Minor Changes
Decisions and beginnings
"You know your combat skills are barely passable?" his father asked sharply.
Jaune nodded. This wasn't his father being mean. This was his father making sure he understood the risks.
His father frowned. "Jaune, I won't ask you to reconsider. But please keep in mind that you would do a lot better in the military and you would surely become a great general someday."
Jaune nodded once more. This was his father, worried and trying to offer him what he thought was best.
And he appreciated that.
But that was part of the reason he wanted, no he needed to do this.
"I swear I'll make you proud." Jaune informed his father.
His father sighed, although he did not seem displeased, just resigned. "Very well then," his father replied, "go and pack your bags. You leave for Beacon tomorrow."
Orientation in Beacon
Well, crap.
Jaune began to run through the pros and cons of his hare brained idea of coming to Beacon.
On the one hand, he'd met a lot of interesting people already, and he liked to think that he and Ruby had become friends. Pyrrha seemed nice enough too.
On the other hand, dust planes, general insanity and being launched into forests with no warning whatsoever.
Now Jaune was capable of adapting to a lot of things given enough time, but being launched into a forest with no warning was something that would definitely take some time.
'I am an Arc.' He reminded himself, 'I am an Arc.'
He finally stopped screaming and flailing and began to think of a solution. Before him he could see Ruby fire downwards to reduce her momentum.
To a side he could see the Heiress use her blade to create a seemingly magical circle and jump off of it.
Well, none of those maneuvers would help him.
His mind ran through the tools he had at his disposal. Crocea Mors.
He winced and activated he shield before putting before him and curling up his body as much as he could.
He was unaware of this, but at that moment, a certain Spartan had seen him stop flailing around and was about to throw her spear at him when she saw him pull out his shield.
At this point she assumed that the blonde did indeed have a landing strategy and opted not to and resolved to find him as soon as possible.
In another world, in another life, they would have made good partners.
He slammed into a tree, bounced off and fell on top of his shield.
Dizzy and hurt (he was very much hurt), he slowly began the process of forcing himself up.
A loud growl made him look up.
Though his vision was still blurry, he managed to make out at least 3 beowulves approaching him.
'When it rains, it pours.'
He got back to his feet and angled his weapon at them.
'I am an Arc.' He breathed out slowly.
"Come and get some!" he snarled before immediately putting his shield up.
Yang stopped the moment she heard the sound of combat.
"Well, guess I've found my partner." She commented to herself with a grin.
She began to make her way towards the source of loud noises.
'Jaune.'
'Yes, father?'
He barely managed to duck under a beowulf that tried to pounce on him.
'Combat-wise, you are rather…lacking.'
He tried to turn around to deliver a counter attack but was instead attacked by another wulf.
'Oh…'
His Aura blocked most of the attack, but did little to alleviate the pain or the sheer force of the creature's claws. He winced and rolled with the momentum of the attack so that his back would be to the thick foliage behind him.
'But you possess a sharp tactical mind.'
Now he could no longer be attacked from behind.
He grimaced and raised his shield.
'So use that to your advantage.'
Yang saw that blonde, the one that her sister had apparently befirended…Vomit Boy?
Yang saw Vomit Boy fighting three grimm off, and although he was getting the job done, she couldn't help but think that his style was so…sloppy.
She also noticed that the blonde didn't attack with his blade as often as he could, choosing instead to use his surroundings to strike his enemies.
Average in combat but definitely above average in tactics.
Well, that sounded like a good enough match.
He was breathing hard by the time he finally managed to cut down the last Beowulf.
Honestly, he was just surprised that he'd managed it without sustaining heavy damage.
"Not bad, Vomit Boy, not bad at all!" he turned around and saw Ruby's alleged sister grinning at him.
"T-thanks." He breathed out.
"So no partner yet?" she asked conversationally.
"Nope." Jaune replied.
"Well, then, you're in luck," she answered with a wide grin. "You get the best girl as your partner!" she declared proudly.
Her enthusiasm was contagious, and Jaune found himself smiling back. "Glad to hear it."
"Name's Yang Xiao Long, don't wear it out!" she held out her hand.
He took it. "Jaune Arc. Let's do our best."
"Bleh, so formal," she replied before smiling, "so should we get moving?"
"Let's."
"Little help?" Ruby asked with a hopeful look.
Weiss looked at her and promptly left her there.
She soon arrived in a small clearing.
In another world, she would've seen a blonde hanging in a tree in this clearing and would've gone back to the girl in red.
Seeing no one and nothing there, she began to walk towards the location of the artifacts.
"Fine, I didn't want you anywaaay!" she vaguely heard the girl in red cry out.
She'd barely made it out the clearing when she heard an odd noise. Something that vaguely reminded her of the sloths she'd seen when she'd gone to the zoo.
She drew her blade and began to walk cautiously.
She heard someone or something behind her and turned around, blade raised.
A pink-eyed boy stood behind her, guns aimed at her.
They stood there silently for a few seconds before the boy lowered his guns. "I don't suppose you've heard a sloth around here?" he asked.
Weiss blinked, confused. She then nodded.
The boy smiled. "Alright, she's close," Then he looked at her and frowned, "Do you have a partner?"
"Not yet." She replied as she studied the boy.
"Boy, is Nora going to be disappointed," The boy commented with a wry smile, "Lie Ren. Guess we'll be working together from now on."
Weiss shrugged. It could be worse, she supposed. "Weiss Schnee. Let's get moving."
"Please help me."
Pyrrha looked at the tiny girl in red and internally chuckled before helping the poor girl out.
"Thanks!" the girl told her gratefully. She then looked at her and then around her, "Do you…do you have a partner?" she asked hopefully.
Pyrhha smiled softly and shook her head. "I guess we're partners now."
"Oh, thank gods!" the girl cheered, "Oh, um…my name's Ruby. Ruby Rose."
"Pyrrha Nikos." She replied with a nod.
Well, the girl wasn't the partner she'd wanted, but she seemed like the kind of person she could work with.
Besides, there was nothing that prevented her from befriending the blonde, right?
Blake felt her eye twitching as the orange haired insane girl cheerfully slammed down her hammer over an ursae even as she cackled wildly.
The girl was surrounded by the dissolving form of at least five ursae.
"That was fun!" she cheered.
She then seemed to notice that she wasn't alone.
"Oh, hi! Hey, do you think I can ride one of these?" the orange haired girl asked her.
Ride one of these? As in ride an Ursae?
"No." she replied flatly.
The girl pouted. "Aww, you're no fun."
Blake felt her other begin to twitch as well.
"Hey, have you seen a boy with black hair, green tunic and gorgeous pink eyes?" the orange haired girl asked hopefully.
Blake shook her head.
"Aww…" the girl looked away with a disappointed sound before suddenly looking up, "Wait, do you have a partner?"
'Oh please let her have a partner, please…' Blake internally prayed to every god she knew of.
"Not yet." She replied.
"Damn, Ren's going to be disappointed," the girl commented with a sigh. She then perked up, "but hey, these things happen! My name's Nora Valkyrie."
"Blake Belladonna." Blake answered.
"Awesome, now let's go find an ursae we can ride!" the girl cheered before speeding off.
"Wha-wait!" Blake called out before running after her.
It was going to be a long, harrowing 4 years, wasn't it?
While all of this was going on, Yang and Jaune had found a small cave.
"Do you think the artifact's in there?" Yang asked.
Jaune examined the drawings adorning the sides. The only thing this entire thing was missing was a save point.
"I don't think so." He answered.
"Well, can't hurt to check, right?" she asked.
Actually, it could. It could hurt very much.
"Maybe, but I don't think we should go in there." He gestured at the drawings.
"Oh, c'mon, where's your sense of adventure?" she asked with a winning smile.
Dead and buried after entering random caves with cryptic drawings?
He frowned.
"Well, fine, wait here. I'll check it out." She told him with a small frown.
"Wait, you really shouldn't!" Jaune protested.
"Relax, what could possibly go wrong?" Yang asked with a grin.
Oh. Those words. They were so, so very screwed, weren't they?
"See you in a bit!" Yang called out before running into the cave.
"No, wait! She's gone isn't she?" Jaune sighed.
Jaune began to wonder whether he should follow after his partner after five minutes had passed.
"Yang! You in there?" he called out into the cave,
He received no answer.
Jaune sighed and stepped into the cave. "Yang!"
That's when he heard it. Footsteps and scuttling noises.
"Huh?" he strained his eyes, trying to get a better view when Yang suddenly came out of nowhere and barreled into him, knocking down to the ground.
"Wh-what's going on?" he asked nervously.
"Jaune, run, it all went horribly wrong!" Yang almost yelled at him before pushing herself off of him and running off.
"What are you tal…king…ab…" his voice trailed off as he realized what Yang had been running from.
"Oh." He commented.
At that moment, as Jaune cursed his life, Pyrrha and Ruby were having a similar moment.
"Why is this happening!" Ruby moaned.
That was a very good question, Pyrrha decided. It was also a question that she herself wanted answered.
But for now, she'd settle with getting away from the Nevermore.
"We should jump." Pyrrha informed her partner.
"Jump? As in jump off?" Ruby asked.
Pyrrha nodded grimly.
"But that's insane!" Ruby protested.
The nevermore screeched loudly, making her next words impossible to hear.
They both fell silent after that.
"Okay, we should really jump off." Ruby informed he partner.
Jaune was beginning to wonder whether he'd made the wrong choice. Given his current situation, he thought this was excusable.
After all, being chased by a Nevermore and a Deathstalker at the same time hardly counted as a good time.
Speaking of which, where the hell had Ruby and Pyrrha even found a Nevermore?
Well, at least they had found the artifacts. All they had to do now was get away.
Of course, it was at this moment that Jaune noticed the ruins up ahead.
Jaune felt a wave of panic coursing through him as he came to a realization.
The nevermore screeched overhead and the deathstalker scuttled towards them, locking down all escape routes, and would soon force them to stay and fight.
The ruins up ahead did not look like it would favor their side at all.
He was supposed to fight these? In his first year? How the hell were the others not panicking?! How the hell was he even supp-
He took a deep breath. 'I am an Arc.' He reminded himself.
Jaune looked at the enemy, at his allies and at his surroundings. 'I am an Arc.'
He took another deep breath and he once more studied his allies.
'I am an Arc.'
"Pyrrha, Ruby, and you, Orange girl!" he called out, stopping them before they could run off towards the ruins, where they would most likely be at a disadvantage.
All of them, not just the girls he'd called looked at him curiously.
He forced himself to ignore his nervousness. "Shoot the nevermore, keep it away from us!" he ordered.
They hesitated and Jaune feared they wouldn't listen to him.
"It's better to fight them here in the open than in there!" He pointed out as calmly as he could.
Pyrrha looked at the ruins than back at him and nodded. "Alright."
Ruby and the Orange haired girl accepted shortly afterwards.
Well, that temporarily took care of one problem. Unfortunately, the deathstalker was quickly closing in on them.
"Which one of you prefers agility over raw power?" he asked out loud.
The Pink-eyed Boy and the Ribbon Wearing Girl raised their hands. He glanced at their weapons.
"You," he nodded at Ribbons, "help those three out."
She nodded and sped off to help them.
He looked at the resources he still had available.
His partner, the Heiress and the Pink-eyed Boy.
Who were all looking at him curiously and expectantly.
He forced himself to ignore how self-conscious he felt.
"Okay, we're going to need someone to tank." Jaune mused out loud.
He received blank looks from Yang and the Heiress as well as a snort from the Pink-Eyed Boy.
"I think she'd fit the role." The Pink eyed Boy nodded at Yang.
Oh, good, at least someone here knew what that was about.
"I'm your…" Yang began confidently before her expression changed from confident to confused, " …uhh…tank?" she finished with a questioning tone.
"It means you fight in the frontlines while everyone else provides DPS and/or support." Jaune explained.
Yang nodded with understanding. "Ah," she paused, "wait, DPS?"
"Damage per second." The Pink Eyed Boy explained.
"Gotcha! Well, kind of," Yang exclaimed before charging at the deathstalker, "Ready or not, here I come!"
"Wait!" Jaune called out to no avail as she engaged the stalker directly.
Well, he supposed it bought him more time to think.
Wait. Did she do that on purpose to buy him more time?
He internally smiled. She seemed like a stereotypical Queen Bee kind of girl, but he could tell she was far more cunning and shrewd than you'd expect just by looking at her.
"Well, if it's damage you need, I'm the one you're looking for." The Heiress suddenly cut in haughtily.
Jaune looked at her. Gods, she was beautiful.
He shook his head. 'Focus, Arc, focus.'
"Actually, I thought you could kind of fill the supporting role." Jaune told her somewhat apologetically.
"What?" she blanched, "Me? Support?"
"Sorry, but I think he'd be a better damage dealer." Jaune gestured at the Pink Eyed Boy.
"But he doesn't have any weapons that can pierce its carapace!" the Heiress argued.
"Do you?" Jaune asked her.
She fell silent.
"He's agile and can hit its weak spots, so he shou-" he tried explain.
"Weak spots? Where?" the Heiress cut in.
"Well, um, there's the…umm…" Videogame logic said it had a weak spot, but did it?
"Its stinger." The Pink Eyed Boy cut in.
"Yeah, the stinger!" Jaune latched on to that like a drowning man to a raft.
Wait, the stinger? He vaguely heard the Heiress express her own disbelief.
Jaune examined the deathstalker. More specifically, he examined the golden, bulbous stinger.
Oh. OH.
In spite of his nervousness and his fear, he smirked and nodded at the uncannily perceptive boy. "Go for it."
The other boy smirked back and dashed off.
"The stinger? Why?" The Heiress demanded.
"Part of the plan. Can you please go and support them? I really need to go see how the others are doing." He asked hopefully.
"Ugh, fine. But don't expect me to fill this role all the time!" She finished haughtily before speeding off.
Once he was sure he was alone he finally allowed himself to drop the confident façade. It took him a few seconds to realize he was shaking all over.
Gods, what the hell was he doing in a place like this?
He heard the sound of gunfire in the distance and swallowed before forcing himself to look confident again.
The others needed his help.
Beacon Academy infirmary, some time later...
Jaune groaned as he opened his eyes. Gods, why did it hurt everywhere?
But more importantly, where was he? He blinked to get the blurriness out of his eyes.
An infirmary? It certainly looked like it.
Then he remembered what had happened and felt like slapping himself.
"We got it!" Yang declared proudly.
The Pink Eyed Boy gave him the thumbs up.
"Piece of cake." The Heiress added with a satisfied smile.
Jaune smiled, but it was a humorless one. Had he even helped them?
The Pink Eyed Boy had been the one to come up with the idea for the stinger, his partner had made sure they had the time to implement the plan, and the Heiress had made sure no one got hurt too badly with her magic circles of magic.
What had he done?
"We should help the others." Pink Eyes suggested.
"Right!" Yang exclaimed before looking at him expectantly.
For a few brief seconds none of them said anything.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Jaune asked.
Pink Eyes rolled his eyes at him. "We're waiting for your input."
"What, all of you?" Jaune asked incredulously.
"You are, difficult as it is for me to admit, better at crafting tactics than I." The Heiress answered with some reluctance.
They were all looking at him expectantly, awaiting his orders.
"I…" he swallowed, "Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah! The last plan worked, didn't it?" The blonde brawler asked with a grin.
"Would just hurry up before they're overwhelmed?" The Heiress demanded.
A nod from Pink Eyes.
"A-alright then." Jaune answered hesitantly.
"Aw, chin up! You have a lot of beautiful girls following your orders! Every mean's dream, right?" Yang asked with a wink.
"Wh-wh-WHAT!" The Heiress shrieked indignantly.
"I'm a boy." Pink Eyes added with a deadpan look.
"Wait, what?" Yang gaped at Pink Eyes, "You're kidding, right?"
Jaune noticed Pink Eye's eyes twitching and decided to intervene before something happened. "Shall we get started?" He asked.
"R-right!" his partner answered with a nervous grin.
Jaune looked at the others, who were firing away at the nevermore while Ribbons played decoy for them.
It actually seemed to be going well. Ruby directed her team well enough that they were scoring a multitude of minor victories against it.
But that was the problem.
They were minor victories and although they were succeeding in keeping it away, they simply didn't have the firepower needed to bring it down, although the insane girl with the grenade launching warhammer could certainly come in useful here.
He looked at his partner, who had proven to be a powerhouse all by herself.
"Can you use your circles to give Yang a boost?" he asked the Heiress.
"They're glyphs, not circles!" she snapped, "But, yes, I can."
"Then what we have to do is make sure she gets there." Jaune commented.
"Heh, this ought to be fun." Yang added with a feral grin.
Beacon Academy infirmary, some time later...
Gods, his throbbing head hurt. A lot.
He tried to move his hand and noticed that someone else was holding it.
"Yang?" he looked at the sleeping blonde beside his bed.
He raised his gaze and noticed that everyone that had fought with him in the Initiation Exam were there as well.
"I think I know how we can do that." Pink Eyes commented as he gestured at Ribbons, who used weapon as a shroud to latch on to the flying monstrosity and strike it even as they flew overhead.
"Damn." His partner commented.
Damn indeed.
Unfortunately, the beast's advantage while in the sky was monstrous, no pun intended.
Fortunately, he was already beginning to come up with a plan.
"All of you engage for now, but be ready for my next set of orders." He ordered with a calm that he wasn't feeling.
"Roger!"
"Hmph."
A silent nod.
Right. It was time to bring down the nevermore.
Beacon Academy infirmary, some time later...
Jaune blinked, and began to wonder why his partner was holding his hand. Then his mind began to piece together the events that had transpired during the exam.
"Oh," he finally said with realization. He looked at his partner, "I guess I screwed the pooch on that one…"
"I'll say."
Startled, Jaune looked up and saw Ren looking at him with a small smile.
"Finally awake, huh?" Ren asked.
"I guess." Jaune replied after his heartbeat returned to normal.
They both remained silent for a few seconds.
"I'm not going to ask why you did that. All I'll ask is if you knew what would happen." Ren suddenly broke the uncomfortable silence.
Jaune sighed softly as he remembered the fight against the Nevermore. How things had gone wrong.
"She was going to get hurt." Jaune replied.
"I guess that's fine then," Ren answered, "have fun explaining that to her though."
Jaune winced. "How mad was she?"
Ren hummed thoughtfully. "She seemed more upset than angry, actually."
Well, that just made it worse.
"What are you all doing here anyway?" Jaune asked the other boy.
Ren gave him a flat look. "Do you really have to ask?"
Jaune's answer was a confused look.
Ren sighed. "What kind of development is this? Isn't it usually the attractive opposite gender partner that answers these questions?" he mumbled under his breath.
"Ren?" Jaune asked, worried.
Ren looked up and sighed once more. "We were worried about you and classes haven't started yet, so…"
Wait. Classes? Oh no, how had the initiation gone? Damn, damn, damn.
"Did we pass initiation?" he blurted out.
Perhaps a bit too loudly, as the blonde holding his hand began to wake up.
She got up, released her grip on his hand and stretched while yawning loudly.
It was at this point that Ren began to creep towards the door.
"G'morning." Jaune offered.
Always mind your manners, right?
"Morning." She grumbled as she rubbed her eyes. She kept doing that for a few seconds before the realization of who she was talking to sank in.
"YOU!" she accused him.
"Me?" Jaune asked, confused.
"Huh? Yang? Wh-what's going on?" Ruby suddenly asked. Then she looked at him. "Jaune! You're awake!"
This seemed to act as some sort of domino effect and soon they all began to wake up.
"Why are you being so lo-he's awake?!"
"Welcome back."
"GOOD MORNING!"
"I'm glad to see you're okay now."
Jaune smiled. "I…uh…sorry about worrying all of you. And thank you."
"Could all of you give me a second with my partner?" Yang suddenly asked. Her eyes didn't have the usual light dancing in them. In fact, they looked cold and menacing.
Ruby swallowed nervously. "GoodluckJaunebyeseeyoulater!" she quickly blurted out before leaving the room.
Pyrrha gave them a slightly suspicious look before following her partner.
Ren dragged Nora with him as left shortly afterwards.
Blake followed after them, wondering if she really was Nora's partner.
Weiss frowned slightly before leaving as well.
'Traitors!'
They both remained silent for a few moments.
"Uh-" Jaune began only to be interrupted.
"Why?" Yang asked.
He subconsciously shivered. His partner's voice should not sound this cold.
"Because…" Jaune remembered how his plan had gone wrong. How his partner had nearly fallen, "…I didn't want to watch you get hurt."
"Why?" she asked again.
"I just-" Jaune once more found himself being interrupted.
"Why did you take my place?" she demanded, "I could've taken it! You can't even fight properly, why did you even do that? Are you stupid?!"
She leaned in closer with every word, until he found himself pressed to the wall behind him.
"You could've died! If it weren't for your Aura…" Jaune remembered pushing his partner away from the nevermore's death throes and getting dragged down with it as they fell over the precipice, "WHY?" she demanded.
"Because I came up with the plan, it was my responsibility!" Jaune snapped.
"You could've died!" Yang yelled back.
"So could you!" Jaune snapped back.
They both glared at each other heatedly before Jaune sighed.
"Look, I…I just don't want to see anyone around me get hurt. I'll take any fall, any attack as long as the people around me don't have to," He told her honestly.
"Even if it kills you?" she asked coldly.
"Even then, I'll do whatever it takes." He replied with grim determination.
Yang gave him a cold, hard look and punched his arm.
"Gah!" Jaune
"You…you're an idiot." She told him, "Do you even know what it feels like to lose someone?" she asked.
"I…" Jaune stopped when he saw his partner's face. Yang had a faraway look, and her eyes told a story of grief and sorrow.
"Losing someone is the worst thing that can happen to you. It's worse than dying." Yang finished.
Jaune said nothing and silence descended upon them.
"I'm sorry," Jaune finally broke the silence, "but I…I can't. I can't let the people around me down. I would never be able to live with myself."
Yang glared at him. "What kind of strategist are you?"
Jaune smiled wryly. "The worst kind, apparently."
She sighed. "You…you damned…You can't even fight properly, and yet…"
"No matter what happens, I will always do what I have to in order to keep the people close to me safe." Jaune answered with a determined look.
"Fine. I guess I'll just have to make sure to keep you safe too then." Yang finally replied.
"What?" Jaune asked.
"We're partners, Vomit Boy! You keep me safe and I'll keep you safe. Deal?" she asked as she held out her hand.
"Deal." Jaune replied without hesitation.
They shook on it.
"Mr. Arc? Ms. Xiao Long?" a voice interrupted their bonding,
They looked towards the door, where the blonde professor he'd seen before stood.
"Headmaster Ozpin would like to speak with you," she informed them, "follow me."
Beacon Academy, headmaster's office...
"Ah, Mr. Arc, Ms. Xiao Long, please, sit." Ozpin told them cordially the moment they entered the office.
Jaune noticed with some curiosity that Ren and Weiss were also there.
"Due to your…accident," Ozpin looked directly at him, "this was delayed, but I believe it's time you were assigned a team."
"About time!" he heard Yang mutter under her breath.
"Jaune Arc, Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren, Weiss Schnee, you have collected the rook pieces and shall henceforth be knows as Team JRSY, led by…" It could have been his imagination, but Jaune could swear the headmaster stopped here on purpose.
He also noticed that Weiss was listening keenly, attention undivided.
"…Jaune Arc." Ozpin finished.
Wait. What?
"Congrats!" Yang told him with a grin before slapping his back, sending shockwaves of pain up his spine.
Ren nodded at him.
Weiss, on the other hand, looked shocked, disappointed and angry.
He was going to have to deal with that, huh?
"You are now a Team leader, Mr. Arc, so I would advise you to not…put yourself in dangerous situations on purpose." Ozpin informed him.
Jaune pointedly ignored the victorious smirk Yang was throwing his way.
"But I also understand that it may become necessary, so I will ask you to weigh your choices carefully." Ozpin finished.
It became Yang's turn to ignore his victorious smirk.
"Well then, that will be all." Ozpin told them.
They left the room.
"Hey!" they heard Ruby calling out to them.
"Rubes!" Yang greeted back with a wide grin.
Jaune suddenly realized that Yang might have wanted to be in the same team as her sister and felt a surge of guilt.
"So what happened, how did it go?" Ruby asked.
"We heard you were called by Ozpin." Pyrrha added.
Blake and Nora were also there.
"You were right, he teamed us up!" Yang answered.
"Awesome! So what's your team name? Who's your leader?" Nora asked excitedly, "Is it Ren? Because that would be awesooome."
"No, I'm not leader. He is." Ren nodded at Jaune.
"If you'll excuse me." Weiss suddenly told them before leaving quickly, before anyone could catch up to her.
"Geez, what's gotten her knickers in a twist?" Yang wondered.
Jaune knew, and he knew that he would have to talk with the heiress sooner or later.
"So? Team name?" Ruby asked.
"Right, we're Team JRSY (Jersey)." Yang answered.
"Hah, told you our team name would be cooler!" Nora told Ruby.
Yang and Ren both pointedly looked away.
"What is your team name anyway?" Jaune asked.
"Oh, right, you were…umm…anyway, we're team RVBN! (Raven)." Ruby answered, "Guess what, I'm leader too!" she exclaimed.
"Awesome!" Jaune replied with a grin, but he was paying more attention to his partner's expression.
Did she…did she want to be in the same team as her sister? Did she blame him?
He internally sighed. Being team leader sucked.
"Hey, Yang?" Jaune asked after they'd finished settling in their new room.
"Hm? What is it?" Yang asked him.
"Could I talk to you? In private?" Jaune asked back.
Ren gave them a curious look before shrugging and going back to his napping/meditating. Weiss was still pointedly ignoring him.
"Whoa, making moves on me already?" Yang asked with a surprised look.
Making…moves?
"Wha-NO!" Jaune denied, "I just want to talk to you!"
"Your loss." Yang replied with a shrug and followed him out their team room.
"Well?" she asked.
Where to begin…where to begin…
"I..." Jaune swallowed nervously, "Did you…did you want to be in the same team as Ruby?"
Yang blinked. "Where is this coming from?"
"Just answer the question." Jaune requested.
Yang hummed thoughtfully. "Yes and no." she finally answered.
"What?"
"I do want to be there for her, to keep her safe and to make sure she's alright." Yang told him.
Jaune sighed. "I thought so."
"But on the other hand, I also know I have to let her go and let her become her own person and get out of my shadow." Yang hesitated before continuing, "But there's more to it than that."
"Huh?" Jaune asked.
"I've been looking out for her for as long as I can remember. All my life had been about her. A part of me is glad that I don't have to do that anymore." Yang replied with a bitter smile, "I'd even take a suicidal idiot who can't fight properly over going back to that."
Jaune internally flinched at that last part.
"Does that make me a bad person?" Yang asked with a wry look.
Jaune shook his head. "No. I think…I think that just makes you a young woman who was forced to grow up too quickly."
Yang smiled at him. "Surprisingly perceptive, aren't you? But thanks. I think I needed that."
Jaune smiled back, but his own smile was tinged with guilt. She was right about him.
"Were you worried about how I'd feel about Ruby being on her own?" Yang asked him.
Jaune nodded.
"I think I may have misjudged you, Vomit Boy." Yang suddenly told him.
"No, you had it right. You've probably guessed by now that my fighting skills are…" Jaune trailed off.
"Worse than Jessica Alba's movie career?" Yang supplied with a small grin.
Ouch.
"Well, I guess it is that bad." Jaune replied with a self-deprecating smile, "I'm so sorry."
Yang's grin vanished.
He looked down. "I'll ask the headmaster to transfer me if you'd li-"
It was at this point that Yang interrupted him via punch to the arm.
"Gah!" Jaune cried out.
Good lord, she had a strong hook!
"Damn, what'd I do to get stuck with a suicidal wimp?" Yang asked the ceiling.
"I said I'm sorry!" Jaune complained.
Yang glared at him and jabbed one finger in his chest. "Alright, listen up!"
Jaune's eyes widened, and not just from the sudden surge of pain in his chest.
"I don't know what your issues are, but you're part of our team, you got that?" Yang asked with a rather threatening look.
"I…uhh…yeah, but-" Jaune tried only to be interrupted once more.
"AND you somehow got me as a partner, and no one is ever going to say that Yang Xiao Long abandons her partners!" Yang declared proudly.
"Actually, in this case it's kind of the other way ar-EEP!" Jaune finished with a squeal after Yang threw him a menacing glare.
"I…are you sure about this?" Jaune asked hesitantly.
Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake, yes!"
She…she actually wanted him to stick around, didn't she?
"I can't fight all that well…" Jaune tried to point out, but he was beginning to warm up to the idea.
"Yes, we've already gone through this!" Yang interrupted him once more before giving him a serious look, "And I'm sure you've now that I'm the charge in headfirst kind of girl."
Jaune nodded tentatively.
"You, on the other hand, looked at the situation and came up with the best solution." Yang told him.
"I had help." Jaune pointed out.
Yang rolled her eyes, "Well, yeah, that's what a team is for! But that's not the point here," she gave him a wide smile, "The point is that I'm a good fighter and you're a colossal geek!"
"Hey!" Jaune complained, but in spite of his partner's barbs, he could tell she meant no harm and found himself smiling.
Yang ignored him and then spoke the words that would forever cement their partnership,
"So you'll be my master strategist and I'll be your peerless warrior!"
A.N.:
I don't know why I came up with this. What I do know that I suddenly want to play Fire Emblem again.
Might do a continuation of this someday. Or two, now that I think about it. One chapter would be, for lack of a better term, the "Weiss route" and the other would be the "Yang route". Both would, obviously, be mutually exclusive.
Actually, bleh, sounds like too much work.
Also, does anyone else feel like these are way too…dialogue heavy? I feel like I really need to address that.
I don't plan to do a review addressing thing here, but:
Bronyhood of Steel: You never replied to my PM, so I guess it might not have gotten sent, but yeah, sure, go nuts. Just send me a link to the story so I can read it.