Slight warning: I kind of pushed the boundaries of the T rating in this chapter.
What do I mean by that? Err… you'll know when you see it… just be prepared, and it only happens once here.
"Alright, little one, time to go to bed now…" She gently tucked in her bouncy and hyperactive child. The little five year-old was rather excited for bed time. A bit of a paradox, but there was a reason for it.
She stroked her son's soft, gentle flesh and the young boy giggled at his mother's touch.
"Alright then," She stood up. "Good night Jared, sweet dreams…" She finished with a smirk.
"Mama! You're supposed to read me a story! You said you'd let me pick the book tonight!" Her son whined almost desperately with a slight trace of betrayal in his little voice.
She giggled at her own joke and sat back down. "I was kidding, my son. … Alright what majestic tale do you want to hear now?"
The son took something out from underneath his pillow, a black book and showed it happily to his mama. "This one Mama!"
She took the book and read the titl—
Then her eyes became wider than that of her son's as she realized what book her offspring wanted to read.
"J-Jared! I am not reading you this book!" Her face was flushed and she fought the urge to think of the 'themes' in this book in front of her innocent toddler.
Once more the young boy looked hurt and betrayed which made the mother's heart string get pulled harder. "What!? But you said I could choose!"
"Not this book!" The mother was doing a poor job hiding her blush from her son, thank Oum that he didn't even know why or notice the reason she was so flushed.
"B-But! It has ninjas in it! And love! … And I love you!" The son poorly tried to give his reasons why he wanted to hear the book.
"Deary, you shouldn't read this book… it… you shouldn't read this book yet!" She flushed at trying to explain to a child that he was not ready to read s—stories that held deep adult themes—yes. 'Stories' not another 's' word that was about to form in her head. This story was too much for a young mind to handle!
"But auntie Yang said that it matches you and Papa perfectly! She told me that you two are the exactly like the characters in the book in what they do!"
That was when the mother's flustered state died down immediately. She smiled gently(?) and patted her son's head. "I promise I will read this to you when you are older, but until then how about I read to you Pirates and The Planet Treasure?"
The son brightened up at the new book about space, pirates, space, treasure, and space!? … He did think space right? He nodded his head excitedly, much to the well hidden relief of his mother.
The mother took the new book out of the shelf and began reading it. As she read about the epic battles the fantasy tale described, she couldn't help but imagine a bloodier, more one-sided massacre against her former teammate for pulling such a trick on her child.
Oh Monty. When she was sure Jared was fast asleep, there was a certain blonde team mate she was going to meet with.
It was another beautiful dawn in Beacon. The skies were clear, the sun was starting to rise, and the silence in the morning reflected an insightful and meditative state to anyone up at this time.
"AND KEEP GOING MAGGOT! I'VE SEEN THREE LEGGED TURTLES MOVE FASTER THAN YOU! WORK THOSE PIECES OF MEAT YOU CALL LEGS! UP TWO THREE FOUR! IF YOU AIN'T SWEATING, THEN YOU AIN'T RUNNING!"
Jaune was starting to severely regret asking Resh to train him.
For one, he woke him earlier than he expected; around 4:30 A.M. It wasn't as bad as he thought at first. Resh softly woke him up not to disturb the others.
The moment they were out of earshot from the dorms; however, was when Resh's sadistic side revealed itself.
"COME ON MAGGOT! YOU GOT ONLY 245 MILES TO GO UNDER TWO HOURS!"
The Son of a Grimm had a surprisingly strict training regime that focused around Stamina building and free movement. Not only did they have to take a lap around all of Beacon, but they had to take small detours or path that had to do more than just run over, like running up the stairs or jumping over stones placed strategically over one of the campus ponds. Sometimes he even forced Jaune to go free climbing and Parkour over several other spots.
Also, for the whole '245 miles under two hours thing'? That was a half joke. Beacon's campus was a lot longer than that but Resh had found some shortcuts which did allow them to seemingly run across all corners of Beacon.
What made it even more unbearable was the obvious fact that Resh himself wouldn't take a break from training. Sure he would allow Jaune to catch his breath when he collapsed on the floor for a good one minute before dragging him back up, but somehow, his surprisingly loud and intimidating voice had scared Jaune into running more than he could take out of pure fear and hatred.
If not for his newly open Aura automatically pumping in power to his tired and aching muscles, he may have completely collapsed from this extensive work out at first go.
"I… Swear… I… Will… Kill… You…" Jaune gasped between heavy pants of air.
"IF YOU CAN HOLD A CONVERSATION WITH ME, MAGGOT, THEN YOU'VE GOT ENERGY TO SPEND STILL!" Suddenly Resh activated his Armaments of Raijin and powered up, much to the fear of the blonde knight.
He almost peed himself when he saw his horrified reflection on Resh's visor.
"RUN, MAGGOT! RUN!" Resh slammed the earth with an empowered punch, causing Jaune to run even faster.
"Good job, sir, we'll take it easy since you're new, and continue the same thing the day after tomorrow..." Jared told his father as he carried his drained and aching body back towards the dorms.
"…" That was all Jaune could muster as an insult to the armored wanderer. In his mind, he was swearing all kinds of horrors that he swore to inflict upon his sarcastic teammate.
"And don't forget, we're going to combat practice later this afternoon!" Jared said with a smile that glinted of sadistic pleasure.
Yes. This was Jared's payback for all the training his father put him through. How many children could get back at their parents like he could?
Jared noticed that Jaune's lifeless body didn't seem to react, but he sensed there was some animosity directed at him from Jaune's struggle to even think of insulting him.
Jared laughed as he brought both he and his father back to the dorms. Despite this, he was also feeling rather spent. Using the Armaments of Raijin always quickly spent his aura pool. So in all honesty, this was also quite the work out for him as well.
"Don't worry Sir. I've got some drinks to help suppress exhaustion and fatigue better back in the room. Just tough it out for a few more minutes."
Pyrrha worried for Jaune. Ever since he returned with Resh, Jaune seemed drained for what was supposed to be a morning jog.
"He's… a… Grimm… in… disguise…" Was all Jaune could say as he sat down on his seat with his entire torso planted on the table in front of him. He had little energy to even lift himself to sit properly.
Pyrrha secretly didn't like how Jaune was spending a lot of time with Resh. She had to admit, she was slightly jealous. It was she and Jaune that were official partners, but for the past several days, Jaune seemed to be spending more time with Resh than with her.
It felt very petty, especially since there was a good reason why Jaune was spending more time with Resh. The two of them seemed to have much in common and had an easier time expressing themselves to each other after the first day. While she was four-time champion of Mistrial and one of the best fighters among the first years, her social skills have not evolved beyond formal mannerisms.
Heck, her idea of getting attention of a person she liked was by aiming her spear to pin him into a tree.
She was jealous of Resh spending so much time with Jaune, but she was more jealous of the fact that Resh seemed so natural in talking openly with other people and befriending them easily when he wasn't nervous.
Pyrrha found herself sighing. She still believed that Jaune would make an excellent partner and a good friend due to the fact he saw her as a normal person rather than some elite champion, but there was the question of how could she spend time with him when he was spending time with a kindred spirit.
What she didn't know was that Jaune actually heard Pyrrha sigh.
Forcing himself back up, and seeing Professor Port still drone along about his adventurous youth, Jaune whispered to Pyrrha. "You alright?"
The gladiator looked surprised that he would ask her, but answered him, "I'm fine. You should pay attention in class." She noted.
"Yeah… oh…" He moaned softly as he moved back into his seat. Still, Jaune noticed that she still seemed off.
Then Ms. Goodwitch came out and greeted the class for combat practice.
"Combat has evolved over time when man first fought the creatures of Grimm. However, the simplest of goals still remains true to this day: to win. We had already discussed the basics of this class yesterday, but now it is time to test your physical abilities." Glynda lectured, but noted a small moan from a blonde in Team JNPR followed by a snicker from another member.
She looked at her clipboard in search of any name that might stand out. "To start us off; may I have… Resh Kolc and Cardin Winchester please come up to the field?"
Jared seemed surprised to hear his name being called out. He was also surprised at the name of Cardin Winchester, one of his father's friends. Heck, he was best friends with his son, Hawk Winchester, a really cool dude. But if he remembered what Hawk once told him…
"Kick his ass, Cardin!"
"This will be a cinch!"
Jared suppressed a sigh. Cardin was immature when he and his dad met, a one dimensional bully if that's the case.
Thankfully, for this class everyone was already suited in their battle gear. Jared walked up to the field and met with Cardin.
Glynda opened up a monitor screen that showed both of their Aura Bars. "You two will be sparing. The first person's aura to drop into the red will stop the match." Glynda explained briefly before going over some basic rules as to not attempt murder or maim your opponent or else there will be an intervention and punishment.
After she was done, Jared raised his hand out to Cardin. "I hope we have a good match."
Cardin scoffed before arming his mace. "Psh! Prepare to eat dirt, clown."
Jared sadly placed his hand away and armed his gauntlet armor before hopping on one foot in succession with the other.
Glynda took that cue to start. "Begin!"
Cardin charged swinging the mace as hard as he could right for Jared's head. Jared easily ducked and back flipped away.
Jared continued to hop in succession between his feet and waited for Cardin to come to him.
Cardin charged again, flailing his mace madly trying to hit Jared. However, Jared nimbly avoided each blow and always managed to effortlessly get out of the way.
"Hold still so I can hit you!" Cardin fumed.
Jared repositioned himself away from Cardin again before answering. "Here's a thought: if you want to hit me then stop sucking at attacking—oh wait, you're not doing that on purpose."
Team JNPR and RWBY showed their support by being the first among the crowd of students to laugh, make an "Ooohh!" sound, or to shout out "BURNED!"
Cardin was blinded by rage and charged right for Jared with greater ferocity.
This time, Jared stood his ground and pushed his hands forward into some kind of stance.
Then Jared moved forward.
The initial shock of Jared getting up close and personal distracted Cardin briefly, but it didn't stop him from bring down his mace hard. However, that worked in favor of Jared. Jared suddenly caught Cardin's arm, but he didn't try to stop it. His other hand griped hard on Cardin's breastplate. Jared quickly made Cardin trip with his foot causing both of them to fall, but Resh had expected this and kicked Cardin behind him as soon as his back touched the ground.
Cardin landed face first as he slid on the ground. Jared quickly rolled back up and dusted his large coat off.
Cardin got back up, spitting dirt that flew into his mouth.
"Huh, I honestly didn't think you would eat dirt before me." Jared commented truly.
Cardin was more than livid right about now, he looked to be ready to blow like a volcano. He raised his Mace high into the air—
"I surrender." Jared called out with one arm raised out, much to the surprise of everyone.
Cardin blinked then tried to process the information. "What!? What do you mean you surrender?! This isn't over until I smash your—"
"That is enough Mr. Winchester," Glynda stepped in to stop him from lunging at the other student. She then turned to the purple clad boy. "Mr. Kolc, you do realize that not all fights are simple to leave and this will affect your overall grade correct?"
Jared smiled. "But Ms. Goodwitch, I thought you said that in a fight you simply have to win. There's more than one way to win than just officially, isn't there?" He hinted to something but no one really caught it.
Pyrrha wondered though. Did Resh rile him up that much only to surrender? Cardin and Resh made no real physical blow on to each other, but Resh has obviously won in a game of minds. He made Cardin angry and insulted his pride while Pyrrha saw him actually studying Cardin's movements closely. After seemingly getting what he wanted, Resh ended the fight there while he was mentally ahead. Now, if Cardin really wanted to continue fighting, he might get kicked out of class, or would have to go through Ms Goodwitch to do so. In a sense, Resh was using the school rules to his advantage, which was rather creative on his part.
Even though the match had ended, Resh seemed to take fighting beyond that of the spar, which in essence is what Ms. Goodwitch was trying to correct him in. Not all fights were simple or easy to leave, but Resh made it so that his fight was simple and easy to leave.
Maybe she was looking to deep into this.
"…ith a Tommy gun!"
"Bazooka."
"And then the train smashed into the heel of the giant Ursa!"
"Crashed on top of a Deathstalker."
"Then Resh came from the future and revealed that he was Jaune's son!"
Jared fought the urge to spit his drink out. Thankfully, he wasn't the only one.
"Ahaha! Good one Nora!" Yang laughed getting a hive five out of the orange haired girl.
"Ha, my son from the future. If he was, I'd put him through the same hellish training regime he put me through." Jaune commented lightly while Jared mentally confirmed that he was using his father's training regimen.
Thus… forming a loop that Jaune trained Jared hard because Jared trained Jaune hard because he went back in time to…
Time travel be damned.
"Speaking of Resh!" Ruby chimed out, gathering everyone's attention. "Can I see your weapon again!?"
Jared slowly blinked twice. For some reason, that question made him think harder than it should have. "Um sure? Why?" Jared reached for his belt and revealed the large gray buckle.
At closer inspection, everyone noticed something how simple it looked. The buckle was as large as Resh's fist, and it was in the shape of a hexagon. The center of the hexagon seemed to have a hollow center where a small orb would look to fit in. However, there seemed to be many glass lines that traced from the center into all six corners. It looked as if the lights would travel through these 'paths' like blood vessels if it was on.
Ruby carefully handled the buckle like a child getting the newest toy fresh off the shelves. Her eyes were as wide as plates as she inspected it.
"What's it called?" Ruby asked.
Jared shrugged. "My dad called it The Armaments of Raijin. It was given to me on my tenth birthday. But I only learned how to use that thing when I was fourteen when dad found my power source." He explained casually as he stared back at the object.
"Resh, just what is that weapon? How do you make it work? What exactly does it do?" Weiss curiously asked. She was slightly skeptical as to why such a device could summon armor around him and increase his physical prowess to amazing heights.
Jared looked around the table. True enough, even Nora was quietly hanging on his every word. "Well…" he started off then struggled to find what to say next. "… OK, from what you've seen me use, what do you guys think my weapon does?"
"Besides giving you armor out of nowhere and increasing your strength that put's Yang's to shame and speed almost on par with Ruby?" Jaune asked bluntly, but the sisters in question scoffed and told themselves silently that they were still better in their categorical strengths than Resh.
"It rapidly drains his aura." Ren noted out as well.
"You also had Crystal Dust! How did you even get such a thing!?" Weiss demanded impatiently.
Jared sighed. "Alright. First let me go back to my father about this…" He chose his words carefully for this next part. "When my dad first gave me this, he told me that this weapon was incomplete, and that soon I would find out how to use it. But it came with the bracelets that fold into armor and skates, so I wondered what exactly he meant by that when I figured out how to use the others. I kept the buckle with me, even though I had no idea what it was, for a good four years. On my fourteenth birthday, my father gave me another present saying, 'Sorry it's five years late, but finding this was such a hassle.' Then he showed me this…" Jared took a break to reveal the orbed dust he kept with him. As he showed it to everyone, sparks of electricity sparked among Resh's hand.
Weiss stared carefully at it. "My word… that is such a concentrated form of electrical dust."
"Weiss, don't interrupt, the story is getting to the good part!" Ruby excitedly cheered, earning a brief frown from the dust expert.
Jared nervously smiled. "When I received this thing, I put two and two together, and quickly placed the orb into my buckle. You could only imagine what my first experience was when the flash of light died down. … Everything felt different the first time I used it. It was like I had this... this… um… clarity—yeah, let's go with that. When I first came too with my armor on, I felt like I could see things clearer than before. At the same time everything looked so different from behind the visor. I felt so powerful, but I felt so weak. I felt so many conflicting feelings…"
Jared paused and allowed everyone to soak up what he was saying.
"I don't really get it." Jaune bluntly stated.
Jared chuckled. "Yeah it's hard to describe in words. But I later found out what it actually did the more I used it. The armor does more than increase my physical abilities and drains my aura. It… taps into my life force."
"Now I'm just lost." Jaune responded plainly.
"Just let me explain. The reason why my aura gets drained is because my aura gets poured into the armor, which in turn enhances my body. The longer I use the armor, or the more movement I expend, the faster my aura gets wasted. But it doesn't just enhance my body. It taps into my mind as well. I can think… faster I guess? That part is hard to explain. Also, I say it taps into my life force because… I think it can even amplify someone's semblance tenfold as well." As Jared explained, he felt as if he was forgetting an important fact, but he figured he would remember the more he explained his weapon.
Everyone was rather surprised by that. They quickly imagined what it would be like if their own semblance was multiplied than what it was right now.
Pyrrha on the other hand, focused on one topic. "Why did you say think? Doesn't it amplify your semblance?"
Jared blushed at the mentioned point. "Err… it probably would… I haven't tried it out though…"
"Why not?" Nora obliviously asked.
"L-look, that's not really important."
"What are you talking about? Don't you want to…"Ruby started off and then realized something. "Resh, what is your semblance?"
Jared was visibly shaken. "W-what? I'll have you know my semblance is a secret!"
Jaune smirked even he knew such a terrible lie when he saw it. "Let me guess: it's such a secret even you don't know what it is?"
"N-no!" Jaune didn't care for his answer; he finally had an upper hand. "It's just… hard to activate sometimes…"
"You don't have a semblance?" Yang questioned in surprise. It was obvious to see that Resh was a terrible lair. Not to mention that such an odd kid like Resh who had a weapon that relied on his aura wouldn't have a semblance by now.
"OK fine. The truth is even though my aura was opened when I was young and I've never been able to manifest my semblance. Ya happy?" Resh admitted in a vexed manner as he slumped into his seat and ate some of his lunch.
"Yes."
"Nora that was a rhetorical question." Ren corrected his childhood friend.
"I've never heard of that. Semblances manifest at most within a few months after one's aura is opened up." Blake stated out in disbelief.
"Well apparently I'm the world's highest record holder for 'longest time without a semblance'. Seven years and still going." Jared woefully admitted, earning a few surprised looks from everyone.
"You've gone seven years without a semblance?" Ren asked, his face may have been the most unchanged, but he still was caught off guard by that outstanding information.
"How did you even fight Grimm without your armor or Semblance then?" Weiss could not fathom him training and surviving fights at such a young age with something akin to metal gloves.
However, Pyrrha remembered something about the few fights Resh had. "You… have a very passive style of fighting."
"Oh you noticed that?" Jared was pleasantly surprised by that. "Believe it or not, it was part of my training. My teacher had told me that while weapons are important they are only as good as the person wielding them."
Ruby scoffed. "I bet he said that because he didn't have something as cool as Crescent Rose! Oh I miss my sweet heart…"
Jared chuckled nervously when he recalled that in all memories, his father said he learned that lesson from Ruby despite whether or not she was his mom. "Uncomfortable weapon comments aside. (Ruby: Hey!) I was mostly taught how to use anything to my advantage, even the dirt I walk on. My fighting style is usually dependent on adapting to my opponents and my surroundings which is why I focus much on flexible movement and dodging so I can have an easier time processing the battlefield."
"But still, a skill like that should be complimented with a strong weapon, and while yours is quite impressive, it's double edged." Pyrrha analyzed.
It was rather risky fighting style. Resh would always have to go on the defensive for the entire fight and his offensive abilities were amazingly limited to how long he could hold his armor up. Take those factors away and he'd become more of a liability than an asset. At least Jaune has a weapon that was far more evenly balanced in offensive and defensive skills.
"Huh, I guess you're right. I never really thought about it though. I was just hoping I could better manage my aura while my armor was up and use it longer. … Now that I think about it, the longest fight I was able to keep it up has been… fifteen minutes."
"Resh… that sounds horrible. Grimm come in countless numbers, and you can only hold that form for fifteen measly minutes?" Weiss scowled.
Resh seemed to sense anger pointed towards him. He understood that at Weiss being angry at his stupidity not at him. He remembered that from her being his mother. "Look, I understand my problems are actually quite fatal in a potential life threatening situation, but I've been training around them my whole life. I wouldn't have decided to be a hunter if I let those problems stop me."
Weiss seemed a bit miffed, but relaxed a little after hearing that.
"You know, you could look up some studies on aura usage," Blake offered up. "Maybe they have some hints into better aura usage?"
"I'll check it out later. Ruby, can I have that back now?" The young huntress gave back the odd device to Jared. As he received it back, he stared into it once more before placing it back inside his pockets.
"So about your dad," Jaune started off, which caused Jared to twitch slightly. "He sounds pretty interesting to get you such weird weapons on your birthday. Who is he?"
Jared was quick on his feet and decided to answer Jaune with a smile. "Oh don't worry. You'll meet him one day." That wasn't exactly a lie and it wasn't the truth. Thankfully that little teasing, while making some people even more curious, dropped the subject from getting out of hand.
The two teams then went on for the rest of the lunch time talking about the rest of their classes…
However…
Cardin stormed down the hallways. That black haired punk made a complete fool of him and the little bastard even surrendered before he could make him beg for mercy.
Oh he would get back at him and the rest of his team.
"I saw your little match today." A haughty voice called out.
Cardin turned angrily towards the voice. "Shut up!" He snapped before he saw what looked to be a woman hiding in the shadows.
The girl giggled in an unconvincing manner before walking out of the shadows. A rather beautiful girl with long, river-like cobalt blue hair that reached up to the back of her stomach and eyes like gleaming emeralds appeared before Cardin. She had only one gold earring hanging off her left ear that looked to be a small and simple fish. "Revenge is fine and all, but usually the best way for things to work is through planning. Tell me, my cute little kohai, how exactly would you go about performing said revenge?"
"I'll beat him up next time!" Cardin yelled as he recalled the humiliation he received by Resh and his team. However, the second his rage ended, he realized he had never seen this girl before. "Wait, who the heck are you?"
The girl smiled before walking—no striding proudly towards him, even the sound of her heels clicking on the floor echoed with power. "My name is Thalassa Anuket, a second year. As for your plan for revenge… tsk, tsk! You're going to have to do better than that. Would you allow your sempai to ~help?" She smiled and titled her head.
"Help? I don't need help. And why the heck would you help me anyway?"
Thalassa came closer to Cardin, wrapping her creamy arms around his neck and giving him a small peek at her 'assets' from a certain angle where one of her higher buttons had been undone.
"Let's just say…" Her voice dropped and became almost husky. Cardin was starting to lose his thoughts as he glance into her deep emerald eyes. "I have a thing for younger… muscular men…"
She pulled Cardin closer to her face, the leader of CRDL was almost shocked at the advances, but a piece of his mind, the more primal and lustful side of his brain prevented him from truly acting, wanting more and more to see where this went.
She pulled him into a kiss, which pleasantly surprised Cardin. But then his mind started to melt when he felt tongue in his mouth. It felt amazing. Her tongue was wildly trashing into his mouth and he could only calm himself by making his tongue meet with hers. The two locked lips with each other, almost like a beautiful and hot battle for supremacy. The two started to pant and gasp in between pulls, Cardin's blood was pumping faster as he heard Thalassa's muffled moans of joy between breaths. Cardin found himself pulling Thalassa's body closer to him, feeling her womanly body pressed hard on his. He was aware her toned abs touching him, he felt her body just arching to match his body, he sensed her soft womanly hearts rubbing off his torso, and he even noticed her right leg slowly locking around one of his, making their thighs even closer together.
He opened his eyes to meet with her shining green eyes. That seemed to darken slightly with a slight haze or look of hypnotism in her eyes. She was enjoying this as well. That look made him just want to… pounce her… to claim her as his own. Like a beautiful dancer offering her entire body to her king, just as it should be to him.
They pressed against each other's lips harder than before, their tongues starting to hurt, but paled to the stimulation that Cardin was feeling. He couldn't control himself and found one of his hands traveling—no sliding and forcing on top of her clothes and getting closer to her lower—
"Oh!" Thalassa abruptly stopped his hand getting dangerously low. She stopped kissing him, letting the drool between the two of them bend downward as it bridged the two of their mouths. She didn't bother to wipe it off and neither did he. "My my… we've only just met my Cute Kohai…" She pulled herself away from the startled boy then wiping her mouth. "But as I said, I only want to ~help~ you. … I'll let you think about my offer and see you ~Soon~!" She then left the stunned tank staring at her, like a piece of Heaven just snatched away from him cruelly.
Cardin shook his head before smiling feral like. But then he wondered how exactly would he meet with her again? He looked at his top pocket and saw a folded piece of paper. Opening it up, he saw the room number and address written on it… with a heart at the very bottom.
He couldn't help but feel powerful. That bastard Resh Kolc was going to pay for that humiliation, him and his friends…
Now if he had only noticed the girl smiling devilishly as she walked away.
Jared felt his head hurt. His memories of his friend Hawk Winchester seemed to be…
'Huh? Who was I thinking about?'
Jared shook his head. It was probably nothing… yep definitely not foreshadowing or anything.
He walked up to his leader, Jaune and asked, "Alright, Sir, remember our deal. You also have to ask the others for help."
"Err… right… umm… right…" Jaune nervously looked to the ground. "Does it have to be now?"
Jared started in an un-amused manner at his future patriarch. "Sir, at least ask Pyrrha to help you. She is your partner after all." Then Jared's eyes widened. "In fact, I think you've been spending more time with me than her! Sir, she's your assigned partner!"
Jaune shrank a back at the truth. "OK, I might have not been the best of partners to her—"
"Sir, I know where you're going with that. And I don't care. Ask her. Now." Jared pointed to Pyrrha walking up to them in the courtyard.
"Hello Jaune. Hello Resh." Pyrrha waved at the two.
Jared nudged Jaune in the elbow and made a motion in his eyes that shifted from him to the gladiator in front of them.
"O-oh right. Heey Pyrrha…" Jaune glanced back at Jared who motioned slightly to point his head at her. "I-I was wondering something."
"Yes?" She asked, giving him her undivided attention.
"Well… are you free tonight?"
Jared really fought the urge to place his hand on his face when he saw Pyrrha seemed surprise.
"Jaune… are you…" Pyrrha seemed to get the idea he was working up the nerve to ask—
"Yeah, I kind of need help in training and I was hoping you were free tonight to give me some combat tips." Jaune finished.
Pyrrha relaxed a little. She misunderstood and thought Jaune was going to ask her out on a date. It would have been very awkward if he had asked her out right to go on a date. She didn't have much experience in dates. Also, she wouldn't know how to deal with such a question so early in their relationship, she might have even said yes just to not strain their friendship.
"Yes, I am free enough to give you some pointers. Would you like to meet on the roof later tonight?"
"Yes! Sure! Thank you!" Jaune cried out happily.
"I'll prepare my weapons. See you soon, Jaune." Pyrrha explained before going up.
"Good job sir," Jared tapped his leader's shoulder with pride. "You could ask her for better sword techniques with shields since she has a slightly similar fighting style to yours... only way better."
Jaune turned to Jared. "Yeah… what are you going to ask her for, Resh?"
"Excuse me?" Jared repeated out. "What do you mean by that?"
Jaune stared at Jared weirdly. "Aren't you going to join us, Resh?"
Jared shook his head. "No, Sir, you misunderstand. You and she are going to be training. Alone."
…
A few seconds passed and Jared received no response from his leader. In fact, it looked like he stopped moving and thinking all together.
"Sir?" Jared waved his hand in front of Jaune's face.
"What!?" Jaune yelped out in surprise. "You're leaving me alone with her!?"
"… Well, I don't think I can learn much from her since I think our fighting styles are different. Not to mention I've gotten a different form of battling analysis. So I was just going to research those Aura books Blake suggested," He patted the blonde's back. "Why did you want me to come?"
"Well yeah! It would have been awkward if it was just the two of us… alone."
"It's just training, Sir. I'm sure you'll do fine." Jared reassured him calmly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the library like I said I would." The fifth member explained before leaving his leader.
Jaune sighed as he silently made his way to the lockers.
'OK you can do this.' Jaune thought to himself as readied himself for the fight of his life!
… Opening the door to the roof…
It was a valiant battle. The mighty door had struck the first, devastating, psychological mental blow on Jaune's hand preventing it from even moving out to reach for it. Jaune's arm twitched in caution as it carefully considered its next move to touch its opponent or not. This was the final move… both opponents knew that either victory or loss would forever change the destiny of the young Ar—
Jaune checked his scroll to see Resh calling him.
"Uh hey Resh? What's up?"
"… I don't hear you gasping for breath, and you answered too quickly. All that means is that you haven't even begun training. GET IN THERE SIR!" The last part forced Jaune away from his scroll.
Jaune sighed in defeat. Darn, his friend was way too clever. He opened the door to the roof and saw Pyrrha with her weapons ready
"H-Hey," Jaune greeted timidly. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"It's alright," She changed her weapon into a sword and readied her shield. "Shall we begin then?"
Jaune activated his own shield and sword and readied himself as much as he could. "Might as well…" he answered half nervously.
However, what Jaune didn't know was that Pyrrha thought that a good idea to start their training off was with a spar. He really thought she was showing him how to begin a fight, so he was quite surprised when Pyrrha appeared in front of him out of thin air and smacked him with the flat side of her blade.
Jared placed down his phone as soon as he realized his father forgot to hang up on him. However, the son from the future decided to keep his scroll on and leave it, and his audio recording on.
A choice he would never regret.
As he read one of the aura books Blake suggested, he listened intently to the little episode on his phone.
"GAH! Wait, Pyrrha—*CLANG!*"
"Oops! Sorry Jaune! I thought you had that!"
"I didn't!"
"Well now you know when it's coming when I do it again!"
"What? *CLANG!*"
"Jaune, the key is to not take all these hits head on! … Literally!"
Jared was milking this hard for whatever it was worth.
Jaune found himself on the floor tired for what felt like the twentieth time today and around the fifth time that night. The other three-fourths of those falls had something to do with Resh's stamina and aura building from hell.
"I'm going to die…" Jaune complained as he gasped breath spread out into the floor and staring out into the night sky. The moon and stars were really pretty.
Pyrrha on the other hand didn't even break a sweat. "Not bad Jaune."
"Not bad? I got tossed aside like a ragdoll! And you weren't even trying!"
"I'm sorry." To be honest, Pyrrha didn't mean to do that much damage. She overestimated Jaune's battle skill to when he had made that brilliant plan to defeat the Deathstalker and when he stood up valiantly for Resh despite his brashness. Remembering these two events, Pyrrha forgot for the first part of her training that Jaune was not the most efficient battler among their group.
"Nah don't be. If anything, this means I have a lot of catching up to do." Jaune whined to himself.
"Excuse me?" Pyrrha asked in confusion.
"I mean… look at you..." Jaune sat up and told her. Interestingly enough, under the broken light of the moon in the background, Pyrrha looked quite stunning. He shook his head slightly and remembered his train of thought. "… Resh, Ren, and heck even Nora! My own team consists of everyone being better than me, and I'm supposed to be the one to lead you guys?" Jaune poorly chuckled.
"Jaune, you're under playing yourself. You got accepted into Beacon after all. You wouldn't be here otherwise if you didn't deserve it."
Jaune froze. He really didn't deserve to be here. "… Still, I don't think I should be here…" He didn't tell her. How could he? How could he tell this beautiful and amazing girl that he really didn't deserve to be here? How could he face one of his newest but closest friends and tell him that he was lying to them? How could he face them all?
… He couldn't. Jaune thought about his conversation with Resh yesterday about trying to live up to their families. He wasn't like Resh at all. Resh strode proudly to fill his family's shoes. He… Jaune Arc had to cheat his way in. Shame and guilt echoed in his mind, but he chose to push it away. Fear of even more guilt and shame would come if he were to reveal that secret now.
"I don't believe that for a moment," Pyrrha interrupted his thought by saying that resolutely. "It wasn't anyone else that thought of that plan to defeat that Deathstalker. That was all you. And when Ozpin was so close into expelling Resh after all the work he had done, you were the only one to stand up for him. You may not have the best of battle skills, but I'm envious at how much courage you have when someone you care about is in trouble." Pyrrha told him, a piece of her secretly wished to be treated like that as well. She placed her hand out to him.
Jaune only felt both relieved and guilty at Pyrrha's little speech. He still felt he didn't deserve it, but then again he couldn't deny that he did do those things for others. "I-I don't know…"
"Jaune, have a little more faith in yourself. When you first volunteered to bring Resh in, we all supported you because you were right. We wouldn't have done it otherwise, so have some faith in yourself."
Jaune felt himself feel even more guilty, but then figured she was right in one way. If not for his sake then he would at least get better for his friends he owed these people that much—no they deserved that much.
Jaune took her hand and Pyrrha helped raised him up with a vibrant smile. She really seemed like a goddess.
"… Hey Pyrrha," Jaune started, remembering that he hadn't spent as much time with her before this. "Sorry for not spending as much time with you for the past few days. You're my partner, but I treated Resh more like one than you."
"It's fine Jaune." Pyrrha told him. She was a little glad he was paying a bit more attention to her.
"I mean Resh is a snarky bastard—" Mind you that Jared was still listening up to this point via Jaune's scroll, and soon started making 'preparations' after that comment. "But he's a great friend to hang around. I mean, I don't know about you, but I didn't have friends like him when I was young."
Pyrrha glanced away and slowly sheathed her gear. "I… didn't have as many friends as well. In fact, I rarely had friends."
"What?" Jaune asked in sheer shock. "You? Someone so cool, pretty, and amazing didn't have a friend?!" Obviously in his shock, he had let slip about Pyrrha's beauty yet did not notice what he had just said.
The Gladiator blushed but did her best to keep in topic. "I did have a few friends… but I didn't really have time to be with them… I spent most of my days alone being trained. But it was fine. I didn't mind it at all." She thought back to her earlier days of training, battle strategies, simulation sequences, and weapon mastering. None of those days were truly filled with fun as she saw with other children. Her parents seemed to care more about their family legacy and skill being passed down than letting her choose a normal life.
Jaune saw Pyrrha's face move down in sorrow. He didn't know that she, a girl as famous as cartoons, (He really didn't care for the other stuff but this.) had felt the same loneliness he did as a child when no one liked him for standing up for a girl back home just because she had doggy ears. Sure it was different, but he could tell she was making the same façade he made when he told his parents everything was alright when it really wasn't.
"Hey, Pyrrha," Jaune started. "Tomorrow morning at 4: 30 A.M., how about you join Resh and me on a jog?"
"A morning jog? You mean the one you almost died from?" She asked with her brow raised.
"I'm telling you; Resh is a Grimm in disguise!" Jaune screamed before calming himself. "But… he did show me some really cool sights you can only see in the dawn. You should come. I promise you won't regret it!"
Pyrrha smiled. "That sounds lovely. I'll come along if you'll have me."
Jaune laughed. "Then, after school, we'll go to the library and rent the Nebula Wars Saga to watch!"
Pyrrha titled her head. "Umm… Nebula… Wars?"
Jaune stared at her like a mad cultist sacrificing his child in front of him. "What. How do you not now one of the greatest Sci-fi Classics, Nebula Wars?!"
Pyrrha was slightly afraid of Jaune's sudden outburst. "I… N… No?"
Jaune stared at her as if he was some kind of judge ready to either rule guilty or innocent. "That's it. I'm calling Resh right now! We've got to get you started on Jason Spacethreader's epic journey to be a Galactic Magistrate." He reached for his pocket to take out his scroll.
"Noted sir. I have the first volume DVD rented from the library already."Resh voice quickly came out of the device as soon as Jaune took it out.
"Wow! That fast? How'd you…" Jaune then realized the time on his scroll. He never hung up on Resh after his first call. Was he listening to everything he said?
"It's simple really, Sir," Jaune did not like the tone in his voice. "I don't want you to disappoint a 'cool, pretty, and amazing girl', such as your partner."
"Huh?" Jaune blushed. Then realized he did say those things to Pyrrha. He turned to the Spartan only to see her flushed and embarrassed as well. "Wha-ba-RESH! I-it's not like that! I-I mean she is all those things, but—Are you laughing!? I am going to wring your neck when I get you!"
"Uh uh uh!" Resh said between suppressed laughter. "I activate my Trap Card: Black Mail! I can activate this card when my foolish leader believes he has a ghost of chance in hurting me! All I have to do is press this 'send button' of one 'Jaune Arc sucking his thumb' picture and ruin said person's life unless he swears off any physical harm against me!"
Jaune stared at his scroll in disbelief. "I don't suck my thumb!"
The text he was sent that had a picture of him sucking his thumb in his onesie rebutted his claim expertly.
"I know. But you are a deep sleeper. It's really easy for anyone to stick your thumb out and place it in your mouth."
Jaune stared the machine with determined vengeance not unlike certain movie heroes. "You freaking Deathstalker! I will kill you!"
"Yes! Yes! Fuel me with your negative energy! I only grow stronger each day! MWAHAHAHA!" Resh bellowed with a surprisingly menacing evil laugh.
"Hey you! Quiet in the library!" A different voice shouted out from Resh's scroll, causing the sadistic teammate to apologize in shame and Jaune to laugh at the expense of his tormentor/best friend.
Pyrrha soon laughed as she saw Jaune choke and struggle on his words to counter Resh's following onslaught of witty, passive aggressive insults sprinkled with heavy handed symbolism. She couldn't wait to spend more time with her Leader, and indirectly her new teammate. But she was really hopping to at least have half the fun the two looked to be having.
But it didn't happen.
She had three times as more fun with the two boys as time went on.
OK that part was done.
Hue hue hue hue. That's one way how to introduce a new OC huh? *Nudge* *Nudge* *Wink?*
Who am I kidding, everyone hates OCs. #shame.
Now to row back to the T rated section where things have to rely more on comedic bits in order to be popular and well liked…
Anyway…
Look at all that plot development. Yes. So much… plot…
Looks like it was Pyrrha's turn to have a flag raised—wait no, she's a proper female character that has is great representative of a strong and independent woman who must not be seen as just her gender. All RWBY Female characters are more than just hot women to be paired up with a guy! They are not pieces of meat whose purpose is to satisfy lustful desires! They are living breathing people with their own stories and achieve their goal through friendship and hard work!
*Looks at the mid part of chapter where author does exact opposite to another female character.*
Umm… whoo? Go feminism?
… Shut up, it's for the sake of the plot! You gotta believe me, Billy!
Also about that: as tempting as it actually sounds to include more scenes like that—(Hey focus, I'm taking meta here.) I'm never planning to make this story go to the Level of an M fic.
After all, even Jared doesn't want himself to be born almost two decades earlier than he was supposed to.
As for Jared's Armor we start to delve a bit into it gaining insight at what it does, but not enough information about it. I'm going to do something REALLY UNIMAGINABLE with this. (Don't worry it's more fun... for me.)
I don't care if it makes me lose readers. For the sake of my pathetic dream I will sacrifice my honor for this thing in the future and I will not regret it.
Not. One. Bit.
BWA! AHAHAHAHAHAKEHEHEHAAHA! *Thunder/ Lighting background.*
Reader's Challenge: Can you guess what the new OC name might represent? Hint: Much like how almost all names in the RWBY verse are related to something. The newest OC is also related to several references.*
Thanks for reading!