Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, not me. This is merely a fanwork meant for entertainment purposes only. Cover image courtesy of Simon Howden. All rights reserved.
"Jaune, not that I don't trust you, but…are you sure this is a good idea?"
"I've had all night to think about it, Pyrrha. Good idea or not, I owe Weiss a debt, and I'm not just going to let her down, okay?"
The news that he would be setting off into the Emerald Forest that day was met with mixed results. Ren had merely wished him luck, along with giving him a little last-minute advice about managing his aura levels. Nora, meanwhile, had begged desperately to come along, but a quick reminder about the tastiness of cakes managed to let Jaune off with a grin and a pat on the back. Pyrrha was taking it the worst.
"I understand, Jaune, but I really wouldn't mind coming with you if you need the help. With Weiss' weapon damaged, it would just be you against-"
"Just me?" Jaune repeated questioningly, but without anger of any kind. He remembered all too well what happened with the Cardin situation, and he resolved to not mess up like that again. He couldn't quite pinpoint why, but Pyrrha pretty much keeping radio silence with him for a while had made him really unhappy while it lasted. Strange...
"Well, I-"
"Look, Pyrrha." Jaune said softly, taking one of her hands in his own, "I know that you're worried, but you have to believe in me, okay? All this training, all this striving to get better…none of it matters if I can't put it into practice!"
"But you don't have to do it alone, Jaune!"
"I'm not alone! Maybe Myrtenaster isn't quite in the best shape at the moment, but Weiss is still one of the best fighters this school has, bar none. Do you really think that the two of us together can't fight off a few petty Grimm?"
"No…" Pyrrha admitted grudgingly, averting her eyes.
"Then we'll be perfectly fine, won't we? Trust us, Pyrrha…trust me."
Pyrrha sighed, reluctantly letting go of Jaune's hand.
"You're really set on this, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't be pushing it so hard if I wasn't."
For a moment, the two team-mates merely stared into each other's eyes, locked in a battle of wills. Huh, it almost seemed like…
...is Pyrrha blushing?
"Ooh, the popcorn's done!"
Broken out of their little moment, Jaune and Pyrrha whipped their heads around to see Nora sitting on team JNPR's floor, eating a small tub of caramel popcorn. Where did she get that from, anyway? Did they even have popcorn?
"Aw, you stopped!" Nora complained, pouting, "Want some? It's delicious, and it's totally part of your five a day!"
"I'm okay, Nora, but thanks for the offer." replied Jaune, smiling despite the circumstances. That was the great thing about having Nora on your team; she never failed to make you feel better when things got a little too serious.
"Is popcorn really part of your five a day?" Pyrrha asked playfully.
"Yup! It's part of the six food groups; sugar, salt, sugar, chocolate cake, sugar-"
"Yeah, don't listen to Nora for diet advice." Ren warned as he returned to the room, "Not if you value your arteries, anyway."
The straight-laced young man glanced over to Jaune and Pyrrha, raising a surprised eyebrow.
"Still here?"
Giving Pyrrha a slightly guilty look, Jaune picked up Crocea Mors from his bedside and rushed over to the door.
"See you later, team!"
As the blonde boy zoomed off down the corridor, Nora shook her popcorn tub, whining disappointedly at its contents (or lack thereof).
"Think he'll be okay?" Ren asked bluntly.
Pyrrha sighed once again.
"I hope so, Ren. I really hope so."
It struck Jaune that bolting out of the room to escape awkward situations wasn't particularly practical, especially when the location you're running to is right across the hallway from your starting point. Thankfully, the door had closed automatically behind him, so Pyrrha wouldn't have to see him make an absolute embarrassment of himself…at least, not again.
"…why…you should've…door!"
On the plus side, it seemed like Weiss wasn't going on this operation scot-free either. Not that he could hear the specifics; Headmaster Ozpin had wisely decided to make the dorm rooms with fairly potent sound insulation. Did Ozpin have any children? It wouldn't be that big a surprise, considering his apparent familiarity with teenage theatrics.
"…I…forest…GOODBYE!"
Unfortunately for him, Jaune was in no way prepared for Weiss sprinting out of her team's doorway at approximately the speed of snark, giving him no time to sidestep as she sent the both of them crashing against the opposite wall.
"Ow! Watch where you're going, you dolt!" Weiss exclaimed hastily, brushing herself off as she untangled her petite form from Jaune's swirly-eyed wreck.
"Gah…didn't you…run into me?" Jaune wheezed, trying his best to recover the air that had been knocked out of his lungs.
"Bah, details! Now come on, get up!"
Groaning, Jaune just about managed to pull himself off of the chilly hallway floor, checking frantically to make sure he hadn't damaged any of his gear.
"Right, as if your gangly little body could break that sword and shield of yours."
"It's called Crocea Mors...and um, I guess not. Better safe than sorry, though!"
"Oh, so now you're worried about weapon maintenance? It didn't seem to stop you when you had Myrtenaster in your grubby little hands!"
"I said I was sorry, okay? Besides, would it really make you feel better if my stuff was broken as well as yours? That would just make us doubly awful in combat!"
"Right, because we're totally on the same level when it comes to fighting, Jaune."
He groaned, both mentally and physically facepalming.
"Look, can we please just stop arguing for a minute? I've been grappling with Pyrrha all morning and I'd honestly just like some time where I don't have to constantly defend myself. Can I just have that, Weiss?"
The white-haired girl shrugged neutrally, motioning for Jaune to follow her down the hallway.
"So you got molly-coddled too, huh?" Weiss asked finally.
"Yeah…I know I'm not exactly the strongest student in the school, but it's like ever since we started training together, she's become super-protective of me. Am I really that weak, Weiss?"
Weiss bit her lip.
"You want the truth?"
"It'd be nice."
"I don't think you're weak, Jaune. Inexperienced and untrained? Maybe. But even if you are those things, from what I heard about it, you pretty much took out an Ursa Major single-handedly. That's hardly a mean feat, especially for someone who isn't in touch with their semblance yet. Or at least, I don't think you are."
"Semblance…" Jaune muttered, rolling the word around in his head, "Yeah, I remember that from Basic Tactics. Is it really true that everyone has a semblance?"
"Not exactly, Jaune. Everyone has the potential to have a semblance, but only a small percentage of the population will ever unlock it."
"Do you think I'll end up finding mine?"
By this point, the dynamic duo had reached the main elevator room. It was quite well-decorated, really; smooth marble-like material covering the walls and floor made it feel like it had been ripped right out of a fancy hotel. The elevators themselves were slick silvery constructs courtesy of the Schnee Corporation, working tirelessly around the clock to service those students who were too lazy to go up the stairs but were totally fine with fighting terrifying monsters. Yes, this definitely made sense.
As Weiss pressed the neon pink 'call elevator' button, she turned to face Jaune, her expression seeming a lot softer than what he was used to.
Oh dust, what have I done now?
"I'm a genius, Jaune, not a fortune teller. Still…your aura regeneration rate is absolutely staggering, so it's quite possible that you're on the cusp of discovering your semblance."
"But you don't know for sure?"
"Mmhm. Ah, here it is, right on time!" Weiss chimed in as the elevator pulled up, "Not that I would expect any less from one of our company's expert subsidiaries."
Jaune 'hmphed', stepping into the strange little box with nary a thought. He'd never really been in many elevators before he'd come to Beacon, but he reckoned that one lifty-uppy-downy-thing was probably pretty similar to another, when you got right down to it. Of course, Schnee Corp. wasn't exactly known for going for function über alles, so the elevator was floored with beautifully patterned white tiles, with several high-quality mirrors affixed to walls just in case you wanted check your make-up or something. Not that any of this mattered when certain geniuses decided it would be a good idea to press all the buttons at once, including the emergency stop button, while somehow expecting the elevator to work perfectly fine afterwards.
Speaking of 'geniuses'…
"Uh, Weiss?"
"Hm?"
"Is it just me, or is this elevator a little…not-moving?"
The ground floor button had only just been pressed, and already a very worrying creaking noise was reminding them why good little students took the stairs and not these blasted contraptions.
"Don't be ridiculous! It's just…taking a little while to start up, that's all!"
An awkward minute passed.
"…this is obviously your fault, Jaune."
"Oh, sure." Jaune replied sarcastically, "I guess my semblance is breaking elevators then, Weiss, 'cause I haven't touched a darn thing in here!"
"Don't you take that tone with me!" Weiss snapped back.
"Sorry, Weiss. Just a little on edge about this whole 'trapped in a cramped elevator' thing."
"Cramped? There's plenty of space!" Weiss retorted, swinging her arms around to demonstrate.
"Yeah, but I was also counting the bits taken up by your enormous ego."
"Why you little-"
EEEEEEEEEEEEEURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK
"By all the powers that be, what is wrong with this elevator?" Weiss asked, a hint of desperation creeping into her voice, "It sounds like a dying moose!"
"That's…oddly specific."
Thankfully, before Weiss was forced to think of some way to justify her statement, the two students' scrolls decided to ring in unison. After a bit of rummaging through their pockets, the annoying beeping devices were retrieved, revealing the image of a very chilled-out looking Ozpin, casually drinking his cup of coffee (as always).
"Elevator trouble?" the caffeinated headmaster asked, a wolfish grin plastered across his face, "You really should take the stairs, you know. It's good exercise."
"Are the dust mechanics working on fixing them, sir?" Jaune inquired politely.
"Yes, yes, I wouldn't worry yourselves; you'll both be out in a minute or two. So, in the meantime…" Ozpin paused, taking another sip of his omnipresent coffee, "Perhaps Miss Schnee would be kind enough to tell me why she is taking Mr. Arc on an unauthorised trip to Deadlight Manor when her weapon is currently in need of repairs, hm?"
"What? How did you-" Weiss began.
"I KNOW ALL. Also, Miss Belladonna told me about it earlier today."
"But I never said anything about the mansion! How did you figure that out?"
"I KNOW ALL. Or rather, I had a suspicion that might be where you were headed. You simply confirmed it for me."
It took a few seconds for Weiss to fully process this information.
"That was sneaky…" Weiss muttered, open glaring at Ozpin's smug face.
"You don't get to be headmaster without learning a few tricks on the way up, Miss Schnee. Now, technically, first year students are not allowed in the Emerald Forest unless they apply for a mission permit first, however…"
Ozpin leaned closer to his scroll, clasping his hands together.
"I'll give you special clearance for this little adventure, just this once. That way, Glynda can't pull you out of there when she realises what's happened, hm?"
"Thank you Professor Ozpin!" Jaune exclaimed enthusiastically, since Weiss was apparently still quite sore about the whole trickery thing.
"Now now, don't go thanking me yet, Mister Arc. In return for my benevolence here, I need you two to behave yourselves. If you come across any Greater Grimm, I don't think I need to tell you that taking it on with just the two of you would be foolhardy indeed. Dust knows that the Nevermore didn't go down without a fight, and I wouldn't be surprised if a similar monster inhabited the depths of Deadlight Manor. If you see such a Grimm, you must evacuate the area as soon as possible. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Professor Ozpin…" the odd pair confirmed, one more grudgingly than the other.
"Right then…" Ozpin paused, finishing the last of his coffee, "Wouldn't it be convenient if the elevators turned back on just as I was finished talking to you?"
VROOOOOOOOOOOOM
"Very convenient." Weiss commented dryly, narrowing her eyes.
"Quite, Miss Schnee, quite. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go do something that's not making my students hate my guts." Ozpin said matter-of-factly, turning the video link off with a resounding click.
"Man, Professor Ozpin's really cool! Isn't it neat how he's so good at planning and always knows what you're going to-"
A sharp look from Weiss quickly cut off Jaune's stream of fanboyism.
"Uh, by which I mean…darn that Professor Ozpin, always getting in the way of our evil schemes?"
"Just shut up, Jaune." Weiss muttered absently.
That's weird. Her command seemed kind of...spiritless? Maybe she's thinking about something...
As the two students finally stepped out of the lift, Jaune wisely decided not to snark back, at least for a little while. If Weiss wanted to talk to him about whatever was on her mind, she was free to do so. Until then, it would probably be best to just focus on the task at hand. That is, trying to find a mansion no student has ever been to and could very well not actually exist.
This was going to be a loooong day…