Disclaimer:

I don't Own RWBY. I'm also unsure why I bother saying this every chapter as I don't see that fact changing.

Story:

As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, point of view changes are going to start up. I will put their full name in {} every time the POV shifts so you know what too look for. Though this chapter will only have one POV, later ones may have more.

{Pyrrha Nikos}

I could not remember my dream from last night though I tried. All I could recall was camaraderie and laughter, intimacy and joy. It was a pity; I rarely dream, and this one had been pleasant. Still, I looked forward to the new day. Despite sleeping on a hard floor, separated only by a thin bedroll, I had slept well. And warmly, despite the chill air. I felt my lips curl into a soft smile at that last thought as I pulled myself out of my bedroll and towards the showers.

A life time of rising early for training meant I had the showers more or less to myself. Once hot water began sluicing over my body I lost myself in the familiar routine, and I quickly found my mind wandering.

I had chosen to come to Beacon in Vale instead of Sanctum in my homeland for a simple reason: in Mistral, I was alone. Not completely of course. My father, despite the extremely demanding nature of his job as Mistral's Magister Militum, had made time for me whenever he could. My sister, before she passed away, had spent more of her time playing with me than she had spent doing anything else, even though I was three years her junior. And my uncle, who had always been happy to spend time with any member of his family, had spent many hours training me in the arts of combat.

That my father had been a single parent had been a testament to the fact of how dangerous the hunting profession was. Later, my elder sister also lost her life to the forces of Grimm, being forced to fight them well before she should have. And several months ago, my uncle... had committed suicide. And outside of my family I never had anyone I was close to. I never had friends. I never had a lover. So I came to Vale, to escape the isolation of fame and from painful memories both. It may have been the coward's way out, abandoning my father like that, but he at least had many close friends. I had no one but him, and he rarely had time to spend with me, though he tried.

Yesterday had started with hope tempered by nervousness, which transformed into horribly familiar despair as even thousands of miles away from my home people still knew who I was. And then, without fail, they had started tripping over themselves, either to place me up on a pedestal, or try to take advantage of me. Either way, to them I was not a person. Not really.

Until Jaune. He was rough around the edges, but he was kind and thoughtful, and treated me as he did others. When my public persona slipped he actually encouraged me, which was a very new experience. And, while it was embarrassing, noticing I was cold and bringing me a sweatshirt had been very sweet of him. Judging by his confusion over it, it seemed unlikely that he even knew that women typically only wore men's clothing when it was their man's clothing, making him seem particularly earnest in my eyes. And I would take awkward and earnest over charming and oily every time.

After I had met him it seemed things had been falling into place; I saw recognition in the eyes of the women I spoke with last night, but they too had treated me as another person instead of a celebrity. It was almost like Jaune was a lucky charm. I smiled again at that thought as I shut off the water and began toweling off. Jaune desired to be my partner. And he would be if I could arrange it. I finished my daily hygiene rituals, applied a light dusting of cosmetics before making my way to the cafeteria for a light breakfast. It would not do to skip a meal before a hard day of martial tests, but fighting to keep my food down alongside the Grimm due to eating too large of a meal held little appeal to me as well.

Thanks to my impromptu tour yesterday navigating my way to the cafeteria did not take long. I quickly grabbed myself a glass of milk and a bowl of oatmeal, sat down in the more or less deserted mess hall and ate them before heading to the lockers. In transit I passed by a rather energetic girl dragging a sleepy and somewhat effeminate looking boy behind her as I set out to find locker six hundred thirty five.

I padded down the rows of lockers that were just starting to fill with my fellow Beacon hopefuls until I located my locker. A few quick taps on a number pad unlocked it and I withdrew Milo and Akouo, my prized weapon and shield respectively.

After I shut my locker I wondered what else to do. Perhaps listen to music or read books on my scroll? But, no. I had another option now, one I never really had before. Spending time with my new friends.

I would have to find them first, but I could simply wait for them at the entrance to the locker room. It would only be a matter of time before they came into retrieve their own equipment. On the other hand, loitering around outside the locker room would be a little creepy.

An image of myself sporting a green Mohawk, leering at the passers by skittered across my mind's eye, and I let out a brief chuckle. Anything I could picture Russel doing is an activity I would have to avoid. I would simply have to make sure I got the others' scroll numbers later.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" I was about to leave the room when an unfamiliar voice raised it's self over the din of students chatting as they retrieved their weaponry.

"Hello!" I said. I donned the polite smile that was plastered over every Pumpkin Pete's cereal box as I turned to address the stranger who called out to me. I wondered if she was part of the category that idolized me or part of the one that wished to cash in on my fame as I did so. ... Maybe that's a little pessimistic. Jaune hadn't cared about who I was and neither had Ruby, Yang, or Blake, so I might be getting lucky a fifth time. Probably not mind you, but hope springs eternal.

She had pale skin, bright blue eyes, and had long white hair which was similarly styled to mine in a pony tail, though her's was off center. She wore an exceptionally well crafted white dress with beautiful embroidery upon it, and also like me she wore a set of heels. Even with them she was still a great deal smaller than I. Her build could accurately be described as petite, and with her almost delicate features she looked doll like. She also wore pride and ambition like a crown, as if she was going to conquer all of Remnant no matter what stood in her way.

She too put on a polite smile, but there was something predatory lurking behind it. "A pleasure to meet you Miss Nikos. Allow me to introduce myself: Weiss Schnee." The heiress to the Schnee conglomerate perhaps? The Schnee family was said to be very pale and sport white hair.

As she curtsied I became increasingly certain I knew where this conversation was going. "Tell me Pyrrha.", she continued, "Have you put any thought into who's team you would like to be on? I'm sure that many people must be clamoring to form a team with such an accomplished and widely renowned person such as yourself."

How wonderful. Yet another person wanting to ride my coattails to success. I rolled my eyes while her head was still bowed from her curtsy. "I have put some thought into it, yes." Notably Jaune, and then hopefully a pair of the others I'd met last night. Not a glory hound, Miss Schnee. ...That was rather harsh of me. And I can't even apologize without offending her. I am not starting this day off on the right foot.

"Well, I was thinking that we could be on a team together." She said.

I concealed my guilt with practiced ease, and while I was trying to think of a polite way to inform her I already had plans, I noticed Jaune walking behind her.

He looked different than he had last night, speaking with us. He looked closer to how he had when I'd first called out to him, and though he didn't like his sobriquets I could see how people would call him the Somber Swordsman in spite of his plain clothing and lack of weaponry.

He wore pair of dark pants and an unadorned white t-shirt, had messy blonde hair in need of a trim kept out of his eyes by a plain leather headband, and looked out at the world with dark blue eyes. But with him it seemed like drapes on a window; and behind them was, simply put, will. He seemed regal in a hard, cold way, in control of himself and the world around him. And there was a sense of melancholy to him as well, but it was subtle, as if he was trying to hide it from the world at large. It was the eyes I think, cerulean orbs deep and dark as the night sea.

It was a short moment before he caught sight of me as well, and the somber determination in his demeanor faded away to be replaced by something warmer and more relaxed. My heart sped up a little when it did. It was marvelous to know there was at least one person who was happy simply to see me.

"Pyrrha. Sleep well?" He asked. I felt my smile grow a little brighter as he did. "I did, thank you."

He then turned one of his forced, painful looking smiles, which were no doubt his attempt at being polite, towards Weiss. "A good morning to you as well, miss."

Weiss scowled at his awkward visage. "Excuse me. We were talking here." She then gestured at me. " And do you even realize who you're speaking too?" Wait, what?

Jaune rolled his eyes and his response was characteristically dry. "No, I just call everybody I meet Pyrrha. I'm bound to get it right someday."

She scowled at him and placed her hands on her hips. "Have you been living under a rock? She graduated Sanctum as it's Valedictorian." My smile slipped. I don't want this. Jaune doesn't know who I am and it's wonderful.

Jaune looked a little lost as he eyed me. "That's... a hunter academy? In Mistral I presume." He regained his confidence as he continued. "It must have taken a lot of hard work. Congratulations." I regained my smile as he finished. Jaune still saw me as, well, me. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad?

He then addressed Weiss after that, "And I haven't been living under a rock, actually. Only scrubs live under rocks. I lived under an entire mountain."

Weiss persisted in proclaiming my merits. "She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row! It's a new record."

Jaune looked at me again, impressed, but not intimidated, worshipful, or calculating. This wasn't going badly at all, really. Having someone who knew what I've done and still treating me normally was even better than having someone who was simply ignorant of my family and personal accomplishments. "For the whole country I'd imagine? Skill is one's natural talent honed by time and effort. The dedication necessary to win four tournaments in a row must have been immense. That you've done so speaks well of your character, Pyrrha."

Though I privately considered my skill to be equally due to the fact that I had no social life what so ever to clutter up my schedule as it was determination, I still felt absurdly pleased by his honest compliment. I'd received many compliments before, but I'd rarely felt shy like this afterwards. I needed to pull myself together for initiation, no matter how pleasant it was. So I gave him a shallow bow, so that I could hide my warming face with my bangs. "Thank you."

"She's on the front of every box of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes!" Weiss was practically screaming now as she waved her arms about.

Jaune looked at me, blushing, embarrassed. So he wasn't intimidated by my record breaking national win streak but was by a box of cereal? Really? ...Actually it was kind of cute, when I thought of it that way. "I don't mean to belittle your accomplishments Pyrrha. I just don't have any context for them. I have no idea what marshmallow flakes even are."

Oh. He was worried he was offending me. He really is a sweet guy. I quickly spoke to put him at ease, "Please don't worry about it. They're not very good for you anyway." He nodded acceptance, having regained his equilibrium once more.

Weiss started grinding her teeth, evidently missing our conversation entirely. "Do you really think you deserve to be on a team with her?" How rude! There is no one I would desire as my partner other than Jaune!

Pain and uncertainty flickered over Jaune's face after she said that, and it made me sick to see it. And then furious. How dare she hurt him? How dare she attempt to drive him away from me?

My voice remained polite and friendly on the surface, but I doubted Weiss would miss the edge I put into it. I'm willing to admit that I get rather punchy when I'm mad. "Miss Schnee, allow me introduce my friend Jaune Ebner. Perhaps you've heard of him?" I put an unsubtle emphasis on the word friend, as well as his name, and saw Wiess's shock. Which wasn't surprising; though Jaune's face wasn't as well known as mine, he was arguably even more famous than I.

Jaune on the other hand reacted the same way to the word friend as he had yesterday. First with astonishment, and then with embarrassment, and then finally with a fragile, hopeful smile that made me want to hold him. The first time I saw it I knew that I was not the only one who had been lonely and was glad to find companionship at last.

I waited until Weiss had opened her mouth to speak before I continued. See? Punchy. "The child hunter from Menagerie. He's the first person to start hunting professionally at age ten, shattering the previous record of nineteen."

Weiss looked anxious now, and Jaune finally seemed to recognize my courteousness as veiled hostility. He looked between Weiss and myself before shifting his facing slightly towards Weiss, as if she were a potential threat. I continued on with my well mannered verbal offense. "He's completed over five hundred missions in the seven years he's been active as a hunter. Another new record, this time surpassing fully trained hunters."

I was glad I'd read a Hunter Monthly magazine with an article on him during my flight to Vale. It made this much easier. "Not to mention that even his most conservative estimated Grimm kill count is measured in five digits, meaning he has more experience fighting against the forces of Grimm than any two entire teams at Beacon."

Weiss looked defeated already, but I went in for the final blow anyway. "He's also appeared in the news and in many magazines, including Age, Hunter Monthly, and Populi, just to name a few."

Weiss looked mortified while Jaune looked flustered. Maybe I'd gone a little too far? I know some men are little touchy about others standing up for them, particularly when it's a woman...

Jaune recovered quickly with a pair of slow deep breaths and then smiled at me. His earnest smile was a thing of beauty to see; it seemed like the room grew brighter as he did. His forced smiles were painful to look at, but his honest ones were truly stunning, like the sun emerging from behind dark clouds. "You know, it's been a while since somebody's leaped to my defense."

He chuckled and went on, his smile becoming sardonic. "Nice role reversal by the way. Now all you have to do is slay a dragon and you'll get my hand in marriage and half the kingdom, Princess Charming. Now let your knight go put on his shining armor." It seems I was worrying for nothing. I let out a giggle, more from nerves than anything else as Weiss let out an indignant, "Hey!"

He took a step past me and continued smiling as he opened up locker six hundred thirty six while I wondered what the chances of him having the locker next to me were. "Still partners then?" he asked, lifting his eyes to meet mine.

"Of course." I replied, returning his warm expression. And then he took off his shirt.

In Mistral there are many beaches, so I'd seen men without shirts before, and it was simply an observation. I had felt nothing. The sky is blue, water is wet and that man is not wearing a shirt. Even last night I had regarded Jaune the same way, but evidently things have changed. Blood rushed to my face, warmth pooled in my lower stomach, and I looked away from him. But I also kept taking glances back at him, entranced with his figure, as he changed.

Jaune had the same balanced build my father had, one which I had come to associate with professional huntsmen. His muscles were almost precisely as large as they could be without slowing him down, and they stood out much more rigidly than our peers; he must exercise frequently and intensely. The occasional silver stripe of old scar tissue made him look dangerous, predatory, and very, very, masculine.

Weiss ogled him a moment before turning away, her face red and muttering, "How shameless." First insults, and now ogling? Make up your mind already. Jeez.

Jaune let out an amused snort. He then, well, rippled, his way into a heavy looking leather jacket. It was extremely interesting to watch, but I was a little disappointed once he finished. He then began securing heavy plates of steel on to his person. They looked about a centimeter and a half thick to me; the whole suit must weigh at least forty kilos. Perhaps as many sixty.

Weiss spoke up again as he donned his armor. "I... apologize for my behavior Jaune."

He looked down at his gauntlets, testing the movement of his fingers within them, and said, "It's fine."

She continued on, "Perhaps, you, Pyrrha and my self could join forces? A team with us three on it would be remarkably able."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Without so much as an introduction?"

I saw Weiss smirk a bit at that. "Of course, what am I thinking? I am Weiss Schnee. A pleasure to meet you."

He nodded amiably. "You famous for something too then? You were talking like you were."

Weiss gaped. "You haven't heard of the Schnee company?"

Jaune gave her a very direct look. "I have. But I haven't heard of Weiss." He said, fastening a bandoleer around his armored chest. Well, I guess I'm not the only one who's feeling punchy today.

Weiss flushed with anger, and turned to stalk away. "I don't have to put up with this."

Jaune's voice was gentle when he spoke to her as she left, but still loud enough to rise over her angry foot falls. "Perhaps there is more to people than how well known they are, Weiss? Either way, I wouldn't mind being on a team with you." She paused a moment, but in the end she decided to leave. Jaune let out a sigh. That hadn't been what I was expecting.

Once Weiss was out of earshot I spoke, "To be honest, I thought you were going to tell her off."

Jaune shook his head, and spoke his voice sounding faintly tired. "She doesn't view people fairly, which is a bad habit for quite a few reasons, and sadly common. So, while it's fun, you can't teach people much by lambasting them. To make somebody realize that they're wrong you need to make them think, and in my experience, questions work best for that. " He made a hand gesture at Weiss's retreating figure then, his face twisting into a bitter smile, "Though it's never a surefire thing as you can see. Besides she wasn't that bad; I've put up with much worse in Menagerie."

That made me think. No parent worth the name would let their child do something as dangerous as hunting Grimm at age ten. I often found things difficult, being alone, and surrounded by praise and adulation, with the love and support of my family. How much harder must it have been for him, a human in Menagerie, surrounded by scorn and hatred, without anyone at all? He must have been completely isolated, and had to have endured a great deal of peril, discrimination, and pain to have changed things as he has. The strength of will necessary to do that, to help people who despised you, day after day, was almost unfathomable. It was little wonder that he seemed so serious, so sad.

"Why?" I asked him.

"You lost me. Care to elaborate?" He looked at me with midnight eyes as he continued fastening on his armor.

"You help, even when others hurt you. I was wondering why."

He smirked. "Well, I'm not a masochist, if that's what you're thinking. I'd even say I'm a bit of an S."

"Jaune, I'm being serious. It can not have been easy."

He looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, and when he spoke his voice was low and full of shame? Grief? It was hard to tell. "It wasn't. There have been times, when I was at my lowest, where I did some truly awful things." He ran his armored fingers through his hair as he kept on. "But I still want to be a man I can be proud of. I still want the world we live in to be a better place. And I still want everyone to treat each other with decency and compassion. And I really do enjoy lending a hand, helping, giving joy and hope and life. I don't always manage to live up to my ideals, but I try. As hard as I can. There just doesn't seem to be much of a point if I don't. And blindly lashing out at others doesn't help anyone."

A little sliver of guilt pierced me. For a moment I would have sworn I saw my sister's face, as I'd last seen her, pale except where it was covered in blood. I too have done things I'm not proud of, and I also do my best to treat others with kindness and dignity, but it wasn't always so. And I just hurt my first friend with my selfishly intrusive curiosity. So I gave him my best sympathetic smile, though he was fastening his armor with more attention than the task required and didn't see it. "I understand Jaune. We all have our crosses to bear." I placed one of my hands on his yet unarmored shoulder. He went tense with shock for a moment, but, with glacial slowness, as if he was afraid, he covered my hand with one of his, large and cool in it's sheath of steel. Then he looked up at me with a lopsided grin, but his voice was wry instead of ashamed. I'd count it as a success. "Yeah, I guess we do."

For a little while, we simply stayed that way in a silent show of understanding and support. But the constraints of time forced it's end a few minutes later, and his hand slowly slipped off of mine. "I should probably finished getting dressed." he said. "I doubt the staff would be understanding if we show up late to the test." I removed my hand from his shoulder so he could finish girding himself for battle.

It had taken a few more minutes, but he now wore the full suit of armor he was famous for. He began slowly filling his bandoleer with clear vials the size of my thumb out of a small brown chest stored in his locker. I looked at the vials curiously.

He noticed my gaze. "Say, Pyr, do you want one? They're Lys's tears. I calculated the doses for me, but if you just take one or two you'll be fine."

A nickname? Since it's you, I'll allow it. "Lys's Tears? I am afraid that I have not heard of them before."

He shrugged. "It's probably outdated and got replaced or something. It's a medicine that increases aura regeneration. You can drink or inject it as you like."

I widened my eyes. There is no drug or anything else that speeds up aura generation. My voice was breathy as I replied, "Jaune, I've never heard of anything that can do that. That could increase hunters' efficiency across the entire world."

He looked surprised. "Really? I mean, I've been making and using it for years. I thought it would be standard issue."

"No, it's... it's... well it's not standard. Or even heard of. Is it expensive to make?"

"No, the ingredients are pretty common. It's a real pain to actually brew up though. On the plus side it has a long shelf life." He picked up a handful of the vials and offered them to me.

"Jaune, are you sure?"

He just raised an eyebrow. "Yes. And now for the disclaimer: You can technically over dose on it, but it would take something along the lines of a gallon for the average adult. There is a pretty nasty side effect though: increased emotional response. That can get pretty dangerous in a combat situation, so don't take more than one vial at a time until you learn how to control yourself under it's influence. I would also recommend against using any until your aura's at the half mark or so, at least for today; it'd be best to get used to it while nothing is at risk. If you do end up taking it, it's effects will last a couple of hours give or take."

I accepted them and slid all of the vials but two back into my locker. Those two I shoved into an ammo pouch on my person which I emptied out for their sake. I wouldn't use more than one at a time, but who knew how long initiation would last? I turned a grateful smile to him when I was done. "Thank you. I shall have to pay you back for this. And the sweatshirt too."

He looked at me with quiet contentment before closing the chest and his locker both. "It's nothing."

He says 'it's nothing' a lot. Is that his catchphrase? Either way I was going to reward him for the consideration and kindness he has shown me. "So Jaune, shall we head to the launch point?" I asked.

He gave me a boyish grin, his somber mood dispelled once more. "Sounds good, Pyr."

I hefted Milo and Akouo as Jaune finished checking over his gear. His voice rose over the faint noise of his moving armor, "Let's knock this thing out of the park partner." His grin turned positively wolfish.

I replied in kind. "They won't know what hit them." It felt like the end of my dream had come back to me. I felt closer to Jaune now than I had to anybody in what seemed a long time.

So we strode out, side by side, to meet Beacon's test.

Notes:

As it turns out, I was wrong. Car crashes are worse than writer's block by a large margin. I promise to at least tell you guys if I'm going on hiatus or canceling the fic, though if you've been following me so far then you'll probably know my update times vary wildly based on how motivated I feel.

Thank you again, mah reviewers. It makes typing these up a lot easier, and more fun. Also over a hundred follows which is pretty damn cool. Thank you mah followers.

This chapter brought to you in Pyrrha vision due to the fact that Jaune is wholly incapable of recognizing how others view him. Hopefully I got her tone down correctly. I always saw her as presenting a public persona ever since her eye roll at Weiss. Speaking of Weiss, I'm not sure I got her down right.

And yeah, Jaune doesn't realize it, and would deny it if anybody claimed so in front of him, but he has a tragic hero vibe going on. People with strong maternal instincts will want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be okay.

Last chapter, I think I may have screwed up the character interaction. I was trying to make some of the characters come off as embarrassed or friendly for the most part, not tripping over themselves to get with Jaune. He's only known them for a day after all. Once again, tell me if I screwed that up. Seriously, help an amateur author out here. I'd really appreciate it. Leave me a review and let me know how I done goofed, and more importantly how I can keep from doing so in the future. Reviews that just bash on me will turn me into a sad panda. You wouldn't want me to be a sad panda would you? Panda paws are horrible for typing.

And before I forget, Vale and Menagerie use the US Customary measurement system, while the other three countries use the Metric system in this fic. It's just a little piece of world building so if it's confusing I'll just drop it, and everybody will abruptly use the same system.

So, evidently it's against site rules to respond to reviews directly in a chapter, but I'd like to respond to more of my reviewers. I can PM some, but many leave anonymous reviews. Any advice?