Author's note: This isn't the best that I can come up with, but having writer's block and all makes it super difficult to come up with ideas. So I hope you guys enjoy, I'm having a lot of fun trying to move the story along. I will hint at romance here and there, but I really don't know who I'm gonna pair with Jaune.
One by one, the corpses piled up before they could finish disintegrating. A vicious roar and a whimper could be heard from several miles away. Loud thuds can be heard from bodies dropping, and Jaune's unmistakable grunts and yells echo through the night. A flurry of coordinated attacks, almost nonstop, came from the hunstman in training and the young snow leopard. "Amazing, it's only been a month and these two…" Glynda commented as she watched the scene.
"I'm not surprised," Ozpin said, taking another sip of his coffee that never seemed to run out, "the boy does have to possess an enormous amount of strength and skill to be able to command a beast like this."
"Don't you think it's odd?" the witch adjusted her glasses and monitored her scroll, "I've never seen any huntsman or huntress undergo such growth in such a small amount of time."
"I have, but just once," Ozpin explained, "he wasn't the best fighter, but he was a good friend. Usually on and off the battlefield he was an uncoordinated buffoon, and everyone questioned his decision to become a huntsman. There was a time when his friends and comrades were in danger during the last war.
"Though he was severely injured," Ozpin continued, "he somehow protected our unit from the oncoming attacks. By then I was unconscious, but when I came to, I was in a hospital bed, my comrades still out cold in the beds next to me. I looked around and there he was at the foot of my bed, smiling as if nothing ever happened and not a visible scratch on him. That man carried the same sword and shield as that young boy over there."
"Is that the reason you let him stay?!" Glynda was shocked at her leader, "Even after we found out his transcripts were forged, you let him stay because you owe his father?!"
"Of course not, that would be reckless," Ozpin noticed the irony of his statement, "I believe that this boy will grow to save many more lives. You're observing him right now, aren't you? His skills as a combatant are better than our fourth year students."
"It's still pretty reckless to let him out here by himself," Glynda pouted.
"He'll be fine," the headmaster waved his hand, "oh look, the grimm are running away."
Jaune used a medium sized stone for a seat, his companion affectionately nuzzled up against his face. "You did great, boy," he said, stroking the gray fur. He pulled out a plastic Ziploc bag of raw chicken from his backpack, "and I didn't even have to use my aura this time."
The now larger snow leopard snatched the bag out of his friend's hand, flailing it around until it broke open and released its contents. Ash excitedly gathered his rewards and brought a piece to Jaune in return. The blonde took the meat, waved it around to get the cub's attention, and then threw it in the air for him to catch.
"Well done, Mister Arc," Ozpin, with Glynda at his side, walked towards the pair. "I have to say, you've improved immensely since that time we launched you off Beacon Cliffs."
"Thank you, sir, it has gotten so much easier," Jaune said before he realized that during the event his headmaster was talking about, he didn't have any skill worth noting, "Hey, wait a minute-"
"We should get back to the academy," Ozpin interrupted as an airship descended to their location, "we wouldn't want your team to worry about your whereabouts again, now would we?"
"Alright," Jaune replaced Ash's ruined harness with a new one, hooked the leash and led him to the airship.
As soon as the pair was out of earshot, Glynda showed a message from her scroll to the headmaster, "What are we going to do about this?"
"We do nothing," he said, with a cold edge to his voice, "I will protect these students as best as I can, they're too young know what it feels to take another life. And don't alarm the students; this is to be kept between you and me."
Jaune slipped into the dorm room exhausted; taking off his armor he inspected the damage. He spotted several dents and scratches, but when he got the back plate that protects his rear, he saw a large portion of it was ripped off. "Aw, man," he sighed, "this is gonna cost a fortune to replace."
"What have you been doing?" Nora looked up from the comic book that lay on her lap, "I'm pretty sure the training bots don't do that kind of damage."
"Deathstalkers got lucky," though that wasn't a complete lie, Jaune hated lying to his team, "you know, maximum level and all."
"Oh, well if you need new armor, there are facilities for forging weapons and armor," she replied. "Ooh, I know, I'll help you! We'll make you look super badass! We'll put spikes, a gun on your helmet, and a cannon on your arm…"
"Nora, I'm pretty sure Jaune wants to still be able to move," Ren reminded her.
"Aww, but-,"
"No, no, Nora, I just want some simple armor," Jaune sighed and exited the room.
On the way to the forge, Jaune couldn't help but ponder on Nora's suggestion. 'I could use some leg covering; I would hate to break my kneecap, I heard they don't heal very fast.'
"Hey Jaune," Ruby jumped out of her room.
"Or maybe something that could attach to my hood, yeah that would be cool," Jaune smiled as he began to think out loud, still not noticing his fellow leader's presence.
"Hello, are you there?" Ruby, to no avail, waved her hand in front of his face for attention, "Remnant to Jaune, Remnant to Jaune, please come in."
"I do have to fix my breastplate, hehe, breastplate," Jaune giggled to himself, "Oh, hey Ruby."
"Hey Jaune," Ruby climbed down from his back. "So what are you mumbling about?"
"Oh, I damaged my armor, and I need some help replacing it," Jaune explained to the small girl.
"Oh, I can help you with that," Ruby said with a hint of hopefulness in her voice, "I did build Crescent Rose."
"Yeah, you mentioned that like a million times," Jaune rolled his eyes, "but I do need help, I've never touched dust before. Pretty please."
"We need to do it carefully if we're going to add dust, I don't think you want to explode either."
"That's funny coming from you, crater face," Jaune playfully tugged her hood.
"Whatever, vomit boy," Ruby childishly stuck out her tongue as they continued to make their way to the school's forge.