Wizarding shenanigans
Introductions
Jaune looked up as the plane approached what looked like the kinds of castle that six year old girls would dream of.
'So this is Beacon…' he thought to himself wearily. In spite of the Academy's prestige, he had no interest in being a student there. But alas, family obligations had quickly gotten in the way of his desires.
Oh, he had nothing against the place itself. There was a 100% employment rate for graduates and some the best known teachers worked there. The campus itself also looked rather nice, in spite of his earlier grumbling.
It even had a surprisingly low death toll, for a combat school!
It was just that he had no interest in becoming pest control. No, he would have much preferred to stick to his research. His life had been pretty sweet too. Wake up, maybe brew some potions, try out some new spells, read or watch some tv, rinse and repeat. But he could see the wisdom behind his father's decision to send him here.
Didn't change the fact that he wasn't too happy about it.
His stomach grumbled and reminded him that it did not like planes.
Okay, so much of the antipathy he felt right now stemmed from the fact that his stomach was killing him. Still, he was a wizard, one of the wise, one who could tap into the very powers of creation and harness them to do his-
"Urk!" he breathed out as the plane took a particularly sharp turn and prompted his stomach to do the same. Stupid magic, failing him when he needed it most.
He got up and ran towards the bathroom, accidentally puking over some girl's boots as he ran. He peripherally noticed various looks of disgust and heard an outraged cry from the poor girl his stomach had decided to savage.
Oh, yeah, he was so awesome.
He was the first person to get off the plane as soon as it touched down.
"Oh, sweet earth, how I missed thee! Promise me you'll never let go!" he fervently whispered as he contemplated doing something as clichéd as kneeling and kissing the ground.
On one hand, it was pretty clichéd. On the other, after his rather harrowing ordeal, he felt he was justified in displaying his love for terra firma.
His stomach lurched again, the final spasms of a dying beast.
He decided to walk around and let his stomach readjust to not being in a flying coffin.
Beacon was, admittedly, a pretty nice place. It had luscious green trees growing around the courtyard, trimmed yards, and hey, was that a gunblade?
He rubbed his eyes.
Definitely a gunblade.
He looked around and felt bewildered at the sight. He saw all kinds of students waving around different kinds of weapons. Weapons that would have fit better in some anime or videogame. From gunblades to pistolwhips to trench knives with wires.
Then he looked down at his weapon.
Crocea Mors. His father's final gift to him before kicking him out. Oh and a few Dust crystal with assorted fun effects.
'I kind of want to make fun of their confidence but can't help but feel a little emasculated…'
He also saw a guy with a burning sword. At least that made sense, although he did wonder what kind of enchantments had been used on it. Or if enchantments had been used at all. He knew first- hand what could be accomplished using Dust and careful applications of Aura, and it greatly resembled the magic he could wield in many cases.
He decided to walk towards the assembly, where hopefully things wouldn't threaten his confidence as much. He was walking towards what he assumed was the right place when he noticed a smoking hot blonde talking to…Little Red Riding Hood?
He shook his head and decided to keep walking. Sure, she was hot, but after his…less than stellar debut back in the plane he doubted any girl would even deign to give him the time of the day.
He took one more step when Riding hood pulled out a scythe that was larger than she was tall.
He gaped. 'Where did she even fit that thing?!' he wondered. 'Note to self, do not mess with Red. She probably skinned the wolf and is using its blood stained fur as her hood.'
Smoking Hot Blonde or SHB said something he couldn't hear and then ran off at such speeds that Red was sent spinning towards a trolley with luggage.
He winced. 'This is gonna suck.'
He watched with the morbid curiosity that those who witness a train wreck happening. He felt some amusement as a white haired girl (ooh…pretty!), presumably the owner of the luggage Red had just thrown everywhere, yelled at her.
'Should she really be waving that dust around like that?'
Then Red sneezed at the world exploded.
Jaune flinched as everything went white and then shook his head to get rid of the blurriness.
He had to admit, he was kind of impressed. 'I have seen many different ways to blow things up, but this has got to be a first.'
Then someone else, someone wearing the biggest ribbons he had ever seen approached them, said something that ticked off Snow White, who stormed off, leaving Riding Hood and the ribbon wearing girl behind.
Then the ribbon wearing girl left, leaving Riding Hood behind.
Jaune snickered at Red's expression once she realized she had been abandoned by her would be savior. Still, he could relate to the girl. He didn't really want to be here either. Also, he wasn't a complete jackass, so he decided to help her out.
"Looks like you need a hand." He told her as he offered her his hand.
"Thanks." She nodded gratefully before taking the offered hand.
"No probs." He answered easily with a lazy grin. "Anyone else who wasn't a complete jerk would've done it."
Then he turned around. "Well, see ya around."
"Hey, wait!" she called out. He stopped.
"Yeah?" did she need anything else?
She paused and seemed uncertain for a moment. Almost like she didn't know what to say. Jaune didn't know it then, but Ruby was, indeed, at a loss for words. So she went with the first thing that popped into her mind.
"Aren't you Vomit Boy?" she suddenly blurted out.
And she promptly mentally slapped herself.
Jaune sighed. Well, on the plus side, she was cute and she was talking to him in spite of his…nickname.
"I'm never gonna live that down, am I?" he asked morosely.
"I'm sorry! It was just the first thing that came into my mind!" Red cried out apologetically.
Well, she seemed sincere, so he gave her a small smile. "And I'm pretty sure that Crater Face is the first thing that will come into my mind when I look at you."
And he promptly mentally slapped himself. 'Crater Face, really? All those hours spent watching tv and that's the best you can come up with? For shame, Arc, for shame!'
Well, at least Red had been affected by it.
"That was an accident!" she exclaimed indignantly as stomped her foot.
"Right right." Jaune answered with a grin.
She glared at him a little bit more before giving a tentative look.
"Oh, I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." She introduced herself.
"I'm Jaune Arc, wizard, at your service." He introduced himself with a light bow.
"Wizard?" she muttered to herself.
He nodded. "Yup, wizard. Come to me if you ever have magical problems and I might be able to help you out."
He neglected to inform her that he would most likely charge her for it. It was actually an idea that his father had given him when he had asked for some pocket money for Beacon.
Greedy old man. Although the same could probably be said about him, excluding the "old man" part, of course.
Oh, she was gonna get the cute female friend discount, yes, but he was still charging.
Tomes and ingredients weren't cheap. Neither were books and cable.
Ruby gave him a confused look before shaking her head. "So, I've got this thing." She began.
He mentally winced. 'Oh, I swear to every god, if it turns out she's half male…'
And then she pulled out her scythe. It looked even more impressive up close.
He mentally sighed in relief. 'I never should have seen that Hangover movie. Makes me paranoid.'
"That is one sweetass scythe." He commented.
She smiled lightly at that. "It's also a customizable, high-impact velocity sniper rifle." She added.
'Oh. My. Balls.'
"Where did you buy that and where can I get some?" he asked her excitedly. He probably wouldn't use it much, but damn, it must feel awesome to hold that thing.
Her smile widened. "I designed it myself, actually."
Jaune gaped at the tiny girl. "You…that…design?"
She nodded. "Didn't you design yours too? Every student at Signal does."
He shook his head. "I just got this old hand-me-down."
He showed her his new old blade.
She examined curiously. "So what does it do?"
Jaune shrugged. "It cuts, slices and dices."
"Wait, that's it?" she gave him an expectant look.
'Well, it's supposed to be an excellent mana conductor.'
"It also came with this." And he transformed the sheathe into a shield.
"Ooh…" Ruby examined the shield. "What's it made out of?"
He shrugged again. "No idea. Like I said, it was an old hand-me-down."
It was also supposed to be excellent at deflecting attack from mana but he had yet to test that.
"Well, I think it's cool." She told him with a smile. "No one appreciates the classics anymore!"
Least of all him. He would have much preferred a gun or something. He was a wizard, not a warrior. Although, then again, there was the one class in that one game…Spell Sword? Night Blade?
"Hey, where are we going?" he suddenly asked her, not recognizing anything around him.
"I…don't know. I was following you." She answered with a slightly worried look on her face.
"But…but I was following you!" Welp, he was lost.
Her slightly worried look was now truly worried. "I…you…but then…We're late!" she cried out.
They both began to run in random directions, hoping to find the right place.
Hello, Princess!
Jaune was whistling jauntily as he kept up his compass spell to guide him towards his locker. He ran into Snow White and a pretty cute redhead on his way.
"Well…I was thinking we could be on a team together." Snow White was telling the redhead.
"Well, that sounds grand!" Redhead smiled at her.
'Oh, yes it does.' That dark, hormonal part of mind thought. He never thought he would ever have to roll his eyes at himself but he did.
"Great!" Snow White answered cheerfully. Jaune noticed a rather subtle change. She was smiling but she also seemed more…evil? Conniving?
Either way, there was a dark aura gathering around her. He noticed the cute readhead looks a littile uncomfortable now.
He decided to help her out. Because he was a good guy, not because she was cute! Although she really was…
Besides, he owed the heiress one for her earlier jab.
"You know what else is great?" he suddenly put himself between Snow White and the Redhead. The heiress suddenly stopped smiling and the ominous aura around her disappeared.
"Me!" he answered his own question with a bow. "Jaune Arc, wizard, at your service!"
"Wizard?" the redhead muttered to herself. Then she shook her head. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos, nice to meet you."
Jaune turned to look at her, making sure that his back was to the heiress and she could not see the redhead anymore. "Likewise." He told her with a wide smile.
"Wha-Who are you?" the heiress demanded as she glared at the buffoon before her. Jaune turned around again.
"I just introduced myself, Princess! And besides, aren't I that tall, blonde and scraggly man of your dreams?" he asked with a winning smile and exaggerated cheer.
Jaune wasn't the best with the ladies, but he did know how to piss off people.
"You?!" Snow White's eyes widened with recognition,
"Yup, me! So," Jaune told her with a wink. "I hear you're fond of me?"
"You have GOT to be kidding me." The heiress answered flatly.
Jaune sighed before looking at Pyrrha. "I'm afraid she's quite shy."
Weiss glared at him. "Do you even know who you're talking to?" she demanded.
"Uh…" Jaune looked around then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I get it! You're proposing to your dearly beloved! Mazel tov!"
"Wha-" Snow White sputtered.
Pyrrha turned a shade of crimson unmatched by her hair. "You got it all wrong!"
"This is Pyrrha Nikos!" Snow White managed to get out.
"So I've heard." Jaune replied sardonically.
"She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!"
'Certainly not a record I've heard.'
"Welp, no idea what that is but congratulations!" he told the redhead cheerfully.
"Thank you." She smiled at him.
"SHE'S ON THE FRONT OF EVERY PUMPKIN PETE'S MARSHMALLOW FLAKES BOX!" Weiss yelled at him. Jaune internally grinned.
"No idea what that is." He replied innocently.
"I…What…you…No…Mistral…" Weiss began to sputter.
Oh, this was precious!
Jaune laughed. "Oh, relax, I'm just messing with you!" then he turned to look Pyrrha. "I love the cereal, by the way."
"Well, it isn't very healthy for you but thank you." She replied wide smile.
Jaune grinned. "Well, gotta go. You kids play nice, okay?"
Then he quickly walked out of the room before Weiss could get her bearing back.
"See you later!" he heard Pyrrha call out.
"Where is that idiot?!" Weiss screeched. Jaune hurried his pace and sent a gust of wind behind him to waylay the heiress.
He took a couple more steps before he ran into a laughing SHB.
"That was smooth, Lady Killer!" she told him between laughs.
He smiled and nodded at Ruby who was trying to stifle her giggles. "Glad to amuse."
SHB grinned at him. "My name's Yang Xiao Long." She introduced herself.
Jaune grinned back. "Jaune Arc, wizard, at your service."
"Wait, wizard?" she muttered to herself. Then she shook her head. "Whatever, that was awesome! Did you see her face?" then she laughed again.
Jaune chuckled. "That was the best part!"
"That wasn't very nice!" Ruby tried to scold him. The effect was ruined by the fact that she was desperately trying to hold back her giggling and had a slightly vindictive look in her face.
'Yeesh. Note to self, do not mess with Ruby. She might be tiny and adorable, but she also seems to have a vindictive streak.'
"Welp, see you guys later!" he told them as he left the two "sisters".
He still had to find his damned locker.
Creation of a team:
Jaune swore as the Deathstalker closed in on them.
'Damn it, think, Arc!'
There wasn't much he could do right now. His mana or Aura, or whatever you wanted to call it, reserves weren't large enough to conjure up something big enough to kill the wretched creature.
'Goddamn it, should have brought some potions!' he mentally cursed himself.
Then Pyrrha stopped, turned around and her sword became a rifle. The she-boy, Ren, or something, rolled forward, pulled out two guns and turned to face the approaching angry scorpion.
'That was awesome!' even in a situation like this, he could not help but feel awed by it. Most shifting weapons that he'd run across only had two forms, because mastering two different weapons was already hectic enough.
This meant his partner had serious skills.
Jaune was about to delude himself into thinking that they might get away when he peripherally caught sight of the Nevermore. The Nevermore that was now flying right towards them.
'Oh, just balls!'
He threw himself forward and fell face first into terra kind of firma. He got up and saw his partner, the she-boy and…what was her name again? Err…Well, her ribbons kind of looked like ears…Kitty it was then.
He saw Pyrrha, Ren and Kitty desperately trying to slay the stalker.
"Damn it, I have to get there!" he cursed.
"Let's do this!" Nora declared from his side. He turned to face her.
"Can you make the jump?" he asked her. He could conjure up a blast of wind if she couldn't, although that would be mana intensive.
She smiled.
Jaune shivered. That was not a nice smile. Nora suddenly pulled out her weapon, smacked him with it, throwing him back and shifted the grenade launcher into a Warhammer.
Which was, admittedly, pretty damn awesome, but there really was no need to smack him, damn it!
Then she ran forward, jumped and turned mid-air before slamming her hammer down.
"Balls!" Jaune cried out as the momentum sent him flying towards the other side of the bridge.
He fell face first again. 'Go to Beacon, they said! It'll be fun they said! Goddamned jerks!'
The first thing he noticed when he got up was that there was someone missing.
"Where's Kitty?" he wondered. His question answered itself when Kitty suddenly soared through the air and began to slash away at the Nevermore while it was still flying.
While it was freaking flying.
He had never felt so emasculated in his entire life. He looked at the people around him.
Then he saw the angry, angry, overgrown scorpion.
"Anyone have a plan?" he asked hopefully.
No one answered.
He sighed again. "Of course." He felt his mana flare up inside him, waiting to be used.
Welp, time to play wizard then.
They ran forward. Pyrrha used her shield to block one of its pincers as she slid underneath it. Then she slashed away at the offending appendage.
The other pincer came at her.
Jaune immediately raised his hand and a slab of earth rose up to intercept the attack.
"Wha-" he heard Pyrrha utter, confused at the sudden appearance of the wall.
He let the mana running through the wall dissipate and the wall began to crumble.
"Now!" Jaune yelled, hoping she would understand.
She did. She leapt forward and angled her blade downwards, in a move totally ripped out of Troy.
The stalker was forced back for a brief instant, and Ren took advantage of the lull in combat to run forward, firing his guns as he did so.
Then the stalker's tail came descended upon him but Ren stepped lightly to a side and climbed up the tail, still firing away as he did so.
Well, that was…damn.
He noticed Nora pull out her grenade launcher and immediately ran back. "Pyrrha, get back!" He conjured another wall, giving her time to disengage.
His wall crumbled as Nora pulled the trigger.
They were holding their own for now but he knew this couldn't last. He decided to do something stupid.
"Can you guys buy me five minutes?" he asked them.
Pyrrha nodded.
"Sure thing!" Nora answered as she raised her Warhammer.
That was the problem with his more powerful spells. They required time and concentration. He just hoped they would be able to hold it off.
He smiled softly and reached deep within himself, drawing more mana. He raised his arms, channeling all that mana into the air around him.
"You weren't kidding when you said wizard, huh?" Pyrrha mused as she saw air whirling around him, surrounding him in a miniature tornado.
He smiled at her. He didn't say anything though. He needed to concentrate.
Nora leapt towards it, bashing away at the scorpion while Pyrrha struck with quick, precise slashes and stabs, dodging and blocking when needed.
Ren kept firing down at it, preventing it from using its tail as well as providing what he was sure was a large source of annoyance for the stalker.
He drew more mana. He needed all he could muster.
His eyes began to glow.
The air around him howled and small cuts appeared around his arms. More. He needed more. This was nowhere near enough. It was a pity they were on this side of the bridge. He would have simply collapsed the ground under the stalker if their positions were reversed.
He drew more and felt a sharp pain inside him. Pain that quickly became almost unbearable. He was at hit limit then. But it wasn't enough.
He needed more, damn it! They were depending on him! He needed…more…
'Beacon is a magical place, you know?' he remembered Ozpin telling him this morning, right before he was launched into this accursed place.
He didn't know why that line suddenly popped into his head. Then his eyes widened. Ozpin knew. He was the one responsible for him being here after all, having suggested this makeshift exchange student program to reintroduce the normal populace to the wonders of magic. Then, in that case…
He shifted his senses around him.
'Boo yah!' he mentally cheered as he found what he had been looking for.
The howling, razor sharp winds around him were compressed into a single spear. Then he forced the winds to spin. To spin faster, and faster. His hold on it began to weaken. Already he could feel the wind straining to run free.
Ready.
"GET CLEAR!" he roared.
It was a miracle that they heard him through the miniature storm he held in his hands.
Pyrrha dived in, using her shield to block attacks, giving Nora enough time to shift her weapon and jump back.
Then Nora fired at it, causing it to stagger. Pyrrha slashed away at it one more time before disengaging.
Ren hopped daintily on the thing's head while it was distracted and pushed himself off of it and landed next to him.
Jaune released his strenuous hold on the spinning spear.
The spear made a crashing sound and howled as it flew forward.
His eyes couldn't follow the movement, but he knew it had struck.
For one second, nothing happened and he felt his hope turning into despair. He had thrown everything he had and some more at it. He was out.
Then a line appeared right between its eyes and the stalker slowly began to fall into halves.
Jaune sighed in relief. "It's dead, right? Please tell me it's not like that hydra bullcrap."
He was met with silence. "Guys?" He looked at them and saw them staring at the corpse in amazement and shock.
"That really just happened, right?" Ren asked out loud.
Pyrrha nodded mutely.
"Nora, pinch me." Ren ordered. Then he yelped. "Not there!"
Nora giggled but even she looked shocked. "What was that?"
Jaune sat down, exhausted. "A spinning spear made of air."
"A what?" Ren asked.
"Spinning spear. Gathered all the mana I had in me and used it to compress the air around me." Jaune began tiredly. "Wasn't enough, so I tapped into the leyline."
"Mana? Leyline?"
He wasn't quite sure who was asking, because his vision became blurry and everything he heard sounded so far away.
"Mana's the spiritual energy inside all living things. You guys call it Aura. A leyline is a natural location where a buttload of mana gathers in. Got lucky. Beacon's standing on the biggest leyline I've ever felt." He answered. His voice sounded so far away…
"I'm gonna need a long nap to recharge my batteries…" he grumbled. Then his vision darkened and he heard no more.
He woke up two days later and was promptly informed that team leaders should not be napping away while their team mates were busy worrying about them.
Vs Cardin
It was most fortunate that he had gotten the most bullheaded guy in their year as his opponent. In was unfortunate that the guy was pretty damn strong, even though he was kind of slow, compared to some of the other students.
"Begin!" Goodwitch called out.
Cardin immediately charged at him, mace high in the air.
Jaune wasn't the best swordsman, but even he could block that. He raised his blade and let out a sharp breath as his arm was jarred by the strength on the attack.
Cardin lunged with his elbow and hit him in the chest, sending him wheezing back.
'Okay, no contests of pure strength. This guy's pretty damn tough.'
Cardin came at him again and Jaune immediately flicked the hand holding his shield.
A stone wall appeared in front or Cardin, who, with his momentum, could not stop and ran right into it. Jaune immediately charged ahead when he heard his opponent grunt.
The wall collapsed as he closed in and he lunged. Unfortunately, Cardin managed to come to his senses and managed to dodge most of it, although Jaune still cut across his shoulder, decreasing his opponent's Aura meter.
Speaking of which, he had never thought that he would find himself in a Pokémon battle, but here he was, trying to decrease his enemy's bar to 0.
Cardin swung his mace at him and Jaune raised his shield to intercept it. The blow hit him like a goddamaned truck and Jaune was sent flying.
Just because he wasn't completely inept with his weapons didn't mean he was proficient with them. Hell, he was mostly relying on instinct right now.
Cardin approached him slowly now, wary of any magical stone walls.
Jaune frowned. If this kept going as it was he was going to lose. Cardin was stronger and far more proficient with his weapon than he was. It was time to play to his strengths then. Nothing too flashy or destructive though.
He doubted Cardin would give him the time needed to pull those off. And no tapping into the leyline. He couldn't depend on it forever, not to mention that it was unhealthy for a wizard to repeatedly tap into a leyline. There was a reason souls naturally resisted the effect of other people's magic.
He quickly focused some air into a tightly compressed ball and threw at his opponent.
His gamble paid off. Cardin struck it with his mace and the air around him exploded into a haze that hampered visibility. Jaune smiled.
He expanded his senses and felt Cardin swinging his mace around wildly in the center of the cloud. He poured a little bit of mana into his blade. He couldn't use too much, not when he was using most of his mana to maintain the smokescreen over such large area.
He quickly dashed towards his enemy and slashed his arm before quickly disengaging. Cardin swung around wildly but Jaune was already running at him from another side. He once again aimed for his arm and jumped back.
The attacks weren't doing much damage though. Cardin's health bar was still mostly in the greens and his mana was quickly decreasing.
Jaune repeated the process a few more times before the mist finally faded, the mana he had used to maintain it spent.
Jaune was breathing heavily. Almost out of mana and physically exhausted from the quick hit and run attacks he had been carrying out. Cardin focused an angry glare on him.
"YOU!" he roared.
Jaune nodded. "Me." Then he pointed his blade at him. "C'mon then, big boy!"
Cardin roared and charged at him, too angry to focus on anything else.
He swung his mace at him and Jaune winced as it struck his shield, making his shield arm reverberate. Cardin swung again and Jaune barely managed to avoid being smashed into a bloody pulp by jumping back.
Then disaster struck in the shape of a mace. Enraged, Cardin kicked him the leg, causing Jaune to fall over. Cardin struck him on the shoulder with his mace and Jaune howled before slashing at his aggressor, causing him to disengage.
Jaune barely managed to get up. It all boiled down to this.
Cardin raised his mace before charging at him, much like he had at the beginning of this match.
The same overhead blow from the beginning of the duel descended upon him.
Jaune focused what little mana he had left on his arm and slashed his blade upwards.
Cardin's mace flew out of his hand. Jaune quickly took the opportunity to angle his blade right next to his opponent's throat.
"Yield?" he asked sardonically. The duel was over. Even though Cardin still had most of his health bar while his own was almost red.
"H…How?" Cardin asked in a shell shocked voice as he stared down at his empty hand.
Jaune grinned. "Earlier, when I began to attack you while you were disoriented. I charged my sword with some electricity."
Not enough for him to notice outright, but enough that it build up.
"I bet you can't feel your arms right now, bud." Jaune added with a smirk.
Cardin's arms hung loosely at his sides. He glared at him. "You…You cheated!"
Jaune considered it. Well, in a way, he supposed he had. He nodded slowly. "Of course I did. If you ever find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck." He declared cheerfully.
And really, how else was he expected to defeat him? He barely knew basics of swordplay!
Cardin's glare intensified. Jaune pressed Crocea Mors lightly into his throat, to remind the not to do anything stupid.
"You'll pay for this." Cardin declared.
Jaune shrugged. "Maybe. But right now, you're my bitch."
"Arc wins!" Goodwitch called out as she entered the arena and the simulation ended.
Cardin walked away angrily. Jaune blew a raspberry at him.
Goodwitch rolled her eyes before fixing a stern look on him. "Mr. Arc, while I applaud your ingeniousness, your sword form is atrocious."
He winced. 'Yeesh, no need to beat around the bush!'
"Also," she continued, unaware or uncaring of his sudden decrease of self-confidence. "although your plan worked this time, I must ask that you refrain from using tactics that deliberately put you at a disadvantage." She said as pointed towards the screen where their Aura was displayed.
His was red, almost close to 0. Cardin's had barely hit the yellow.
"It is likely that you might find yourself fighting more than one opponent at a time, after all." Goodwitch finished.
Jaune sighed. "Right, thank you, Professor."
She nodded. "See that you improve with your sword." And she left.
Well then, where to find a tutor?
Winter Shenanigans:
Ren shivered as he entered the classroom. Beacon had become an incredibly cold place once winter hit. Of course, the fact that Ozpin had chosen winter to upgrade the heaters, thus ensuring that they would be ready next year, did not help. At all.
He saw team RWBY as well as two of his team mates and walked towards them. Jaune was probably still in his lab.
"Oh, Ren! Here! Here! Here!" Nora called out.
He internally rolled his eyes. More out of habit than actual annoyance though. He had grown used to his friend's antics over the years.
"Morning." He greeted through clenched teeth. How Nora managed to sound chipper in spite of the cold temperature was something that was beyond him.
Everyone else greeted back glumly as he sat down.
"Man, it's so coooold!" Ruby complained.
"It's all in your mind." Weiss interrupted her before she could launch into a full tirade on how she was going to declare war on winter and they, as her team mates, were obligated to help.
Once was enough, thank you.
"Oh, yeah? Then why are you shivering?" Yang asked the apparently not so Snow Princess.
Weiss clamped up. "Am not."
"Are too." Yang countered most eloquently.
"Are not." Weiss riposted.
Are too." Yang insisted.
Blake rolled her eyes but she was also shivering.
This was the scene that Jaune saw as he entered the classroom. Ruby stopped cheering on her sister and her team mate and waved at him.
He smiled at waved back. Then he took a swig from a vial he was carrying. The hot liquid filled him with warmth and made him feel happy.
"Top of the morning to ya!" Jaune greeted his friends cheerfully. He sat down and took another swig from his vial.
"Ah…" he breathed out in satisfaction. "That's the stuff!"
They all looked at him curiously.
"Is that a potion?" Nora asked excitedly.
It might have been a silly question if he were anyone else. But, hey, wizard. Not to mention he had shared some Pepper-Up Potions with them before. They knew firsthand how effective they could be.
Hell, Weiss had even suggested a joint business venture! He was gonna roll in the greens if it all went right! He would have an entire library of tomes and grimoires! And the alchemical ingredients! And those video games that Ren had recently introduced him to!
He felt giddy at the prospect.
"What does it do?" Ruby also asked excitedly.
"Is it for this wretched cold? Because I will buy it off of you if it is." Weiss interjected.
They all froze at that. And not because of the cold.
"Weiss!" Yang exclaimed indignantly while glaring at the white haired student.
"What?" replied said student.
"I need that more than you!" Yang explained.
"No, you don't!"
"Wait, I want the potion too!" Nora interjected.
Pyrrha gave him a winning smile. "Jaune?"
"Hey, no fair! No pulling the partner card!" Yang glared at the redhead.
Pyrrha flushed. "I was not-"
Jaune tuned them out as he felt someone watching him intently. He looked around and saw Blake looking at his vial with an intensity that scared him a little. He decided to ignore her for now.
"I suggested it first so it's mine!" Weiss glared at them.
"But he's my friend!" Ruby complained.
"Well, he's my partner!" Pyrrha interjected.
"But he's my pancake buddy! Right?" Nora turned to look at him with a hopeful look.
Jaune impassively watched on as his friends bickered and took another swig.
"Hey, Jaune, buddy." Ren suddenly nudged him.
"Yeah?" Anyone could see where this was going.
"We're friends, right?" Ren asked quietly, trying to be stealthy. Which was probably a failed effort as Blake was already glaring at the magenta eyed she-boy.
Damn, she had good hearing.
"I like to think so, why?" Jaune asked, feigning ignorance.
"I don't suppose I could have that potion?" Ren asked with what passed as a hopeful look on his usually impassive face.
"Well…" Jaune began loudly, so that everyone else would hear him. "I suppose I could give you a potion…"
"Hey! I asked first!" Weiss interjected indignantly. "And I'm willing to pay!"
"But I need it more!"
"I'm freezing!"
"BUT!" Jaune added loudly, silencing the bickering peanut gallery. They all turned their gazes on him.
"I don't have any potions on me right now." Jaune finished.
They all stared at him. Then at his vial. Then back at him.
"Then what're you drinking?" Ruby asked him.
Jaune nodded slowly. "I understand your confusion. I'm a wizard and I'm drinking something out of a vial."
He held the vial out so people could look at it.
"But this is just hot cocoa." Jaune finished.
"What." Weiss asked flatly.
"Hey, it does smell like cocoa." Nora commented as she peered in.
"I was working late at the lab, got cold, made some hot cocoa, discovered I'd run out of cups, had to improvise." Jaune explained.
"What." Ren asked flatly.
They seemed pretty disappointed.
Jaune smiled at them. "But hey, I'm pretty sure I left some back at the lab. It should still be pretty warm too."
They all looked up.
His smile widened. "But of course, there wasn't that much left so it's pretty much first come first serve."
Silence descended on the classroom.
"Oh, and I added some cream too." Jaune added. "I make good cocoa."
Blake got up. "I have to go to the bathroom." And she was out of the classroom before he could blink.
"Liar!" Yang yelled as she got up and ran after her.
It didn't take long for everyone else to get up and run after her, calling out random things as they left.
"I'm sorry, but that cocoa's mine!" Pyrrha called out as she ran after the blonde her partner.
"Wait, no, it's mine!" Ruby called out as she ran out the door.
"Hey, wait! Stop!" Weiss exclaimed indignantly as she ran after her partner.
"Hey, Ren! Let's go get me some cocoa!" Nora cheered. Then she looked around, confused. "Ren? Ren?"
Jaune pointed towards the door.
"What?!" Nora looked really indignant. "Come back here, Lie Ren!"
Jaune's smile couldn't possibly have widened any more, but that did not mean he wasn't feeling…satisfied.
He hadn't lied per say, but he had neglected to mention how little there was left. He had just wanted to sit by the window, where Team RWBY had chosen to sit.
That was his spot, not theirs! He had claimed it the day they had entered this classroom, even if no one had acknowledged him.
He sat down and looked out the window and saw snowflakes drifting towards the ground.
Life was good.
Of course, they would be angry once they discovered his ruse, but that's where Cardin came in. Cardin didn't know it yet, but wizards were subtle and quick to anger. Well, he wasn't but what mattered was the idea behind the phrase.
Jaune was not a happy camper with the other boy. He had already planted a vial in his bag.
Bullying a cute bunny eared girl like by pulling on said bunny ears…He wanted to be the first guy to touch her fluffy ears, damn it!
AN: I drew some inspiration from various sources, like The Gamer (spinning spear), Harry Potter (Pepper Up Potion), and various other books and anime (leylines).
Hope you all enjoyed!