Chapter 5

The Creeper

Jaune woke up to the sound of the chirps of local birdlife. It was still dark but from the window adjacent to him, he could see the slow advance of gold through the land. His hand crept towards his pack and opened a small compartment situated on the left side. Without problems, he was able to produce his scroll and clicked it open. It was a handy device, able to track how much an individual's current aura was amongst many other uses. He saw that it was just around four in the morning.

Perfect. He thought as he rose from his slumber.

Gathering a fresh change of clothes, he stealthily walked towards the men's bathroom. Within a few minutes, he soundlessly returned to his spot and fixed his belongings. Taking a moment to survey his friend's and acquaintance's spots, he was met with mixed levels of disaster. Ruby and Blake barely even rumpled their sleeping bags which were the same for Ren but when it came to Yang and Nora's, he could only imagine the many sleepless nights that their chosen partner would probably have.

Oum have mercy on their souls. He silently offered a prayer to whoever those unfortunate beings were.

He shouldered his pack and as silently as a cat, left the great hall. He was thankful that the large double doors didn't creak when he pushed it apart. Using his scroll as a map, he made his way towards the locker area where their armor and weapons were stored. His sneakers made slight noises ever so often as he walked on the concrete floor, so often that his head twisted and turned to assure that none would catch him sneaking towards the lockers. It was said in the student guide that access to the lockers before eight am and after nine pm was prohibited thus he was forced into his current, ungraceful light strides.

The long hallway that he was on ended with a T intersection and directly in front of him was the pressurized door of the locker rooms. Just as he thought he was on the clear, he found himself pressed close to the grey concrete walls.

"I just don't understand why you love your hot cocoa that much." Professor Goodwitch's unmistakable voice echoed through the desolated hallways.

Jaune gulped as he wished that his black hoodie had the ability to render him invisible to the naked eye even for just a few seconds.

"I am disappointed to see that after all these years you still have yet to know the true importance of a good mug of hot cocoa in our lives." As if to make things worse, Professor Ozpin's voice declared the pair's closing distance.

Oh for the love of Monty why? What if they catch me? Will I be expelled? Or maybe I'll just be sanctioned to some sort of detention? Does Professor Ozpin still have a spare mug of that hot cocoa? What will dad and mom do to me and Monty forbid, my sisters' reaction?

Such questions ravaged Jaune's panicking mind, most were applicable while others were not. He looked behind him and was greeted by the long hallway that he had just passed, devoid of any possible hiding places.

"Such is why the blend must be just right. If I add too much caffeine or lower caffeine into my system and if I don't take my regular drink every three hours or so, then I believe that you will find the main seat as more comfortable than what you have in your office."

Based on the closeness of Professor Ozpin's voice, Jaune assumed that he had at least two minutes to make a mad dash to safety. His feet immediately launched him forward as he landed on the balls of his feet to neutralize the sound. As the pair of voices grew louder and nearer, he stopped a couple of feet away from the intersection and removed his pack. He then propped it on the floor to a manner that it would look like a medium sized box on the side of the pathway. He then lay on his belly behind the backpack. He had done such reckless act several times before back when he was ten years old out of the sheer hate of his math subject. Give enough distance and with the right angle, the brown, square shaped backpack effectively covers his whole body from the sights of his search parties.

To add to his advantage, the hallway had no windows was dimly lit due to the lack of students within it.

"I swear in the name of Monty, if you don't stop with your addiction-"

"Fondness." Ozpin abruptly corrected Glynda's word though it was obvious that the latter was correct with her use of the term.

"then I will have no choice but to permanently cancel your lifelong membership cards to every café in Vale."

Jaune sensed the headmaster stopped dead on his tracks while her right hand woman continued but at a slower pace.

"You wouldn't dare." The knight stifled a laugh at the obvious disbelief in Ozpin's voice.

For the short time that he had been in Beacon Academy, not once had he heard the famed Professor Ozpin break his usual professional and stoic demeanor. But then again, perhaps in the long run, he and his fellow students would witness the very rare occasions eventually.

"Make me." Jaune had his hands cupped on his mouth in an attempt to stay quiet as a deafening silence took hold between the two.

After what seemed to be ages, he heard Ozpin sighed and defeat. "Fine."

He allowed a breath of relief as the sounds of footfalls continued.

"Oh, and before I forget, Mister Arc, you are free to use the lockers. Just make sure that you will be using your armor and weapons responsibly." Ozpin called out to the still prone blonde as the sounds of their footwear slowly faded.

Great. That was embarrassing.

Slightly annoyed with his mediocre stealth skills, he dusted himself as he stood up. Knowing that continuing his previous arrangements would be full on idiocy, he freely and openly converged towards the locker room. He reached the panel mounted on the wall beside the pressurized door. Jaune rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance as the panel showed 'Welcome Jaune Arc' emblazoned in red capital letters.

"Really have to do something with my stealth."

"Yes that is true." The blonde turned frantically to face another redhead, but longer than compared to Ruby's.

Her emerald green eyes sparkled as it met his rich blue eyes. A bronze circlet shimmered as the little artificial light made contact with its surface. Jaune was a bit stunned as he looked onto the girl's features. She was beautiful no doubt but for some reason, she seemed familiar. But all thoughts were pushed aside as he asked one seemingly random yet important question.

"How long have you been there?"

Bonus

"So, how long have you known that Jaune Arc was lying there in that hallway?" Glynda arched an eyebrow towards the still drinking Ozpin.

Her light blonde hair seemed to glow under the dimly lit hallways much like her companion's silver hair.

"Since yesterday." His response earned a scowl on the golden haired beauty.

At times, Glynda would just simply scream in frustration due to Ozpin's cryptic and at times, sarcastic answers. It was if he was speaking in another language that was full of underlying meanings. But she knew better than to do such ungraceful and unprofessional act, especially with the first years probably still sleeping soundly in the great hall. Because of which, she vented most of her annoyance with an audible sigh. She tried to ignore what seemed for her to be a simple sarcastic reply from her old friend and employer.

"Then at least tell me this, why let the Arc boy retrieve his gear despite him practically breaking the rules?"

Ozpin took a sip from his beloved drink. "Glynda, you must understand that rules are simply guidelines in placed to, as indicated by the term, guide people towards a certain criteria or goal. As such, one should not hold onto it religiously or to let it dictate one's life. As important as a goal or criteria or rather, much greater importance is that of the bonds that people share with each other."

Once again, Glynda was amazed at how Ozpin was able to change the topic to that of the ruling system from her original inquiry.

"And can you kindly explain how that 'human bond' is related with Mister Arc's attempt to sneak into the lockers area?"

The golden haired maiden's brows furrowed as Ozpin raised three fingers. She watched him as he slowly counted down to one then suddenly…

"Aww come on!"

"I'm sorry!"

Glynda's eyes widened as the voices of Jaune Arc and a certain Pyrrha Nikos reached her. Her green eyes looked at the headmaster's brown. The grin on his face, something that she had seen on very rare occasions indicated that he had satisfyingly accomplished some personal agenda. Then it hit her like a speeding vehicle trying to evade capture of the authorities. She removed her thin oval eyeglasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"For Oum's sake, Ozpin, I thought you were past this."

"Correction, I never planned to do it, in fact, the attempt of Mister Arc also surprised me but when I sensed Miss Nikos's aura, I jumped at the chance." He once again took another sip of his drink.

The blonde internally gave up as she had finally concluded, after at least a decade beside him, that he was a lost cause.

"And I thought I was able to actually persuade you away from doing these immature things."

"Well, with all due respect Miss Goodwitch, the only thing that you were able to persuade me was that time when we-" The word never came out of his mouth as he his face was slapped with the huntress's crop.