missions is shared by a lot of students at Beacon, and since there are always going to be some jobs that are a little too minor to be solved by an experienced huntsman or huntress...well, why not let one problem solve the other?"
"What a grand idea!" Pyrrha exclaimed, "That way, not only do Beacon students get more experience performing real missions, but the Vale government gets to lighten its load, too!"
"So wait, where do we come in?" Jaune asked curiously, "There aren't jobs up already, are there?"
"Well, no, but working this all out with Ozpin was a little on the strenuous side, and I feel that latter negotiations would go a lot more smoothly if I had some people that confirmed their interest."
A fake cough echoed from further down the hallway. Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Oh, and I believe some of the workers here wanted Pyrrha's autograph, if that's not too much trouble."
"Weiss!" Jaune exclaimed sharply, "You can't just ask Pyrrha to sign a bunch of-"
Of course, by the time Jaune had gotten halfway through his sentence, Pyrrha's hand was already at work, and it wasn't long before the workers had formed a small queue to claim their 'real reward'.
At least they're actually lining up instead of clambering over each other. Perhaps Asbeth had a word with them earlier? Speaking of…
"Mister Asbeth! Once you're done getting your autograph, I'd appreciate it if you'd come over here to discuss something."
Asbeth was the sort of man who carried a perpetually tired look on his face, which, along with his heavy, muscular build and army-like short black hair, made him a somewhat intimidating figure to approach. However, after hanging around him for a good part of her youth, Weiss found him to be a dependable, orderly workman, and while he occasionally let his sour disposition get ahead of him, he was still one of the few people Weiss trusted from her family background. After slipping his precious autograph into one of the safer pockets of his work garments, Asbeth approached the group, minus Pyrrha, who was still finishing up with the signing.
"Reporting in, Miss Schnee. These're the friends you mentioned, right?"
"Mmhm. Do you want me to introduce them?"
"Only two. I already know Miss Nikos, obviously, and I don't think I could miss Jaune if I tried. The resemblance to his dad is uncanny."
Jaune assumed a bashful expression, remaining silent.
"Is that so?" Weiss asked with mild interest, "Well, the remaining two are Ren and Nora, and I can assure you that they are just as skilled as anyone in team RWBY."
"Good. Maybe that'll help you get that asshole in the clockwork tower on your side."
"His name's Ozpin, Mister Asbeth." Weiss said wearily.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You want me to get these four on our system, then?"
"Assuming that they're up for it, yes. Nora-"
"If it lets me hammer more Grimm into the dirt, you can count me in!"
"Then put me down, too." Ren said, shaking his head slightly, "Can't have Nora going off on her own, after all."
Hm, well that was easy. Seems like JNPR has an even stronger pair dynamic than RWBY.
Having finally finished with her signing, Pyrrha zoomed back to the main group, giving a smile and an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"I would also like to join in! I still have my tournament record to keep up, after all, and a few practice missions here and there certainly wouldn't go amiss in keeping myself sharp. I also think it would be beneficial for Jaune to go." Pyrrha said, her last line a little more insistent, "He needs plenty of opportunities to put his semblance to the test, and I believe this would be a great way of finding them."
"Well, if the great Pyrrha Nikos says I should go, who am I to refuse?" Jaune joked, prompting a playful nudge from his protégé.
"That's good to hear." Weiss said finally, for some reason wanting to move on as quickly as possible, "Now, if you all wouldn't mind following Mister Asbeth here, I'll see what I can do about organising the room a bit more."
As JNPR were swiftly lead over to where the digital board would eventually be placed, Weiss found herself staring up towards one of the windows, noting once again that, despite no one opening it, the blasted thing had decided to unhinge itself anyway. Was there something wrong with the window itself? If there was, there was no way she was letting Vale get away with passing it off as a 'hale and whole building', as they had put it.
Now, where has that Oliver got off to? He was supposed to be working on moving the new tables in, and...
Lost in thought, it wasn't particularly surprising that Weiss had missed it. The wind muffled it somewhat regardless, and if someone were to try and listen more carefully, it was likely that they would simply assume it was a sound coming from outside somewhere. After all, was it all that unusual to hear the faint tinkling of laughter?
…
Zinnia glowed.
Hey, all! Soul here. I know this chapter's a little on the short side, and as such, chapter three will be posted Sunday the 23rd of November. Worry not, however, for chapter four is still scheduled for next Thursday, so if you prefer, feel free to just wait until next Thursday for your double dose of None Of Your Business!
Any feedback, comments, the lot? Go ahead and leave a review. Go ooooon. Clickity!
Ahem. In any case...'till next time, folks!
This chapter has been checked over and refined, and unless someone else suggests a correction, this will be the final version.