Disclaimer: I own nothing of RWBY which belongs to Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Owm.
Chapter 5: Where Jaune is made Leader to a Team of Powerful Women
"Someone help me!"
The one called Weiss Schnee, the same girl that chatted her up in the possibly to being in the same team was in the air, in danger and at risk by the claws of the largest Nevermore she had ever seen. Pyrrha didn't know what to think about it.
Was she supposed to be glad this happened to her? Or was she supposed to feel as shocked and scared for her as Jaune and Ruby were. Cinder looked as if she didn't care and only matched the others' expression after a moment. And Pyrrha was certain she saw irritation towards Weiss from the woman.
Another thing that seemed to make her distrusts the woman. There were just many things that seemed…fake when it came to Cinder and she wasn't sure what. But now was not the time to bring up any thoughts that would interfere with their team-work.
Pyrrha certainly didn't have the greatest relationship with the Schnee but she was obligated to help people as much as possible and this was one of those times.
"Any ideas on what we should do?" she asked everyone. She knew she wasn't the type to make plans. It was more because she was too used to following orders so she feared that any plan that came out of her would be bad.
"We need to shoot down the Nevermore" Ruby shouted her idea out to everyone. Already her weapon sprung out and she aimed-
"But what about Weiss?" Jaune rejected that idea by holding down her weapon to prevent her from firing, "She could get hurt if we miss and hit her…"
"But how would she get down if the Nevermore doesn't. We might as well shoot to save time on a plan that might not work" Blake questioned. From the looks of things, that girl had the worst opinion of Weiss.
Shaking her head Cinder added her own suggestions, "We can't take away the chance we can save her. We shoot the Nevermore down and catch the girl if we can. She's dead if we don't aid her now anyway."
"Can someone help? Any day now would be fine!"
Ah, it seemed that Weiss's patience had run out.
"Jaune? Your plan?" she asked.
If there was anyone that was decent at making plans, it would be Jaune. Therefore she would do what he would ask. She believed that he would make up a plan that had the highest chance of saving Weiss.
Clicking his tongue Jaune shouted out, "Fine! Cinder! Snipe down the Nevermore by its wings. Ruby and Pyrrha will try to shoot it to make it drop Weiss when it passes over us. Everyone else can with a decent long-ranged weapon can help but otherwise, help me catch Weiss when she falls."
The moment the blonde ordered that, Pyrrha had switched her weapon into its rifle form and started to take aim. The Giant Nevermore was quite a distance away from them which meant that any normal ranged weapon could be less than stellar in accuracy. From what she could see, only her rifle and Ruby's sniper rifle had the range to hit the Nevermore that far and not hit Weiss by accident.
Cinder on the other hand had the easier role of felling the Grimm.
"Preparing to mass fire attacks" said Cinder in warning as she took out several vials of Dust. It looked like she was not going to hold back in her attack.
Pyrrha took a moment to glance at her before looking back at the Nevermore before taking some shots. The best place to hit would be the claw of the Nevermore but that had the high chance of hitting her. Therefore she could either hit the location above the claws or even the eyes to try and make it let go of the girl.
The Nevermore cried with a shriek before diving down at them.
Now!
Two shots were fired. One from her and one from Ruby and both hit the eyes of the Nevermore.
The next moment she could see several figures moved past her quickly as they ran and jumped to attack the claws of the Grimm. Shadow seemed to bend as golden flames appeared before the Nevermore was knocked to the ground.
"We got her!" someone shouted and she knew that now was the time that Cinder was going to attack.
The Nevermore, out of the stun that let it be felled the first time cried out loudly before slapping its wings up to gain height. However it looked like Cinder was prepared for that as over several dozen lances of fire, ice and of other elements were floating around her.
"Take cover!" she shouted before getting out of the blast radius.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Seemingly countless lances rain towards the Nevermore and pierced through its wings. Black feathers rained down as more and more of its wings were torn apart. Pyrrha almost felt pity towards it if not for the level of fear she had of someone having that much firepower
Cinder Fall was certainly a person to watch.
-o-
After the de-winged Nevermore was killed by the combination of sheer attacks from everyone else, what was left was to leave the forest and head back to the cliff with relics on hand. Ruby found her time in initiation pretty good not only because of how much she managed to show off but also because she made so many new friends!
Nora seemed like a decent person and Ren seemed cool enough. And while Blake was still a stranger to her, she bet with time she would manage to get her to open up to her. Of course, that doesn't discount Jaune, Pyrrha and Cinder as well. She wouldn't want to neglect her own team.
…Even though Yang telling her to be on separate teams stung a bit.
Still, they pretty much all almost completed initiation.
All except…Weiss.
"YOU!" speak of the devil and they appear.
"Why are you partnered up with Pyrrha Nikos?!" she screamed. Backing off a couple of steps, it didn't help since Weiss was moving forward, looking as if she was going to attack at any moment.
"Oi. Back off princess" said Yang. Her arm moved to push Weiss away and she could tell that she was barely holding back on attacking as well.
Glaring her sister asked, "What do you have against my sis? It's not her fault that she ended up partnered with someone you want."
"Because I was supposed to be partners with the dolt! And yet when I look now, she seemed to have moved on to become another person's partner. You are breaking the rules here" Weiss snarled.
It was at that moment that Pyrrha appeared with Jaune and Cinder in toll. Well it would be pretty natural to gather and help out team-mates.
"What is going on here?" asked Pyrrha. Her frown was more apparent than ever.
"I believe the…princess here is making a fuss on who is whose partner. I believe Ruby had mentioned she and Weiss were partners first?" said Cinder.
"Yes!" the white-haired girl seemed to latch over that, "Ruby and I were-"
"But that ended when Weiss here left Ruby behind for better pastures. A shame really. Ruby is quite talented and she would do well as Pyrrha's partner" Cinder continued to say. At the same time, it felt like everyone stopped breathing for a moment when Cinder said 'left Ruby behind'.
"You…" Yang growled. Her eyes turned red as she stalked closer to-
"Yang stop!" she cried grabbing her sister's arm. She couldn't pick a fight now. Not now when they were still in initiation. She could fail because of that! Ruby didn't want to leave her behind no matter the reason.
"Rubes, why are you stopping me from punching this bitch?!"
"Because she doesn't matter right now!" she took a breath in, "We got the relics. We should just leave. Weiss might get a relic but she doesn't have a partner. Without one she can't pass so…she doesn't matter."
"It does matter because she abandoned you the moment she could!"
"But I met Pyrrha after that!"
"It doesn't matter. That should not have happened at all. The fact that she can so easily abandon someone says a lot on how much we can actually trust her" she growled.
What she said seemed to have shocked Weiss but before she could add another comment Cinder spoke up.
"Yang's right. It's better to not to waste time with Miss Schnee right now. She would have to find a partner on her own. Besides, we don't have any spare numbers for her to partner up with either way" she said.
Ruby looked down feeling depressed. Was it this easy for someone to be isolated and blamed?
"Cheer up Ruby" Jaune patted her shoulder, "You still have the rest of us even if you can't befriend Weiss."
"And we will always make sure to stay by your side no matter what" added Pyrrha. Hearing both of them support her like that…they were really good friends weren't they?
"Not to pry into some emotional bonding" Cinder spoke up, "But it seems that there are some Ursas heading our way. We should take care of them at least before leaving. Don't want the others that come after us be in danger right?"
Ursa? Grimm?
"Huh there's…really a couple coming this way" she was surprised that Cinder could spot them that far away. It wouldn't do if they were allowed to live. It was their job as Hunters to take care of the Grimm problem no matter how many appeared.
"Actually can all of you do me a favour and not interfere?" asked Pyrrha moving first in front. "First the Death Stalker and now the Nevermore…I wish to test myself to see if I am not rusty on killing Grimm."
"Pyrrha?" Jaune questioned.
Ruby was as stunned as he would because Pyrrha wanted to fight a horde of Ursas alone. Sure, she could do it and she was certain that Yang could as well but it was still dangerous to fight alone!
"Please let me do this" she stated. Ruby could tell that she was determined from how her eyes seemed to shine at the number of enemies coming at them. "I will not let a single one pass."
"Why do you want to do this? Isn't it better for everyone to cooperate to fight?" he asked.
She paused as the Ursas got closer and closer before answering, "Because I have something to prove."
The next moment, she was charging in alone and Ruby moved to at least back her up. A hand grabbing her arm stopped her.
"Why are you stopping me Cinder?!" she cried out. The black-haired woman had a grim look and yet did not explain.
After seeing no one else moving to help her partner, Ruby asked them, "Aren't you all going to help?"
No one moved.
"It's because this is something that is important to Pyrrha" Cinder spoke up. "And everyone else knows it."
"Wha-?" she looked at her confused. What would be that important to risk their life like that? This wasn't just being brave or courageous but rather recklessness!
"Pyrrha Nikos…how to explain her" Jaune's partner muttered. "She is the top graduate from Sanctum which is place where it is common to kick others down to increase your rankings. She is also the champion of the Minstrel Regional Tournament four years in a row. A record I believe."
"And?"
"And that level of achievement also comes with a level of fame and also a level of pride. Pride to be better than others. Despite what Pyrrha wishes she could be, it is in her nature to try and be better than others. To go a dozen steps further when ordinary people take one" she said looking at the red-head.
"I was the one who managed to kill the Death Stalker in the end. I was also the one who managed to cripple the Nevermore on my own as well" Cinder let go of her arm at that point. She wasn't going to help Pyrrha at the moment.
"Are we…not going to do anything to help her?"
Cinder shook her head, "If only to not step on her pride. She is quite a head-strong person when push comes to shove. Don't worry. She will calm down after this and if she doesn't…Emerald Forest has quite the number of Grimm for her to vent on."
Ruby could only chuckle to that. What was she supposed to think?
-o-
"So all the teams have been finalised. I have a great feeling that this year in particular will be exceptional" Ozpin smiled at the students all slowly making their way to the main hall. They were all nervous to what team they would be placed in and he wouldn't fail those expectations.
However there were still some that managed to fail despite living through initiation.
"There are a few students with high potentials that failed despite this though" Glynda commented.
She was obviously inferring to the Miss Schnee, a practised dust user, one that might rival her in the future if enough time, dedication and training. A shame really, those who used dust as a primary means of combat were rare and those who did so well were even rarer. Money was one of the requirements as dust was the most expensive component to being a dust user.
Even Glynda being from a well-off family struggled with her studies due to a lack of funds for higher-grade dust to use. It was only through the intervention of Beacon and its mighty resources that allowed her to graduate into one of the most powerful dust users in the world.
"If Miss Schnee didn't decide to leave behind Miss Rose…then things might've been different. We cannot control the actions of our student but guide them into making the right choice" he replied.
"Yes I cannot make excuses for her when she blatantly broken a core tenant of being a Hunter even if it was a momentarily thing" she sighed.
"However it may be in the future that she had learnt a valuable lesson from. Much more than if she did succeed through initiation. Mistakes tend to stand out more than countless successes after all."
As the Deputy-Headmistress scrolled through the list of people and what teams they would be, she added the comment, "I do hope the head of the SDC doesn't take offence that his daughter didn't pass the test. He's already jacking up the prices of imported Dust by a large margin thanks to the Dust Thief."
"If it comes to that, I'll talk to James about it. No matter the power of the SDC, it pales to Atlas and eventually the Four Kingdoms united. If he pushes that far…" Ozpin narrowed his eyes.
"But back to our precious new students. How do you think the lessons will impact them?" he wondered.
There were only three things a student needed to pass initiation. Find a partner, a relic and to return safety. More than often, that is the core of how a Hunter acts in the world. To fight with someone you trusted, to retrieve or protect another and to come back alive.
In the end, he was an old man teaching the young as subtly as he could.
For those who refused to work with others…well there were other ventures for them to go to for education but certainly not in Beacon. Cooperation was the key foundation that the Kingdoms stood by and if not by reinforcing that idea time and time again, he feared that war would come again.
The Black Queen had crippled and stolen part of the Fall Maiden. She would be back to obtain the rest of that power and he feared that even the Black Queen was but a pawn to a far more dangerous foe.
He idly tightened his grip on his cane.
There was so much to do, so little time and eventually all he would be able to do is to leave the burden to the children. Such is how cruel the world is.
-o-
"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark" four figures approached the centre stage as the Headmaster personally went through the team formations.
As much as Jaune was happy that initiation was done and finished, he was still nervous for Beacon. The showing that everyone else did proved that he was lacking a lot compared to them. Especially compared to his team-mates.
Ruby was a quirky girl but had probably one of the most vicious weapons he had ever heard of. Not to mention she had the speed to back up her weapon which was only made more dangerous due to it.
Pyrrha seemed like a good person that helped him out at the beginning of initiation. She proceeded to prove her skill as she single-handedly destroyed a horde of powerful Grimm like she was taking a stroll. She came back without a scratch and mentioned it was a good workout.
And Cinder, his partner was probably the worst when it came to comparisons. He didn't know what she was thinking but the sheer power she had when she used those dust moves basically made everything he knew amount to nothing. Still, she seemed nice enough if a bit intimidating to go against.
Frankly all of them scared him in a big way. Not because they were all so strong in their own ways but rather because for some reason they looked up to him for instructions!
"The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team CRDL (Cardinal). Lead by Cardin Winchester!"
He clapped politely as the new team exited the stage.
"Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long" the Headmaster spoke.
He could see Ruby already clapping and wolf-whistling as her sister went up on the stage as well as a number of other people doing the same as well. Huh. Yang was the popular type. It was strange that she was willing to talk to him.
…Though it may be because of being friends of Ruby?
"The four of you retrieved the Golden Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team RNBY (Ruby). Lead by Lie Ren!"
Jaune almost spat out a choke. He certainly could see Ruby doing that and also mumbling under her breath.
"Team Ruby…I could've been Team Ruby…"
Off to the side, Cinder snickered before adding her own comment to the Headmaster's choice of team name, "I believe the Headmaster had pre-planned team names for possible teams. Well Ruby does stand for a colour after all."
"Ruby seemed to be bummed out about the name" said Pyrrha.
Jaune snorted, "Of course. Who doesn't want their team name to be their actual name?"
"It's a bit arrogant don't you think" Pyrrha frowned, "Not that I have anyone who names their team off themselves. And the headmaster is the one giving out the names based of his own deductions."
Jaune opened his mouth but at that moment the Headmaster spoke up again.
"-Jaune Arc, Cinder Fall, Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos."
"We're up" Pyrrha whispered with a slight smile. He noticed that it was a bit empty but didn't comment on it. Cinder had the same kind of smile on her face but Ruby was looking more nervous like him.
Up on the stage…was only when Jaune knew how many eyes was on him. Or to be precise, glaring at him because of the appearances of his team-mates, it was not mistake considering how many other males there were and most of them ending up in most male-dominate teams or completely male teams like team CRNL.
"The four of you retrieved the Golden Queen pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team JCRN (Jacaranda). Lead by Jaune Arc!"
Jaune was…
He was…stunned. He was the leader. Not Cinder, not Pyrrha and not even Ruby who all could've been better leaders than him. He couldn't even speak to protest because he was simply too shocked of the appointment.
"I…" he muttered out before Cinder patted one shoulder while Pyrrha did the same with the other.
"Congratulations Jaune" the red-head smiled at him.
Cinder didn't speak but there seemed to be approval in her eyes? It was hard to tell what someone was thinking just from how they looked at you without them being distinct. Ruby on the other hand was jumping around and eventually hugged him.
"You'll be a good leader Jaune" she smiled up at him before she let go and went to hug Pyrrha as well.
But there was one other thing that was on his mind at the moment. Sure he probably now needed to make plans on how to deal with the team and everything else in-between but first…what the hell was a Jacaranda?
-o-
Ruby had such a…unique way of positioning the room to make more space for all of them. Despite how reluctant Jaune was, he did need a study table on his own if he was to get through classes via a vicious amount of studying. He needed the knowledge more than Ruby.
Therefore while Jaune and Ruby both wanted bunk beds, she and Pyrrha opted to make sure their places of sleeping wasn't so unstable. Well if the beds collapsed over each other, they would change their minds then.
And speaking of the girl…
"Ruby, you will need to catch up on your studies as well" she said.
"But Cinnnder" she childishly whined. "We just got here. Why are you making plans for all of us to study now? We have much more important things to do. Like-like being better friends or showing off our weapons!"
"I believe in doing things as early as possible" she blinked before shaking her head in amusement.
"Besides I believe I am fine with my studies and I have no doubt Pyrrha is. You two I have much doubt on. Though I suppose we could wait until the teachers test us and you two get the lowest scores because you didn't even bother to open a book" she stated.
"But aren't we supposed to learn how to fight Grimm?" Jaune asked.
"We are" she smiled.
"How is studying supposed to help us?"
"A number of reasons" she continued to smile. Her mouth twitched from the fake smile. At this rate she might accidentally beat him because she hated nothing more than idiotic people would couldn't appreciate knowledge.
As if sensing his upcoming doom if he continued down his path, Jaune collapsed on his bed and stared at the underside of Ruby's bed above him.
"Fine" he sighed, "Just make sure to tell me the reasons why I need to study something when you make me. I have been through so many people who tried teaching me just because and no other reason."
"And you Ruby?" she turned to the younger girl.
"I still don't get I need to study as well. I probably have a better education than Jaune-no offend there."
"No problem."
Cinder sighed and turned to the red-head next to her and asked, "Do you wish to explain it to her or should I?"
Pyrrha seemed to look in confusion and motioned for her to speak. Hmm, it seems like the champion didn't know what was wrong with Ruby being here so early. Well, her report from Emerald did provide her more information than most regarding how Ruby Rose was accepted into Beacon after all.
"Ruby, you got accepted into Beacon two years early."
"Yep!" she looked proud at that fact. Even Jaune wasn't surprised at this point. It was very apparent at her height and how she acted being closer to a child than adult.
"However did you cover the materials in between the two years you skipped yet?"
Now Ruby started to look nervous before letting out a small, "No?"
"Then you have two years' worth of study to catch up. Beacon is the advance Academy for study to become a Hunter. While there are many other places that does train Hunters, Beacon provides a much more in depth study course covering a much larger variety of subjects" she explained, "Which means they are presuming that you know all the content that you need to learn in these more advance classes."
"For example" she glanced at Jaune, "Combat class isn't about learning how to fight but rather how to refine your fighting style into something that is better. It is useless for those can't fight properly."
"Cinder!" Pyrrha spoke up suddenly, "Can't they take some time to…get used to how Beacon first before you tell them all of this?"
She shrugged, "I'm just saying what will happen. If they cannot be bothered to catch up then at best they'll repeat a year. Worst is that they cause us to die because they are too incapable."
Jaune in particular flinched to that.
"Anyway, we should get to sleep for now. Tomorrow will be our first day at Beacon and we can work out a schedule on keeping the team at the top" she smiled before moving into the bathroom to get changed.
Closing the door with a click to lock it, she took out the clothes she always wore to sleep when she could. It was red, short and barely covered her legs and other private parts…and a bit transparent as well.
Ah, it seemed she forgot to get less provocative night-clothing…well Jaune can deal with avoiding looking at her until she can order some cotton ones later. And it wasn't as if she had something that the other girls didn't have.
-o-
"Cinder what are you wearing?!"
"I saw nothing. I saw nothing. I SAW NOTHING!"
"Eepp!"
"Well it seems they're having a lot of fun next door" Blake flicked through another page as Ren struggled to get Nora to calm down and sleep.
Yang on the other hand had her ear clamped to the wall and was giggling.
A/N: Let's talk about Weiss since this is literally the last time she appears in this series. Someone needed to be replaced for Cinder to appear and there was room for one Dust user in the cast. So Weiss got the boot from me. And though this seems like bashing when I tilt my head enough, it really isn't to the extent that I am actively hating her. I find her reactions quite reasonable in her shoes.
She is a) Very stressed b) Very pissed and c) Ruby looks like a good target. Basically her first experience on the initiation gets dashed quite quickly. She finds Ruby whom is literally a step higher than Jaune in her mind, which is very low. She then ditches Ruby and ends up partner-less and through a series of events, in the claws of a Giant Nevermore. This is proceeded by attacks at said Nevermore while not believing the others had spotted her and were intentionally not aiming to hit her. And after all of this, she is still partner-less and discovers Ruby ended up partnering with Pyrrha whom she wanted to partner with originally.
In other words, Ruby 'gave' her the excuse to try and rip into her all while she was emotionally stressed beyond hell.
Yeah that doesn't go well for her. In fact the whole Beacon thing didn't go well for her in her perspective.
Anyway the chapters henceforth may or may not be the best work or even funny. I know for a fact that chapter 6-9 will be dealing with more serious issues (As in its less funny) while I'll be trying to rewrite chapter 10 into something less serious. Making the series full of non-serious and funny scenes is one thing but do you all really think there won't be issues with Cinder being in a team?