For the second time in recent memory, Jaune Arc awoke to find himself in an infirmary bed. The familiar white ceiling and occasional light beeping, alongside the whiff of cleaning products, was fast becoming one of Jaune's least favourite sensory combinations, and he expressed his distaste with a sigh. His mind back-tracked to how he ended up here, and the sigh became more of a groan. I am such an idiot...
It was one thing to ignore injuries in a battle, since adrenaline tended to override the sense of pain and self-preservation. But Jaune had been fully conscious of his physical condition slowly deteriorating, and he'd just kept going with his team. Why? It wasn't like the mission was critical, or that anything rested on it; for Monty's sake, it had just been a walk in the woods to get some red sap! So why had he walked himself into the ground, undoubtedly causing his team to worry. Speaking of his team...
Jaune turned his head slightly to the right, and was greeted with the sight of Pyrrha Nikos, also lying on a bed. She had obviously been looking at him, and when she saw that his eyes were open, she called over to something behind him.
"He's awake!" Immediately, Jaune felt a hand on the side of his head, gently tilting it so that he was facing to his left instead. The hand was attached to Lie Ren, who scrutinised his leader's face for a moment before removing his hand.
"Indeed; awake and thinking, and thank Monty for that."
"Hey guys." Jaune managed, though he realised that his throat had dried up at some point. That situation was remedied when a water bottle was lifted to his lips, and slowly upended. Once he was hydrated again, Jaune sighed happily, before looking around a bit more. The clock over the infirmary door told him that it was approaching six o'clock, meaning that classes were finished and dinner would be ending soon.
"Nora's getting food?" he guessed, noting as he looked up that there was a pink woolen scarf hanging from the rails of his bed which read 'Get Well Soon'.
"Yes, she took out her frustrations on the combat class while I watched you, then volunteered to get dinner for us all. I handled Grimm Studies earlier, and as you can see, she used the time to leave you some gifts." Plural? Jaune realised that his head was resting on something seemingly softer than the usual pillows, and he reached an arm behind his head to find a pink hat with his crest on it. He smiled as he saw it, and returned it to its prior position, letting his arm rest – that simple motion had been oddly tiring.
"I'll definitely have to thank her; she does great work." Ren nodded, but didn't say anything. Jaune wasn't as good at observation as Ren, but even he could tell that his friend was struggling with something.
"So...after my attack of the vapours, what happened?" The martial artist quirked an eyebrow at his choice of terminology, his internal argument apparently put on hold as he chuckled slightly.
"Well, we managed to guess what was wrong with you quickly. We didn't really have any experience in how to deal with it though, so we took a gamble – you know how when your aura is unlocked, the person the who does it leaves a little bit of their aura with you?" Jaune nodded, and Ren continued. "Well, with how your aura worked, I was willing to bet that if Pyrrha rebuilt that connection between your auras, your soul would be able to use her aura to sustain itself until we found some other way to do it."
The martial artist's words echoed in Jaune's mind; he felt like he had experienced something during the time when he was unconscious, but it was unclear. He'd have to ask Pyrrha... "Well, the plan worked. Pyrrha was able to keep you going for two hours, while Weiss Schnee used Oobleck's Dust supplies to put together a sort of aura-substitute. That's what you've got going into you at the moment." Ren nodded to the IV drip currently feeding into Jaune's left arm, which was glowing white.
"I see." Jaune replied, raising his right hand in front of his face. He focussed for a moment, and was relieved when his aura flickered into life. It wasn't up to its normal levels, but it was still at a good level – maybe two thirds. "This stuff really works. Monty, I'm going to owe her something big." His friend nodded, shifting back a bit in his seat.
"Yes, you are. In fact, you'll have the opportunity to pay it back quite soon – team RWBY will be headed back here with Nora after dinner."
"Cool." replied Jaune, who managed to lean over slightly in search of what he knew the bed must have. "Say, Ren? Do you think you can get this thing into a sitting position?" The martial artist nodded, eyes searching the side of the bed for the lever to do so. He hadn't yet found it when the bed seemed to move itself, however, and both sets of eyes turned to their red-haired team mate, whose hand was settling back down onto the bed. Jaune favoured her with a smile and a "Thanks, Pyrrha." The look she gave him in return was...complicated. Jaune counted relief, anger and something else in her gaze, and he felt sure that she was about to let him know why.
"Jaune Arc, if you ever put yourself in so much danger for no reason again, you can be sure that I will match and exceed that danger upon your waking." The threat was delivered calmly, and left absolutely no doubt that it would be followed through. Goodwitch would be proud, thought Jaune with a shiver, even as his partner continued. "But still, thank Monty you're alright. How are you feeling?"
Jaune raised his right arm again. It felt weak, but he could move it, and that seemed to be the rule for the rest of him too."I'm feeling okay; tired all over, but it's not like I'm in pain or anything. And my aura's manifesting again, so I'm recovering on that end as well. Everything's turning up Jaune." replied the blonde, emphasising his last sentence with two thumbs-up.
Pyrrha sighed happily, settling with a "That's good to hear."
She lay like that for a moment, and Jaune shifted a little so he was in a more comfortable sitting position. "Jaune...what do you remember about everything that's happened?" she asked, her voice quieter than usual.
Her partner considered for a moment, replying "I remember that a certain idiot walked himself to a collapse in the middle of a forest, for no good reason whatsoever, and placed a heavy burden on his team mates. I also get the impression that something happened after that, but it's all kind of fuzzy – I was actually kind of hoping that you could tell me what happened."
Pyrrha froze up as she heard those words, her mind racing. He knows something happened, but not what. I could try lying, but he might be able to tell – or worse, Ren might just tell him the truth anyway. So does that mean I should just tell him? But what do I say? "I know you have a crush on me, but it's fine since I have one on you too"? No, that's a terrible idea!
The red-haired warrior's panicky thoughts were interrupted, however, by the infirmary door being pushed open. First through was was Nora, who upon seeing that Jaune was sitting up, immediately placed the tray she was carrying on the nearest bed and launched herself across the room. Ren caught her in mid-air, just before she landed on Jaune, and set her down beside him. She didn't even seem to notice, just wrapping her arms around the blonde.
Though he had been a little worried when his friend had approached like one of Magnhild's grenades, Jaune was far more at ease with this, and he returned the hug. "You're okay, Jauney?" she asked quietly, as Ren looked on with a small smile.
"Yeah Nora, I'm fine. It's all okay now." Nora's hug grew tighter for a moment, but then she released Jaune, moving back to retrieve her rather large and laden tray and then land in the seat Ren had procured for her.
Jaune had been so focussed on his team mate that he hadn't noticed who followed her in, and so he looked up to find team RWBY just past the door. "Hey, Jaune!" called Ruby, who appeared beside the bed in a flurry of rose petals.
"Hey yourself, Ruby." he replied, not reacting to how the younger girl's eyes darted across his face, looking for anything wrong.
"Are you all right now?" she asked quietly, even as one small hand gave his an equally small squeeze. The blonde nodded happily, carefully not showing any signs of tiredness.
"Yeah, I'm good now. Sorry I worried you." Silver eyes searched blue for a moment longer, but seemed satisfied, as their owner stepped back a bit.
Lilac eyes took their place, as Jaune's fellow blonde gave him a decent tap on the shoulder. "Don't go worrying us like that again, you hear me Arc? Ruby gets all antsy when her friends are in the hospital, and I don't want to deal with the waterworks if you actually kick the bucket." Jaune interpreted that as Yang's way of saying "Good to know you're alright.".
He returned the tap she had given him, though admittedly with much reduced force. "Got it; no hospitals." He got a grin, which he felt was worth the expenditure of energy, and Yang moved to stand next to her sister.
Weiss stepped into the open space, standing just about even with Jaune in his sitting position. "I still don't know why you acted like you did when you first met me; certainly it doesn't fit with the Jaune Arc I've seen these past few weeks. I know you must have had your reasons, but I'd rather like that question answered. Don't go dying on me before I get my explanation, got it?"
Rubbing the side of his head, Jaune grinned sheepishly. "Gotcha; no dying." His hand fell back to his side, and he put on a serious expression as he leaned slightly toward the heiress. "But also, Weiss, thank you; I understand that you're a large part of the reason I'm still alive. I owe you that, now, so please call me on it if you ever have need." Weiss met his eyes, and Jaune willed her to understand that he was being serious.
"I'll keep it in mind." she acknowledged, stepping back to stand on Ruby's other side.
The final member of their team, Blake, moved forward. She was a bit taller than Weiss, and Jaune made absolutely sure that his eyes never moved to the bow on her head.
"I might not know you very well, but my team are quite fond of you. So please don't do anything that could hurt them." Jaune accepted the simple request stoically, and at face value.
"Never." was all he said in response, but that was enough for the secret faunus.
"Right then - since Jaune's up already, who's up for some Remnant: The Game?" asked Ruby, who produced said board game from...somewhere.
"Hah! Surely you jest; your meagre skills do not stand even the slightest chance of victory!" cried Jaune, setting a smug grin on his face. Weiss, Yang and Ruby all rose to the challenge immediately, though Blake just shook her head and produced a book.
"Oh, you are so on, Jaune!" declared Yang, cracking her knuckles even as Ruby blurred away and returned with a table.
Nora stood up with the tray of food; soup with bread for Jaune and Pyrrha, alongside a bowl of what appeared to be noodles and vegetables for Ren, that he called a stir fry. A pile of fruits was also evident, to serve as a desert. She distributed the food for her team mates, as well as cutlery, while the others started setting up the game. When the food was delivered and the tray secured on a nearby bed, Nora moved away to help Pyrrha shift her bed closer to the game.
The game board was set up in a minute or so, the youngest member of the group expertly assembling the pieces, and the four 'leaders' claimed their kingdoms. Weiss took Atlas, Ruby took Mistral and Yang took Vale, leaving Jaune with Vacuo. Pyrrha watched in amusement as her leader cracked his knuckles just as emphatically as his fellow blonde had done, a self-assured grin evident on his face.
"Okay, then; women and children first." he gestured with a broad sweep, and three pairs of eyes narrowed in his direction. You didn't need extensive observational training to know what they were thinking. This guy is so dead.
An hour later, Yang was desperately trying to get her last military unit out of Vacuo. She had thought Jaune's kingdom was almost undefended, as he was busily eviscerating Atlas – Mistral had fallen fifteen minutes earlier, as Weiss and Yang worked together to bring it low, wishing to then turn on Jaune. However, they had vastly underestimated Jaune's forces, and leaving her border almost undefended was coming back to bite Weiss. Atlas was completely done; it would be official in maybe a turn. Yang had been sure that Jaune had devoted all his energies to eliminating Weiss, so she had driven a major offensive of all her military units right into his kingdom.
Unfortunately, it had turned out that he hadn't even devoted half of his military to defeating the Schnee heiress, and the rest was hiding, as Jaune was using Vacuo's environment-based abilities to conceal his forces. She had been marching right to his capital when they caught her completely by surprise, decimating any chance she had of making a successful offensive, and leaving her to try and evacuate her army. Now, she only had one squad of soldiers left, desperately trying to get back across the border so that the Vacuo warriors would be without their abilities.
"Yang, Yang, Yang..." sighed Jaune from across the board. In the blonde's lilac eyes, JNPR's leader seemed to grow larger and larger, as a dark aura hung around him and he chuckled evilly. "Don't you know that what happens in Vacuo...stays in Vacuo?" The brawler reached out a hand to her last remaining military piece, as if she could somehow save it...but her hand fell limp when four groups of soldiers converged on the men at once.
"They never even had a chance..." she whispered, falling back in defeat. She and Weiss had been seated on Pyrrha's bed, whilst Ruby was perched on Jaune's.
"I told you so, didn't I?" reflected Jaune, even as his forces laid the rest of Atlas to waste. "I believe that's game, ladies?" All Yang could do was hang her head, while the Schnee heiress was still dealing with such a complete and total loss, her mouth hanging slightly open. Ruby, on the other hand, was rising out of the sulk that had been started by her team turning on her so easily.
Her hood had been up for the past fifteen minutes, but now she cackled evilly from the shadows. "Excellent, Jaune; it's good to see justice done." The blonde did his best impression of a bow from the waist, his grin still in place.
"But of course; no true knight would suffer such injustice being done to a fair maiden such as yourself." Ruby laughed alongside Jaune, the blonde unable to maintain the suave facade for long. Because the two were laughing, they weren't aware of how the others in the room reacted...but Ren and Blake, who were both sitting on the sidelines and keeping an eye on their team mates in silence, very much were.
Yang looked up sharply at Jaune's comment, her eyes narrowing slightly at the two laughing leaders. Weiss' eyes did the same thing, as if she were trying to bore a hole straight through the blonde. Nora laughed right alongside them, but she kept watch on Pyrrha out the corner of her eye. The red-haired warrior's head had fallen slightly, and her teeth were gritted. Her eyes weren't properly visible...but a moment later, they seemed to flash from the shadows which concealed them.
Jaune's laughter was just winding down, and he was turning to look at his friends to see if they wanted another game, when a pillow hit him in the face with enough force to nearly tilt the bed. His head was tilted backwards, and he remained in that position for a moment until the projectile fell, a Jaune-shaped imprint in its fabric. He remained like that, with his head facing the ceiling for a moment longer, before he slowly looked down.
Pyrrha's arm was still outstretched, as she panted slightly from the effort of putting so much force behind it when she hadn't yet recovered. He locked eyes with her, and a lot passed between them in that moment. It only took a second, but Jaune felt a grin spreading across his face as he understood.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play it, eh?" He picked up the pillow, throwing and catching it a couple of times. He started to take careful aim, moving his arm back and forth as if preparing to throw, whilst his other hand made frantic signals in Ren's direction.
When he release the pillow, it didn't fly at Pyrrha...instead, it was caught by Ren, who passed it onto Nora, who in turn brought it down on top of Pyrrha's head. The red haired warrior was caught completely by surprise, and she shook her head to clear it even as Nora fell off the bed, laughing uncontrollably. Yang's eyes glinted dangerously, and she suddenly stood.
"Weiss, our hostess was just attacked! Let us show them true justice!"
The Schnee heiress got her meaning instantly, and at the possibility of payback, even her sensibilities were overridden."Yes, let's do this!"
Ruby also shot to her feet, as Nora combat-rolled over to join her. "Fools! We are the face of justice here - your false declarations will do you no good!" In moments, pillows were in hand all across the room, and all that stopped their flight was a certain air of expectation.
From his quiet spot on the sidelines, Ren sighed, and Blake closed her book with a snap. The martial artist moved forward, so that he stood between the warring sides, while RWBY's quietest member shifted their seats out of the line of fire. The martial artist moved the table with the game pieces out of the way, shuffling back a few steps, and then moved back to where he had been standing.
He coughed into his hand, then raised it into the air. A moment later, he brought it down in a chopping motion, snapping "Begin!" He then ran for his life, as a Nora-propelled pillow occupied the space which he had been standing in moments before.
It collided with Yang, who gnashed her teeth at the impact and returned fire, catching the shorter girl in the chest and knocking her backward. Ruby whipped her pillow around in an arc, cutting down a spinning pillow from Pyrrha before tossing her own into the air, taking careful aim, and driving her fist into it, sending it rocketing back toward the red-haired warrior. Weiss countered it with a graceful upward sweep, the pillow flying into the air, before a glyph appeared beside her, and propelled her own pillow considerably faster than Ruby's. The smaller girl braced for impact, but Jaune reached an arm in front of her, taking the blow on his own pillow.
He then threw that pillow to the now-recovered Nora, who took it in both hands and charged the opposition. She was met by Yang, and the two began to exchange blows, their power ramping up as they got into the swing of things. Ruby vanished in a flurry of petals, and she and Weiss began to dance around the room, glyphs appearing to propel the Schnee heiress even as Ruby spun her pillow around her. Jaune had managed to get his arm inside a pillow, and was fending off throw after throw from Pyrrha, as all six of them grinned like maniacs.
Off to the side, Ren was quietly rehearsing what he'd say to whichever staff member walked in here to see what all the noise was, while Blake just continued to read her book, both of them occasionally swaying to avoid a stray pillow.
Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, strode along the corridors of Beacon. He had finally found some spare time in his schedule, and wanted to check up on young Arc. The man intrigued him; he had used faked transcripts, but gone on to exhibit a skill level above many of his year. He also carried a famed name, and yet there had been absolutely no communication from his relatives relating to his enrollment. It was very strange, and so when Ozpin had heard that he was in the infirmary suffering from oddly severe aura depletion, he found a gap in his busy day where he could drop in to have a chat with him.
As he approached the double doors, the sounds of combat reached his ears; the crystalline ring that accompanied many semblances, the rush of air that indicated someone moving faster than normal human limits allowed for, as well as the constant beat of...fabric on fabric? He upped his pace, pushing open the doors to find complete and utter chaos.
Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose were moving so fast that neither was in the same place for a second, and in fact they seemed to vanish from one position and appear in another, taking a few swings at each other with pillows before moving on. Nora Valkyrie and Yang Xiao-Long were trading blow after blow with their own pillows, locked in a flurry of combat that was threatening to crack the linoleum beneath their feet. Jaune Arc was still lying on his bed, but his pillow-clad arm was shifting up and down constantly to intercept the seemingly endless supply of pillows that Pyrrha Nikos was bombarding him with. All six of them appeared to be suffering from a bout of insanity, if their smiles were anything to go by.
The Headmaster blinked as he watched, motion in the corner of his eye showing that Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren were seated quietly to the side of all the mayhem, one reading and one...praying? Possibly. Whatever they were doing, all eight were far too preoccupied to notice the door opening, and so Professor Ozpin stepped back out of the doorway. He hesitated for a moment, then fished inside his coat, producing a notepad and pen. He scribbled for a moment, then stuck the message to the doors with a pin as he pocketed his stationary. He then strode away back toward his office, his cane clicking on the floor as he left the 'Do Not Disturb' sign behind with a small smile.
Author's Note
A chapter finished before it's even dark outside?! What manner of blasphemy is this?!
I finally got my head together enough to write something without the risk of being comatose come morning, and this is what happened. It was, of course, inspired by the food-fight scene, and since this is my first attempt at something vaguely resembling comedy, I hope it wasn't too much of a rip-off.
I hope you enjoyed reading this even partially as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or criticism, please leave a review, and I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy your day!