Author's note: When I first started this story, I honestly didn't expect it to do so well, I really appreciate you people reading my writings. I love reading your reviews and suggestions, so please keep them coming.
Edit: So, apparently I left a sentence in that I forgot to delete. It does explain the reviews, anyway, I tweaked it slightly so it doesn't say that she falls in love, Weiss just feels something.
"Two extra sets of clothes, extra dried meat for Ash, extra harness, toothbrush, toothpaste, insulated canteen," Jaune mumbled to himself as he checked his backpack one last time, "frozen meat that should be thawed by the time we reach the field, and extra leash." Jaune finished accounting for everything and slung the backpack over his shoulder. Hooking the snow leopard onto his leash, he led Ash outside to join the rest of his friends to meet their chaperone.
"Are you okay, Jaune?" the violet-eyed teen was just met with silence as their leading huntsman walked towards them.
"Good morning teams, my name is Pluto and I will be leading you lot through a simple search and destroy mission. Our objective is to clear out grimm in the abandoned ruins of a failed expansion of Vale." Jaune noticed the man was a few inches taller than he was. He featured black shoulder and forearm guards, outlined with blue bezels. His greaves featured the same color scheme. "If there are no questions, then board the- is that a large cat and a corgi?" he pointed out.
"Yes sir, a snow leopard cub, his name is Ash," Jaune answered. "He's a part of team JNPR and will be accompanying us on this mission."
"This is Zwei, he's my dad's dog, we're just watching over him, but he can fight," Ruby made an excuse for her dad's dog.
"Alright, let's get on board," the huntsman announced, seemingly wary of the animals that had been brought along.
After everyone had boarded and strapped in, the airship took off. The ride to the outskirts of Vale was very familiar to Jaune, as he'd taken trips similar to this with his snow leopard cub and Ozpin for training. This was just another extended training trip to the two, who sat anxiously, ready to show how much they've grown. "We should talk about our strategies," Jaune turned to Ruby, "I'm pretty sure everyone here wants to make it back alive."
"What do you have in mind?" Ruby smiled.
"Yang, Ash and I will draw our enemy's attention while Ren, Blake and Weiss strike at close range while they're distracted. You, Nora and Pyrrha will provide long range support," Jaune calmly explained his plan as the group seemed to agree.
"Wait, just you and Yang? Jaune, that's crazy, it's like you're asking to die-,"
"Well maybe I am, ever thought of that Pyrrha?" Pyrrha could feel his animosity towards everyone in the cabin, "You and I both know I don't belong at Beacon, so if I die on this mission, it's as if the world corrects itself, if I don't I prove that I do."
The group was silent at the weight of their tactician's words. The supervising huntsman only laughed at the young leader's words. "I like you, kid, you got guts. Every huntsman needs to go into every mission fighting like they're going to die," he explained as he looked out the window and unbuckled his seat belt, "well, we're here, I assume you all have a landing strategy." He said as he jumped out.
The rest of the group followed suit, jumping out of the side of the plane one by one, even Ash. Jaune was the last, not having a landing strategy, he took a deep breath and jumped. When he opened his eyes, he saw the rest of his group looking up in concern, noticing the ground coming closer and closer. Smiling, he flipped over, holding his backpack to protect his belongings, and activated his semblance, glowing a dim white as he created a small crater upon landing. He stood up, dusted himself off and replaced his backpack onto his back.
Again, gaining the attention of both teams JNPR and RWBY, their jaws dropping at the impact, the only one amused was Pluto. "Now that's a landing strategy!" he yelled, patting the boy on the back in approval.
"How did you survive that?!" Weiss demanded, "You had all of us worried that you could have died."
"It's a special landing strategy that I came up with at the last second," he mused, not wanting to reveal his semblance just yet.
"Whatever, let's clear out this place, it's crawling with grimm," Pluto said, pulling out a pair of scimitars.
"Like we discussed, Yang, Ash and I will take the lead," he said, calling to his companion who was busy swatting at a dangling vine.
The group didn't advance far from their landing position when they encountered their first pack of beowulves. It was a pack much larger than any student has ever seen in the training room, but this was nothing Jaune hadn't seen before. Making the first moves, Ash and Jaune attacked the monsters with swift and deadly strikes, followed by Yang, making sure none advances further to the rest of the group. While the trio had the enemy's attention, following the plan, Weiss, Blake and Ren took the opportunity to quickly assassinate the grimm one by one. Off at a distance, Ruby and Pyrrha sniped at the crowds, while Nora sent groups of black bodies flying with her grenade launcher while Pluto noted their performance.
Before long, following Jaune's battle strategy, the group of hunters in training made their way down the street, block by block, sweeping for enemies and eliminating ones they encounter. Jaune had been glowing white all afternoon, taking multiple hits and acting as a wall to hide behind while Ash draws enemies towards him, effectively keeping the enemies' attention away from their friends. When night fell, Pluto had found an empty building to take refuge in until dawn.
Jaune decided to take the first watch, after giving Ash his dinner, he sat atop the edge of the roof, pistol in hand to shoot whatever approached. "So that's how you survived that first day in the training hall, a barrier semblance?" He turned to see a girl in black and red walk towards him.
"Yeah, you saw me glowing, didn't you?" he slightly smiled, turning his attention back to watching the entrances of the building.
"I'm sorry about what happened with Weiss yesterday," Ruby frowned, "you don't deserve to be treated like that."
"People don't change, Ruby," Jaune kept his eyes on the streets below, "you of all people should know how she acts."
"But maybe she might change if she knew how you felt," she suggested.
The princess dressed in white walked up the stairs to the roof to confront the blonde leader. Just as she was about to show her face, she hid as soon as she heard who they talked about. She listened as best as she could to hear their insults to add to her anger, but was met with something completely different.
"I doubt it," Jaune pointed the pistol at a boarbatusk, but the creature passed the building without a second thought. "She's an heiress to the biggest dust mining company. She's pretty much royalty. She's trained for combat, very talented, smart and graceful, I wish I could hear her sing right now," he reiterated what he'd told her a couple days prior, "I get why she'd overlook me without much thought."
"Jaune, you're a great guy, she just doesn't know what she's overlooking," she tried to comfort him.
"Are you kidding? I mean, look at me; I'm just some scraggly kid who made it here by cheating. When I met her, I was pinned to a tree, hanging from my hood," he ranted, "My singing sucks, and I can't really find any redeeming feature about myself. If I can't do that, what makes you sure Weiss could see anything in me?"
"Well, you're kind," Ruby countered, "You were the first person I've ever met at Beacon, and you are still the kindest. You're funny, you're a talented strategist and you can now hold back hordes of grimm on your own. They may not realize it, but you protected all of us, Jaune. If Weiss can't see any of that, then she overlooked a guy that any girl would be lucky to have." Ruby's face was a light shade of pink by the time she finished.
Jaune smiled, feeling a little better about himself, he looked up to meet her gaze, "Thanks Ruby. It's getting late, you should get some rest."
"Yeah, we have a long day tomorrow," she turned to walk back to the stairs.
Back in her hiding spot, Weiss felt a pain in her chest.