JADE'D ROSES
CHAPTER TWO: IT'S ALL JADED
Ruby walked through the forest clutching Crescent Rose tight. Just because she scared some Grimm away didn't mean there wasn't more.
She was a little disappointed that she had to walk back by herself, though. She'd been under the impression Ozpin was going back too. Maybe she should have made Yang stay back. But Ozpin probably wouldn't have liked that. He did say he wanted to talk to her alone.
It wasn't that she was afraid of walking back alone. Hell, she'd be more afraid if she was with her team and the danger they were in had they been with her. She just wanted somebody to talk to on the way back. But with no Yang, Blake or even Weiss by her side, she was alone with Crescent Rose and her thoughts
She looked down at the weapon in her hand as she moseyed along. Maybe she should add some new features? Something to take down those King Taijiu's quicker? They had been a pain to kill until she got onto the head or directly under it. Could another blade be useful?
Ruby shook her head. Worry about Crescent Rose later, she told herself, think about this team your showing around tomorrow. Ozpin chose her because she was the friendliest girl her knew, he'd said it out-right, but Weiss was the not-so-friendliest girl she knew. She doubted there'd be much wrong with them, they'd been able to be good enough for Ozpin to let them in after the year already started after all, but Weiss would find some reason to dislike them. The hooded girl was sure of it.
Maybe they'd be a cool, suave and macho kind of team? The type to come in and save the day every time. Yang would like that, if for nothing else to make a 'knight in shining armor' joke.
Or maybe they were all girls, like they were. And they were into braiding hair and silly sleepovers and whatnot. Ruby herself was never really a girls-girl, Weiss would disagree, and had tended to spend more time with Yang or her first model of Crescent Rose (which was a piece of glass stuck into a wooden spatula. She ended up in the emergency room two days later with stitches in her finger) but that would be a fun team. Maybe she could pawn them off on Nora?
What if they were like JNPR and had two each? Would they work as well together as JNPR did? Maybe better?
No matter their genders, Ruby had to wonder how good they were in combat. Good enough to get into Beacon, but also into whatever school they went to in… where'd Ozpin say they were from?
Oh well, she thought. She'd find out tomorrow.
Her musings were brought to a halt as she exited the thick brush of trees and shrubs, the eerie feeling of Grimm lurking gone altogether. Smiling, she attached Crescent Rose to her back once more, making a mental note to go back to the drawing board on any additional features, and speed semblance home.
She would have done it before, but the last time she did everybody got on her case. Weiss told her she was alerting Grimm to their location, Blake was upset she had uprooted at least twenty trees in a five-meter dash, Yang was mad at her for using her semblance to win a "friendly" race they'd had one day to beat her to the other side of the forest and Mrs. Goodwitch had to tell her specifically that her semblance could get her injured, what with all the trees and the risk of banging into one very real.
Ruby didn't understand why everyone else seemed to be allowed to use their semblances in the forest except for her, but she wasn't going to risk using it when she'd been asked not to.
"Hey sis! Good to have you back! My little hero over here!" Yang greeted as Ruby bust through the door, rose petals following.
"What did Professor Ozpin want?" Blake asked from her bed, looking up at Ruby.
"First he wanted to ask if we'd go and climb the mountain. He wants to know if he can put a training course up there." Ruby told them, earning some questioning looks.
"Why would he send students up there if he's not sure it's safe enough to send students up there?" Blake asked, more to herself than anyone. Yang shrugged.
"Maybe he doesn't like us and is trying to 'inconspicuously' kill us off. Catch my drift?" She said, air quoting 'inconspicuously' and dragging a finger over her neck. Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Maybe we're advanced enough to handle it, while some other teams are not. After all,-" Weiss started to explain. Yang saw she was going to strengthen her own ego, and decided to pop her balloon right then.
"Our team does have Ruby Rose on it. Right Rubes?" The brawler asked her sister, elbowing her repeatedly.
"Right," Ruby said embarrassed. "And second, he wanted us to show some transferring team around Beacon tomorrow." She continued.
"Did he say who they were?" Blake asked.
"Or why they were transferring?" Weiss continued.
"I know as much as you do. All he said was we have to meet them tomorrow morning at nine o'clock in the courtyard." Ruby told them, recounting the headmasters' words. "Now if nobody has any more questions, I think I should go to bed, we have a long day tomorrow." She said, hopping onto her bunk.
"Sure thing, you need your rest! Not every day you take out a whole hoard of Grimm." Yang boasted, before climbing onto her bunk as well.
Then the rest of team RWBY drifted off into sleep.
LINEBREAK
"They're late." Weiss complained. Ruby shook her head.
"Weiss, it's only 9:02." She pointed out. Weiss glared.
"That's still late. We should be in class if they don't have the decency to show up on time." The heiress complained.
"Oh calm down, Ozpin excused us from our first class for this." Yang rolled her eyes. Blake cut off Weiss' retort.
"Is that them?" The Faunus girl questioned, pointing at four figures coming through the front gates.
The first was a boy in a yellow t-shirt and grey long pants with grey and yellow shoes. He had dark brown hair, almost bowl shaped, with long bangs and weirdly clear brown eyes. He had a belt on with duel holsters, holding pistols of some kind on either side and… a canoe ore on his back? Wut?
The second was another boy in a green long sleeved shirt under a black hoodie, with the hood up hiding most of his black hair and matching green eyes. He had regular black sweatpants with a green keychain coming from his pocket with matching black boots. Duel knives were holstered at his sides.
The third was, yet again, a boy wearing a silver and Ultra-blue shirt, black jacket, black pants that had a blue line down the pant-leg with black combat boots and black and blue fingerless gloves. He had black spiky-ish hair in the front to reveal bright blue eyes. On his right fist were a pair of Brass Knuckles and on his back there was a large Battle Axe.
The fourth and final member was a girl in a purple jacket, very light, over a plain white t-shirt. She had white short pants and long purple stockings on that went with her white and pink running shoes. She had long light brown hair past her shoulders and violet eyes. What looked like an empty holster was attached to her hip, the purpose undetermined.
They began to walk through the courtyard, making their way to the other side.
Suddenly, the boy in yellow tripped over his own two feet, causing his face to become good friends with the concrete. But he caused a chain-reaction, and the boy in black-and-blue tripped over him and pulled the girl down with him in an attempt to stable himself. The boy in green looked down hopelessly at his teammates as he shook his covered head.
"I guess that's them." Yang said, walking towards the pile of students, Blake following. Weiss scowled.
"I hope not. They look like even bigger dolts than you." She said, looking at Ruby before following Yang and Blake.
"At least they didn't blow you up." Yang called back to her. She looked at the kids attempting to untangle themselves, unsuccessfully, and even dragging the boy in green down to the floor. "Yet."
Ruby, who had speed-semblanced her way past her team, halted before the still-floored team.
"Are you guys the transfer students?" She asked, almost bouncing with excitement.
"No, we just decided class could wait." The yellow boy said, squashed beneath his teammates. The girl slapped his head, despite being two people above him.
"Yeah, that'd be us. And you are?" She asked, managing to roll off her pile of teammates.
"I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose. And this is my team," Ruby began motioning to the others. "Weiss, Blake and Yang." Each girl waved as her name was spoken.
"We're team RWBY and we were told to show you around." Ruby told them, helping the boy in green up to his feet.
After Yang helped, yanked, the other boys off the floor, the boy in yellow spoke.
"Well I'm Joe Wise, and these are my nitwits- I mean team JADE." He said.
"Alex Chambers." The boy in green waved as Joe spoke his name.
"Mike Doc, but he goes by Doc." The axe-wielder waved also.
"And Erin Atkins." The girl smiled and spoke next.
"Don't mind him. If an anything, he's the king nitwit." Erin corrected, shaking team RWBY's hands as everyone else followed.
"So," Doc said after introductions. "Where we goin' first?"
"Class." Weiss said pointedly. Doc sighed.
"Figures as much." He muttered. Ruby attempted to console him.
"Don't worry, Professor Goodwitch's class is always… interesting." She said, before she lead the group to class.
"Interesting like quirky, or interesting like 'spin around in a chair with a cat on your lap'?" Joe asked from the back of the group. Yang smirked.
"Neither."
Team JADE couldn't help the sudden sense of dread that fell over all of them.
LINEBREAK
After arriving in the Beacon arena, team JADE sat between RWBY and JNPR, engaging in simple conversation before Goodwitch spoke from the floor.
"Good afternoon class. I see that we've got some new students today." She started. Joe interrupted.
"When can we meet them? Is it you?" He said, pointing behind him at Velvet. Majority of the class broke into snickers; Yang's by far the loudest.
"Very funny Mr.," She looked down at her attendance scroll "Wise. It appears your name isn't quite suitable." Goodwitch said, getting the class snickering again. Joe went unfazed.
"Neither is yours." He quipped back. The class erupted in laughter, and Goodwitch glared, before smirking.
"It appears Mr. Wise has volunteered team JADE as first in the sparring matches today. Who wishes to go first?" Goodwitch said, turning and walking away.
The class ooooh'd and Alex muttered,
"Why do you always pull me into this kind of shit?"
Doc spoke next, but it was more of a yell than a mutter.
"Okay, how about I go and…. Nominate Joe!" He said with a large grin, pushing Joe out of his seat. "Good luck buddy."
Joe glared, before huffing and jumping over the railing and into the arena, following Goodwitch.
"So, who am I sparring with?" He asked, walking to one end of the field. Goodwitch merely turned back to the class.
"Mr. Winchester, could you please come spar with Mr. Wise?" She called.
Cardin came moments later, his mace over his shoulder as he grinned manically.
"This is gonna be fun." He said, letting his weapon drop to the ground. Goodwitch moved out from between the two boys, before announcing the start of the battle.
"Ready, begin!" She yelled.
Cardin charged first and swung his mace right for Joe's head, but Joe ducked and rolled out of the way, holding the ore that was once on his back in front of him.
Ruby stared at Joe's weapon questioningly.
"Is that… an ore?" She asked Doc, who was sitting next to her. Doc shook his head.
"Sadly? Yes." He said. "When we were little our assignment was to build our own weapons but Joe has the creativity of a tomato. So instead, he used an ore he found in the street one day and coated it in dust, so it can't break." Doc informed her. Although confused, Ruby nodded.
Back in the arena, Cardin just finished laughing at Joe's weapon.
"Why is your weapon an ore?" He asked the teen in yellow.
"Why isn't your weapon an ore?" Joe shot back, twirling his ore around.
Cardin charged again, aiming for Joe's chest this time. But Joe blocked this time with his ore, easily stopping the mace from crushing his ribs. Joe pushed back and forced Cardin to stagger away, before he hit Cardin's shins with his ore, causing him to fall.
Joe placed the paddle-end of the ore on Cardin's chest, leaning on the top of it as if he'd just swept the floor.
"Nice match, Cardin Loose-chester." He quipped, before tucking his ore away. Goodwitch stood, stunned.
"Nicely done, Mr. Wise. Perhaps you're not completely hopeless after all." She said, smiling as Joe tried to help Cardin to his feet, but frowned at the way Cardin swatted away the sign of good-sportsmanship. "Next, up. Mr. Doc."
"Isn't that redundant?" Yang blurted out as Doc hopped over the side. The kids around her laughed again.
"Doc, word of advice; don't die!" Joe yelled after he'd gotten back to his seat. Erin turned to him.
"Was that necessary? And why'd you only use your ore? You could've halved that time if you'd used your Tasers or semblance." Erin asked, drawing RWBY's attention.
"He's got Tasers? Where?" Yang questioned, appearing in the row behind the two. Joe shot her a questioning glance, silently wondering how she'd gotten up there, but didn't comment.
"Right here." He said, pulling two Taser guns from the holsters on his hips. Blake questioned him next.
"Why wouldn't you use those first? Doc told us that that ore was just an ore." She asked. Joe shrugged.
"Didn't feel like it. And yes, Erin, that was completely necessary." He said, before Goodwitch called out again.
"Mr. Arc, please spar with Mr. Doc." She called.
"Again, redundant." Yang said, the same time Jaune said "Ah jeez" and trudged his way to his teacher and fellow student.
"Don't worry Jaune, you can do it!" Pyrrah called to him from her seat, Nora and Ren smiling beside her.
"Ready, begin!" Goodwitch called, stepping out of between Jaune and Doc.
Jaune drew his sword and raised his shield as Doc slammed his axe onto the floor, displaying it proudly.
"Woah. That's a big axe." Ruby commented. Erin rolled her eyes.
"Thanks for noticing. It's his baby. He spends more time tinkering with that thing than he talks to his father." She said, shaking her head.
"Does it have a name?" Blake asked. Alex answered this time.
"Dok. With a 'k'." He said, ashamed. Yang snorted.
"Really? He named it after himself? Even I'm not that conceded." She said unbelievingly.
Doc picked the axe up over his head and swung down, going for an aerial attack, but Jaune's expanded shield held it off. Jaune let go of the shield and back stepped away, watching as the axe slammed the shield to the ground.
Doc lunged at Jaune, ripping the axe from the shield and swinging again. But Jaune ducked and Doc missed, successfully… lodging his axe in the arena wall. Joe shook his head from the stands.
"Not again." He muttered. Weiss looked at him incredulously.
"This happened before?" She questioned him. Erin looked down.
"Twelve times to be exact." She answered. "Lucky number thirteen I guess."
Pyrrah quickly called to Jaune,
"Now's your chance! He's defenseless!" She called to him. Erin looked at her.
"He's got more than an axe. His semblance is Aural Projection." She informed everybody around them.
Pyrrah looked shocked, since she'd never met somebody with such a semblance but Ruby was utterly confused.
"What's that?" She questioned Erin.
Erin pointed to the field, where Doc was shooting what looked like blue waves at Jaune, who was hiding behind his shield.
"He can shoot something similar to shockwaves from his arms and legs." She explained. Ruby lit up.
"Whoa. That's a cool semblance." She muttered.
Doc was charging towards Jaune with a glowing fist, while Jaune held his shield in front of him, hoping for it to take the brunt of the attack. But before they even connected, Goodwitch intervened.
"Times up! This match is a draw!"
Doc and Jaune shook hands, before making their way back to the stands, Pyrrah trying to convince Jaune a draw wasn't a loss and Joe telling Doc he wasn't fixing Dok again until Goodwitch called again.
"Next up Erin Atkins of JADE will spar with Blake Belladonna of RWBY!" She announced to the class.
Once again, I don't own anything but the OC's.