Hello! I am a horrible person, I do realize, but with Prom, School and generally becoming more comfortable with actually being social, I got some crazy writer's block.

First, I should really say thank you! You guys started blowing this story up and I was really amazed by the response, all of which was good! Thank You!

For the partner, I chose who I did because I felt that it would strengthen her bonds to Jaune, but the ship is still up for grabs. I dropped a really big reference later on in this chapter, along with Jaune suggesting Elaine as a nickname for his partner which I cannot remember what it was at all, so... Crazy Kudos if you can pick it up.

Don't forget to drop this story a follow if you like it and a favorite if you really liked it.

Thank You again,

Court

25-2-14, Jaune spun the lock on his locker with quick, sharp movements, pulling the locker open and pulling out his sword and shield.

Crocea Mors was just the same as it always was. Gleaming, cloaked with a deadly edge, and sharper and sturdier than a katana. It was a fearsome weapon, with the sword being unnaturally strong and light. His great grandfather had smithed it himself, using an interesting technology from the past age, something called 'carbon nanotubes'. This allowed the weapon to bend instead of breaking when it took a heavy blow from the side, unlike most weapons. However, the shield was much more modern. His ancestors had an uncanny ability to shatter their shields, resulting in plenty of sheathe/shield remakes. This one was built his father and, if he channeled a bit of his aura into it, turned into a gauntlet. Despite the damage that it dealt, he didn't like the transformation. He always thought it was a bit short-sighted to not have both a long range and short range weapon. But, he made do with what he had.

He heard Yang and Ruby arguing about something involving milk. Not wanting to get involved, he walked over to Weiss who was talking with a familiar looking red head. He waved at the Heiress who, again, surprisingly, waved back and beckoned him over.

"Jaune, this is Pyrrha Nikos, graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum, four time Vystral tournament winner and Pumpkin Pete's sponsor." Jaune smiled at the girl who looked a bit annoyed to have been introduced this way. She must have wanted to be normal for once in her life. He realized that Weiss was still talking. "...Arc, top of his class at Signal, highest ever scorer on The Ulysses end of term tactical exam, written and practical, and the owner of the most powerful aura I've ever seen."

He couldn't help be a bit embarrassed. He only told her that he had scored so high on the world wide tests to get her to stop lecturing him on various topics with swordplay. Pyrrha looked a bit happier, she knew that he was another big shot who wanted to just be normal.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was you written score?"

"I-uh, 112%."

"Results of the practical?"

"All hostages released without injury and all kidnappers in custody."

"...Wow."

"Thanks, I don't like talking about it. It makes me feel…"

"-important. Too, important."

"Exactly." They shared a quick smile as the intercom announced, ALL FIRST YEAR STUDENTS PROCEED TO THE LAUNCH ZONE.

"Launch Zone?"

"That doesn't sound good."

As he slammed into the tree branch, his shield sprung open, tumbling to the ground. He groaned as he slipped of the branch and fell onto the grassy ground flat on his back. He heard a rustling behind him and scrambled to pick up his fallen shield. He vaulted over it, slipping his hand through the arm guard and rolling to a kneeling position. He readied his arm as a familiar face popped out of the bush.

"Jaune?" The familiar voice of a certain Weiss Schnee wound into his ears, her usually annoyed eyes surprisingly bright. She had a few twigs caught in her usually straight snow white hair, giving it the illusion of a waterfall that got several trees stuck in it but the water just flowed around it. She walked up to him and stood in front of him, crossing her arms.

"Hey Snow Angel."

"No."

"No what?"

"Not Snow Angel."

"Oh. ...Ice Princess?"

"Nope."

"Elaine?"

"Elaine?"

"No clue."

"How about just Weiss?"

"Nope. If got a nickname, you need one. I'll think on it. Let's go partner." He held out his hand. Weiss took it and pulled him into a crushing hug. She looked up at him.

"Weiss?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet."

"We should get moving."

He groaned as a flash of yellow shot towards him as he clung to the feet of the Nevermore. He heard the usually boisterous voice of Yang yell out.

"Jaune! Hold on!"

"WHAT DO THINK I'M DOING, YOU DAFT DRAGON?"

"...Geez, sorry." The Nevermore shuddered from the impacts of Yang's punches causing Jaune to slip off slowly.

"Shit. This is bad." He swung his right hand which had been grasping his sword tightly, up at the bird wildly. It stuck in it's breast and the Nevermore went limp, dropping from the sky.

"This is really bad." He pulled on his sword, failing to remove it from the breast of the Nevermore.

"Uh-oh." He scrambled up the giant raven, but his hands slipped off the oily feathers and he fell, colliding with the hard talons of the Nevermore. As his head met the talon, everything went dark.

Weiss paled as she saw her friend plummeting towards the ground, limp as a doll. She stopped thinking and just acted, her body taking over. She shot towards what she believed to be the landing zone, pulling out Myrnecaster. Deaf ears listened as her mouth yelled words branded in her mind for as long as she could remember, causing a light blue net to erupt from her sword. Everything stopped as Jaune plummeted into the seemingly intangible net. The boy landed safely in the net as the Nevermore slammed into the ground behind him. The gathered initiates watched in awe as they saw the Arc family heirloom hilt deep in the chest of bird.

The moment of silence was broken as an orange haired girl slammed an Ursa upside the jaw so hard that the bear-like creature landed at the center of the clearing. She bounded over to Weiss, Yang and Blake who were all crowded around the boy. She was soon joined by an eastern boy who introduced himself as Ren and the boisterous girl as Nora. He was closely followed by Ruby and her partner, Pyrrha.

"HI!" She screamed, causing the rest to jump. As the three recovered from the mini heart attacks from the sudden appearance of the girl now known as Nora, three more figures emerged from the treeline and gawked at the dead Grimm and the now stirring boy on the ground. Weiss noticed and immediately pulled out a dust capsule. She snapped it like a glow stick, breaking the crystal inside and the release of energy caused the container to expend to the size of a Nalgene with ice cold water inside. She raised it to Jaune's lips and he sipped it, appreciating the relief on his dry throat.

"Hey, can I have a drink?" Yang asked. Weiss missed the mischievous smile on her lips as she was still facing Jaune and held out the bottle. Before she could grab it, Jaune sat up and bellowed "NO!". Yang pouted briefly before giving the now fully conscious boy a grudging smile. He silently asked for the bottle from Weiss who couldn't help but feel her heart rate increase ever so slightly as his hand gently grazed hers.

"You're smart Vomit Boy. Too smart."

"Well, it's not like that's a new trick. I've fallen for it too many times." Yang held her hand out and Jaune grabbed it and pulled himself up with the help of the firebrand. They bumped fists and quickly hugged, sharing a laugh.

For the first time, the group looked around and noticed the crumbling ruins of an ancient temple on the other side of the clearing. When they arrived, they noticed the waist high columns that were mostly empty, apart from four golden figures, one for each pair. Ruby and Nora zoomed ahead and grabbed their choice in figures, the horses and ran off happily. Weiss and Jaune walked up to one of the other two columns. Both held the same piece.

"Is that-" Weiss started before Jaune answered the question that she was going to ask.

"A rook."

"Then the pieces that Nora and Ruby grabbed are knights." Jaune silently bobbed his head in agreement as he counted the total number of pillars.

"Twelve pillars, twelve pairs, six teams. Gold and, I'd guess, silver rooks, bishops and knights."

"Why not kings or queens?"

"Only one on each side; the rest, apart from the pawns, have pairs on each side."

"Mhhh." Weiss hated to admit that he reached the end point before she did, but he was surprisingly smart at times. He watched as she picked up the remaining rook, the other having been picked up by Blake and Yang.

"It's not very heavy... Gold leaf." She wouldn't let him have the last laugh. She handed the statue to Jaune, who weighed it in his hand. He nodded.

"Yep. Contents?" He tossed it to Weiss, who caught it deftly. She shook it briefly, before tossing it back.

"Beads." He smiled and grinned at her.

"Yep."

The trip back to the cliff was rather uneventful. They stayed in a pack and made enough noise to warn off any straggling Grimm. Soon, they had arrived at the place that they had been launch from. Jaune turned and looked over the cliff. Weiss walked up beside him and he nodded her on, giving her hand a quick squeeze and a half-smile. She joined the rest the group who walked back to Beacon. He stood peacefully, watching the horizon. He needed his alone time every day. He was naturally an introvert, so he needed some quiet to make sure he didn't go insane. What could he say? Everyone has a quirk. Like Yang, who has the slightly endearing habit of waiting for him to finish with his self prescribed medicine to his social illness that she is convinced that he has. Which happened to be ending in 3, 2, 1 and...

"Time's up!" She bounded up to him.

"Hey Yang. What's up?" He'd grown used to the intrusion and she knew to not disturb him during his quiet time. School was boring and hard when he was ignoring her. She punched him directly in the chest, making him groan.

"That was for calling me a 'daft dragon'." Jaune rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Well, telling me to hold on to a giant bird 100 feet in the air is kind of pointless. Anyone would hold on in that situation."

"...Stop making sense, Vomit Boy." She moved to stand next to him, looking over the cliff at the emerald forest below.

"I have that problem. Along with my introversion, I'm surprised you can even put up with me, let alone hang around with me willingly." Yang bumped him with her shoulder.

"Diversity is the spice of life. Plus it makes you more human. It hard for someone to like a perfect person. You human beings are much easier to love." Jaune cracked an easy grin.

"So what? Your not one of us?" Yang deadpanned.

"That's what you got out of that?" Jaune glanced at Yang, cowering under her crimson glare.

"I, uh, ah of course not! You said that human beings are easier to lo-" He suddenly froze, his eyes widening. Yang smiled softly.

"So, I do, y'know. Well maybe not love love, but I'd like to try it if you wouldn't be opposed..." Yang suddenly blushed heavily and lost her nerve, trailing off and looking at the ground. She felt Jaune pull her into a hug and she grabbed his shirt, pulling herself even deeper into the hug. She felt him lightly kiss her head and smiled.

"That sounds great. Just one note, Weiss, I think, likes me also and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about her or you and Blake in comparison. And there's the whole Blake situation." She looked up into his apprehensive eyes and smiled encouragingly.

"We'll figure it out, okay. Plus I wouldn't be opposed to some lesbo action." She grinned wickedly. Jaune couldn't help but chuckle as he cringed.

"Gods Yang. That's just wrong."

"What if they're into it? Would it still be wrong?"

"...Dammit." They shared a quick grin, pressing their foreheads together.

"So... Are you gonna kiss me or what?" Jaune chuckled.

"Or what." Yang flinched and turned away in a huff. Jaune caught up with her in less than two steps and spun her about, one hand caressing her cheek. "I'm not that cruel Yang." Suddenly his lips found hers, burning both of them to the core. His free hand fell upon her other cheek as she pulled him closer with her hands which were firmly attached to his shirt front. She felt his thumbs tracing circles on her cheeks as they came together in perfect harmony. They slowly broke apart, Yang pressing her head into his chest again.

"I wouldn't mind sharing if you kissed me like that every time."

"Let's head back."

When they finally returned to the campus of Beacon, they joined their teammates who were so distracted by a rather comedic scene involving a green haired professor who was rapidly telling off a tan skinned boy with untamed curls who was grinning fiercely that they didn't notice their absence. They watched as the boy just laughed as the teacher, who actually seemed to be actually having an animated conversation with the boy, spoke.

"Of course Professor Ooblek. The input to output ratio of dust reactions can be easily altered if you know your weapon well enough."

"Outstanding! After you are assigned to your team, I would be quite happy to meet with you more about this. Though, to be honest you should be speaking to Professor Goodwitch. This is her area of expertise."

"Great! I should be going, my partner is a bit temperamental and would be agitated with me if I didn't show up on time." The two shook hands, briefly as the man bade the striking boy farewell.

"It was absolutely delightful to meet you, Leon."

"You as well, Professor Ooblek." He noticed the group assembled and, more notably, Weiss. He waved at her enthusiastically which she returned with a fraction of happiness. "Hey! Ice Princess! I gotta go, but Annabelle, Renya and Pipes are all here too! We'll catch up later?" He didn't wait for an answer, but ran off.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! Do you think he heard me?" She looked at Jaune, not even a bit surprised that he was there. He shrugged.

"That irritating fuck has a point. We should get ready too."

So that's a thing. I certainly hope you got the reference since I plan on the Teams being reoccurring characters. So I got some Empire and some Year of the Dragon in that chapter, but if you are annoyed by the lack of actual Empire and any Lunar Eclipse, the next will greatly make up for it! Personally, I'm not really feeling the Year of the Dragon in this, but I really don't know. If you've read any of my other stuff, you probably noticed the difference between those kisses and this one.

I have a request of you all. Please come up with some ideas for a Team with (A or C), (P or J), (P or M) and (L or V) in any order really, and (J or G), (R or R), (F or Z) and (H or L). Again you all should know these references since it is really popular right now and has the third most fics in the book section. These are not the characters verbatim but my take on them for the purpose of having lots of shanagans.

Thank You all for putting up with my extremely long hiatus, but I had to write essays on Crime and Punishment, The Assault (the book), and Chronicle of a Death Foretold for my LA class.

I probably won't update again this month since exams are upon us and I'm real stressed. But when summer rolls around, I will try to update more regularly, but no promises. :(

Thanks again,

Court