Chapter Four.
[{{]
From that evening on out, Jaune made sure to enjoy every moment he could. From hanging out with his friends at the city, from their conversation on the way back, to having fun with his team on their dorm room before going to sleep.
Since all of that was temporary and he couldn't do anything about the Fall, he did not have much of a choice but to just let everything follow its course.
Depending on how long it would take for Maria to be done with whatever she had in mind, the boy had until the tournament to experience the good old days.
But as morning rose once up again in Beacon, Jaune was finally met with something that had effectively ended his streak of enjoyment.
Cinder Fall.
The woman who was passing off as a student with probably half her age. The one who was after the Maiden located under Ozpin's tower. The villain who had orchestrated the Fall of Beacon and was responsible for the upcoming genocide that was about to take place in well over a month.
And there she was, eating pop tarts just two tables away from them.
Sitting alongside his friends at the mess hall, Jaune had unconsciously forgot his own breakfast plate, as he was just too busy glaring daggers at the one responsible for taking everything away from him.
Sadly, he was well aware he couldn't do anything to stop her. According to Maria, if he did as much end up on Cinder's sight, then the odds of him getting back to his own time would be zilch.
Still, what was to stop him from going over there and smacking her upside with a food-tray?
"So, already gave up on Ice-Queen, have you?" Yang Quipped.
Jaune woke up from his trance. "W-What?"
"I've seen the way you have been staring at that Cinder girl for the last few minutes." She explained. "Are you planning on charming your way into her heart, now?"
After hearing that, Jaune heavily recoiled while instantly covering his mouth, repressing the sudden urge to vomit.
Yang stared at him confused. "Gee, that badly, huh?"
He recovered and closed both his eyes.
"Don't ever say something like that again." He drily responded.
She scoffed. "Hey, I was just kidding. What's gotten into you?"
Weiss overheard the two. "To be fair, that sounded like an appropriate response to any of your jokes, honestly."
"Yeah, Yang." Concurred Blake. "You are being a little overbearing. It's not even ten in the morning yet."
The blonde girl grumbled, muttering "Fine…" in defeat.
Ren wondered about his leader's response.
"Is something bothering you, Jaune?"
The boy turned to him. At that point, Ren was the only one of his group who (sorta-ish) knew of his secret.
"N-Nothing. Just… Thinking about the tournament, that's all." He responded, not being too far-fetched from what was on his mind.
"Hm!" Hummed Pyrrha. "I bet there is a few arenas unoccupied for today. We could get some training done in advance."
"Hey!" Called Ruby. "If you're gonna train, then so do us! You know, just so you don't get an unfair advantage. We could even spar amongst ourselves."
"Dibs on the first round!" Nora announced.
If there was anything Jaune could ever count on his friends for, was to help him clear his mind out of any trouble.
With the whole table finishing up their food, both teams went to get changed for some sparring sessions between friends.
A few minutes later at Team CMEN's room, everyone was relaxing.
With the weekend having just begun, coupled along with nothing nefarious needed to be done, Mercury laid back on his bed while Emerald was calmly reading something on her scroll.
Neo was absent, either busy mugging someone, stabbing someone or eating copious amounts of ice-cream. Most probably D) All of the above.
The only exception was Cinder herself, who kept pacing around the room in a strange manner.
"Could it be…?" She muttered.
"…Hm?" Emerald looked up from her scroll. "Something wrong?"
She stopped moving.
"Earlier at the mess hall. That boy from Nikos' team was staring at me."
"…Big deal?" Shrugged Emerald. "Pretty much half of the guys in this school stare at you on a daily basis. Girls too."
"Yeah." Interjected Mercury. "Just the other day, you scorched some dude's trousers because he whistled at you. You know, the one with blue hair and goggles."
Their boss scowled.
"Perhaps... But I fear it may not be that simple. I think he's onto us."
Emerald raised a finger. "You… Already said the same thing about their dog."
Cinder slammed a fist on her desk.
"That Corgi knows something I don't! I CANNOT ACCEPT THAT!"
…
The half-maiden sighed. "Listen. We have been spying on Nikos and her team for quite some time now. It doesn't take us much to look into the blonde one as well."
"What? You're afraid he's gonna vomit on your shoes?" Joked Mercury, earning a disgusted look from the two women. "Hey! I just heard some rumors! I'm not making that up!"
Cinder shook her head in disapproval.
"You know what? Just because of that, you will be the one charge of investigating that kid."
"Seriously?!" Mercury stood up from his bed. "Cinder, dear. I think you remember our deal when I signed your contract. You only ask me for help whenever you need someone out of the picture."
"…Okay, firstly, you never signed a contract. Secondly, you know better than going against my orders." She flicked a small flame between her fingers. "So, either you do your job, or you are going to be the one out of the picture."
He looked between her frown and the flame particle on her hand, giving up with a groan.
"Whatever. What's the plan?"
She extinguished the flame. "Nothing your feeble mind can't comprehend. Just go out there and find out if that boy knows anything about our operations. Discretely so."
"Of course!" He started going to the door. "Because I didn't have anything better to do with my day. Other than enjoying it!"
Emerald waved. "Have fun on your trip."
Mercury responded by slamming the door on his way out.
"Well, that's one way of getting rid of that idiot." Grinned the thief. "So, Cinder. Since we have some time to ourselves, I was thinking we could… What are you doing?"
Emerald turned to see Cinder bent over at the window with a binocular on her face.
"There he is!" She exclaimed. "That mutt from Team RWBY! He hid behind a tree! Just what are his business over there?"
"…I can think of a few reasons?" Emerald suggested.
"We don't have time for reason!" Cinder turned around and grabbed her lackey by the wrist. "We are going out there and see what he is up to!"
"Can't I just stay in this room and do your homework again?" It was the last Emerald could say before she was dragged into the hallway.
[}}]
Jaune had left his sister's house early in the morning.
Following the commotion from yesterday, everyone took the previous night to settle down. With enough rest taken, they could partake onto some field-missions that were going to be available later that day.
Not wanting to go unprepared, Jaune left as soon as he got Maria's message.
She had simply texted him an address, which basically consisted of a number and a street name.
However, due to the incredibly low signal at Argus, the boy couldn't just search online for the closest route to Maria's house. So, he had to manually look around for it.
"Ugh… This is so confusing. Whose bright idea was to name their streets after days on the calendar?" Jaune complained as he entered June Twenty-Second St. Which intersected with July Eighteenth St.
He kept looking between his scroll and the houses, searching for the correct address. The blonde found himself walking on the most secluded neighborhood of Argus.
Eventually, he was able to spot the address number plated on a mailbox. He turned to see the house and then… Well.
"Uh…"
The 'house' was a rusty trailer, missing all of its wheels. The front lawn was a bare wasteland with no sign of greenery, contrasting the neat white wooden-fence surrounding the perimeter. The stone path was not even aligned to the front-door.
"You're late." Someone called him out.
"Gah!" Jumped Jaune. "Where did you came from?"
The old-lady beside him rolled her eyes, demonstrated by her mechanical lids.
"This again? I just came back from the store after getting some water." She pulled a plastic bottle. "It's not exactly a luxury I have at the moment."
"Yeah, speaking of, what is this?" He gestured at the trailer. "We are in the most technologically advanced city in Mistral, and you chose to live in this dump?"
"Hey, watch it!" She threatened with her cane. "It's immensely rude to bad-mouth other people's houses."
He seemed to realize what he said. "Oh, uhm. I-I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"And besides, I don't just live in this dump. I live in many dumps across the kingdoms!" Explained Maria. "Since I travel a lot, I tend to own a house like this in every location I deem important. Kinda like a safehouse."
"…Wow. How can you afford that?"
"Heh." She chuckled. "You'd be surprised of just how much you earn as a retired Huntsman. Though, it's not really common knowledge since the great majority don't make past the fifties."
Jaune blinked. "Noted..."
"Anyhow, I've owned this cheap crib for quite a few decades now. Argus has always been my home whenever I had to wait for a flight to Mantle for my decennial checkup." She tapped her goggles. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it in time this year. Thanks to Atlas closing its borders and because of Cordovin, that uptight, self-centered, authoritarian bi-!"
"Okay! Okay, I think I got it." He interrupted her rambling. "So, about the training we discussed yesterday…"
"Oh! Sure! Right away." Maria began to walk into her property. "Follow me, young one. Let's not leave your partner waiting any longer."
"…Partner?"
Jaune accompanied the retired Huntress around her trailer towards the backyard, which was overselling it, considering there was more dirt and junk than actual 'yard'. Granted, the area was rather spacious, perfect for training.
Although, what really caught him by surprise was the girl sitting at a plastic chair, inspecting her scythe.
"Oh. Hey Maria!" Ruby raised herself. "I was thinking about the design of your old weapon. Do you think maybe I should incorporate the same gravity Dust mechanism on my- Jaune?"
"Ruby?" He asked. "What are you-"
"You see!" Maria interrupted him. "Our friend Jaune here wanted some help with his training, so he asked if he could join us for today."
"Really?!" Ruby gleefully turned to him. "You're gonna train with us?"
"Uhm…" He decided to go along with it. "Y-Yeah. I mean, if I'm not bothering or anything-"
"You're kidding?! I've been trying to get you to train with our teams for almost a year! Although…" She turned to Maria. "I thought we were gonna be practicing with my eyes today."
"Your eyes?" He immediately questioned.
"All in due time." Maria moved in between the two. "You and your respective teams have some important field-work in only a few hours. Since I don't have the time to individually train each of you, I just thought it would suffice to have you two spar and make sure you're both in combat shape. Kill two birds with one stone, know what I'm saying?"
Jaune scratched behind his ear. "…I'm not really sure."
"Yeah," Agreed Ruby. "Why would you throw stones at birds? That sounds horrible!"
The former Grimm-Reaper groaned at the two.
"…You two are lucky you're cute." She muttered. "Now! First lesson of the day! Jaune, go stand next to the trailer. Ruby, go to the opposite corner near the oil drums. You may begin to spar when I tell you to."
Ruby happily obliged while Jaune reluctantly took his position.
Maria went to check on the anxious noodle. "Ready to begin?"
"N-No! No, I'm not." He whispered to her. "I could barely handle myself against Ruby at Beacon. What makes you think I can take on her now?"
"Very well… Would you like me to ask her to go easy on you?"
"Yeah, I think would appreciate that." Jaune nodded.
The old-lady turned around and walked all the way to Ruby. She gestured for the girl to lower herself so Maria could whisper on her ear.
"Be Relentless with him. I wanna see how long he lasts."
"Roger that!" She cocked her sniper. "I'm sure he can take it, anyway."
[{{]
"Nora has won!" Announced Pyrrha. "You two can stop now."
"Are you serious?" Yang let it up from their duel. "I didn't even get to activate my Semblance yet."
"Well, you wouldn't got that much use out of it." Explained Weiss, showing her scroll to her teammate. "Your Aura is at five percent."
"Already?" She turned to her ginger opponent. "Just how strong were those swings, anyway?"
"Girl, please." Nora raised Magnhild over her shoulder. "I've already sent you to the stratosphere with nothing but a watermelon on a stick. You of all people should know it. Now, back of the line with ya!"
Yang threw her arms before stepping out of the arena.
The hammer-wielder was on a roll. Not only she had bested Yang, but also Ruby and Weiss on each of their spars. And she could go on and on, thanks to her leader.
Having sat on a stool that was placed near the ring, Nora clapped twice. "Jaune-Jaune, if you please."
He sighed. "…On it."
The blonde leader walked over to her and put his hands on each of her shoulders. Not a moment later, his Semblance began to do its work.
"Aah, now that's the good stuff…" She exhaled in relief while getting her Aura replenished again after another hard-fought bout.
"H-Hey, now. Don't get too carried away." He adverted.
"Yeah, yeah. I heard the other times." Nora shrugged off as her shoulders were engulfed by a mixture of their Auras.
Pyrrha went over to them. "I must say, that's certainly a good use for your Semblance."
"Sure stuff!" Concurred Ruby by her side. "Now we don't have to take turns between every fight waiting for our Aura to grow back up."
"Well, I'm sure glad to have finally found a purpose in life." Jaune spoke sarcastically.
If he was being honest, Jaune was content with the fact that they did not know the other properties of his Semblance. Ever since he had accidentally revealed it to his friends, he made sure to keep its use to a minimum. Mainly to preserve the course of history, or something like that.
Shady as the details still were, he had made a promise to Maria to keep things as they were. So, as long as Nora didn't accidentally find out about his 'Semblance-Buff' by sticking a fork on the nearest electrical socket (probably causing the entire academy to go dark), he was in the clear.
Suddenly, the girl in question jumped away from him.
"WOO! Back at one-hundred!" Nora picked back her weapon. "Now, who's next?!"
"I don't mind giving it a go." Spoke a newcomer.
Both teams turned to the gray-haired student approaching them.
"Sup." Waved Mercury.
'What is he doing here?' Jaune questioned in his mind.
"Hey, you're that guy from Haven." Saluted Yang. "Mercury, right?"
"Well, yeah?" He shuffled on his spot. "What's with the looks? Is there something on my hair?"
"We hardly see you alone." Blake pointed out. "You usually walk around with your team."
"Oh! Funny story, actually." He laughed it off. "They just kicked me out from our dorm. All because they thought I needed to go out and 'socialize'."
"Yeah, I know that feeling all too well." Ruby said, earning a scoff from her sister.
"So!" He continued. "I see that you're all training for the tournament."
"That's right!" Exclaimed Nora. "We're gonna crush the competition! In every sense of that word!"
"…As you can see, we are fairly confident about our odds." Ren said.
"That's cool." Nodded Mercury. "My team is also competing, so I figured we'll be seeing each other a lot. And who knows? Maybe we'll even get to duke it out at the colosseum."
Weiss cordially approached. "As a representative of both Atlas and Vale, I think I speak for everyone when I say we would be honored to face such a promising team from Haven at the Vytal Tournament."
"And we would be even more honored to take you down!" Nora gripped on her hammer, making the heiress scowl for ruining her repertoire.
"Now, now." Pyrrha adverted. "Remember, this is a diplomatic event between kingdoms."
Ruby inclined her head. "I still don't get how students beating one another senseless counts as diplomatic, but okay."
Mercury clasped his hands. "Yeah, that's awesome and all, but I was wondering if I could have a turn on the ring with any of you. Maybe hang out later and whatnots."
Yang smugly fitted him. "I don't know… You're not gonna give up halfway through the fight like you did with Pyrrha last time, are you?"
"Pfft, nah. To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood that day." He waved off. "So, can I have a go?"
"No, you cannot." Jaune said.
Every single one his friends shifted their attention at that sudden negative response.
"…Jaune?" Pyrrha questioned with slight concern.
"Hey, man. C'mon." Pleaded Mercury with a smirk. "I've got nothing else to do. Just one spar with the hammer girl. How about it?"
"I said no." He refused again, showing little to no emotion. "We're kind of busy here with a team exercise. We can't let you in at the moment."
"W-Why not?" The champion asked again, genuinely confused.
"Fine. Fine…" The 'exchange student from Haven' shrugged. "I'll just be on my merry way, then. Here's hoping I'll get to know you guys better, next time. See you around."
And with that, he turned away from them and exited the training room.
Nora finished processing the scene. "Uh… That was a bit uncalled for."
Weiss whipped her head towards Jaune. "What was that just now? Why didn't you let him train with us?"
Why indeed. Why didn't Jaune let Mercury Black, a dangerous assassin and potential spy from cinder (and eventually responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent people), train with them?
And as far as he remembered, Mercury had never reached out to them like that before. Whatever the reason was, he couldn't just let things stray away from its course, as Maria had advised.
However, he still needed an excuse to justify his choice.
"That guy is from one of the competing teams, right?" Improvised Jaune. "He's probably trying to gather some info to use it against us on the tournament. I mean, it's only logical."
"Not really?" Disagreed Blake. "What you're saying just comes off as awfully cold. Especially for you."
"Yeah." Said Yang. "What happened to the 'Strangers are Friends' thing you had going?"
'He is no stranger...' He wanted to say. 'And definitely not a friend.'
Opting for not responding, the other leader pronounced herself.
"…Okaaay, that was odd." Spoke Ruby. "Maybe we should just go back to training. We can worry about amending with him later."
"Fine by me…" Shrugged Yang. "Come on. We can go a few more rounds before heading to lunch."
Just like that, all of the girls went back to the ring and settle on their next spar. Hopefully, Jaune hasn't tampered too much with the image they had of him.
The blonde then began to walk back to the sidelines, right next to the 'Healing Stool', as Nora had recently named.
"Do you want to talk about that?" Asked Ren as he accompanied his leader.
Jaune shook his head. "I wish I could..."
[}}]
Forward at Argus, the two leaders headed to the plaza, located at the city's center.
Walking down the sidewalks, Ruby attempted to initiate a conversation.
"Sooo… I've noticed you were a lot fonder of your shield today."
She glanced at him, noticing how Jaune seemed to tremble with almost every step.
The boy for his turn, attempted to overcome his recently developed fear of Crescent Rose.
'Scythe Blades… Everywhere… Spinning… Rotating… Blending… High-Caliber…'
Suffice to say, if he never saw another agricultural hand tool with a gun attached to it again, it would be too soon.
"Jaune?"
"I'm here!" He spouted. "I-I mean, uh… Hey, Ruby! How you doing?"
"Oh, uhm… I'm doing great! How about you?"
"I'm doing just fine."
"That's good."
"Sure is."
After that little exchange, they resumed their quiet walk.
Turning at another street corner, he decided to speak again.
"Hey… About earlier." He scratched his head. "Sorry for the training. I guess I was way out of shape than I thought."
"Huh?" She regarded his sudden apology. "What are you talking about? You did great back there."
"…Really?"
"Yeah. I could hardly get a decent hit on you."
Not for a lack of trying, making him shiver again.
Still, Jaune looked back at their spar and realized that he hadn't done half bad. What other reason would be for him to have made it out of that slice-fest while relatively unscathed?
His guard was always up, his posture was firm, and no matter how distressed he was at the time, the blonde always stood his ground.
Then again, it all came down to instincts. He didn't have the knowledge to properly pull any of that off. Judging by his appearance alone, it was quite clear the other him had rigorously trained for the past year or so.
At that point, he was more trusting of his own body to carry him through a fight rather than himself. All in all, Maria's training had worked, even if he had only relearned his defensive stance.
The girl beside him giggled.
"Heh. I just think it's funny how you were screaming during our spar. As if you were afraid or something."
"Y-Yeah. Almost got you. H-Hah." He pretended to chuckle. "Though, I guess my offensive still needs some work. I don't recall hitting you once."
"I've noticed that too." She agreed. "By the way, I was kinda hoping I would get to see your upgrade in action."
"…My what?"
"Your sword upgrade." Responded Ruby. "The one where it transforms into a great-sword, remember?"
'It transforms?'
Jaune looked down at Crocea Mors hanging by his belt. Upon review, he noticed something near the hilt. He reached for it, and...
SCHWINK!
"AHH!" Jaune panicked. The sheath had spontaneously grown sharper edges with two spikes at the tip, making him jump out of fear of cutting his own leg.
'Since when can it do that?!'
Ruby winced. "Yeah… I hate when that happens. One time, I almost cut off my own cape after accidentally deploying Crescent Rose."
After calming himself down, the boy reached up again for the button that he had pressed.
As the edges retracted, Ruby grabbed on his arm.
"Look! We arrived." She pointed.
Looking up ahead, Jaune realized that they had reached the plaza.
Crossing the street together, they entered an open-spaced square in the middle of town. The area was practically empty, save for a few bystanders.
Not long after, the two leaders found their teams all standing in front of something Jaune could only describe as a 'Professional Lemonade Stand'.
Two Atlesian guards were standing behind of it, along with a few armored personnel carriers that were parked on the street closest to them.
Ruby and Jaune went to join them, prompting Yang to turn around.
"Oh, you two are here!" Said the brawler. "Were you enjoying some quality leader time?"
Ruby took on a confident pose. "You betcha!"
"…I think so?" Jaune just scratched the back of his head. "How are things going?"
"Weeell… Not that great." Yang mimicked Jaune's gesture. "Get a load of these bozos." She pointed with her thumb.
Both leaders watched as they saw Weiss speaking with the two guards.
"We are deeply sorry, Miss Schnee! But what you are suggesting goes against regulation!" Said the first guard.
"How is it against regulation?" The former heiress complained. "We're just trying to pick any of the available missions on the board. I thought you were looking for Huntsmen."
"Correction!" Guard number two shouted. "We are looking for Certified Huntsmen! And neither you or your colleagues have licenses! As such, we cannot allow you kids to take on any dangerous mission!"
""HAVE A GOOD DAY!"" The two announced in unison.
Back at the small crowd, Ruby spoke.
"Hey, aren't these the same soldiers that were guarding the military base the other day?" She asked.
"Seems like it." Answered Ren. "It appears they also were put in charge of recruitment."
Out of everyone, Nora stepped up beside Weiss.
"This is nonsense!" Exclaimed the ginger. "We are practically volunteering ourselves for the job. We're strong enough to handle anything beyond those walls. What other reason you would have to reject us?!"
"Miss! Atlas is not interested in recruiting inexperienced children for these missions!"
"Affirmative! Your backgrounds from any Huntsmen Academy are irrelevant to us! Without your licenses, you are nothing but Civilians!"
Yang winced, even if sarcastically. "Now that's just about the worst insult I've ever heard in my life."
Both the Nubuck guards harumphed.
"And if we were to accept you, it would severely compromise other Huntsmen that have or have yet to enlist!"
"Oh, really?" Questioned Weiss. "Do pray tell how many Huntsmen have signed up so far?"
""That's classified!"" The two shouted.
"No one signed up for the job, have they?" Nora crossed her arms.
"Ma'am! You are leaking private information!" Exclaimed the second guard. "You and your friends will receive a hefty fine if you do not vacate the premises immediately!"
""HAVE A GOOD DAY!""
…
Yang threw her arms. "So much for that."
Blake sighed. "It was probably too wishful thinking of our part."
Just as Jaune was about to give up like the others, someone came up from behind and bumped on his shoulder.
"H-Hey, watch it!" Jaune complained, but the individual paid no mind. The strange man had a grizzly beard and was wearing a red cape.
"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.
'Uncle?' He thought.
The man, who appeared to be drunk while also suffering from a hangover at the same time, walked up to the recruitment stand and pulled out his scroll.
"Here's a license." Said Qrow, displaying the device. "Are we good?"
The Nubuck guards stretched their bodies and examined his license. They looked at each other, nodded, and shifted right back.
"All in order!" The first soldier shouted. "You will find more details about the missions at the board-!"
"Actually…" The Huntsman raised a finger. "I'm just the teacher here, and these are all my students. We're sorta in the middle of an expedition and I'm tasked of supervising their missions on the field. And it's for that reason why you should accept them."
"Sir! That is not part of the protocol!"
"You can choose any of the available missions if you want! But you're not allowed to bring them along with you!"
The man took on a more laid-back pose while glaring at the soldiers.
"Alright… I'll let you in a little secret." Said Qrow. "These kids are the only ones in this city willing to take on these missions. And if Cordovin gets word at the end of the day that no one is applying for the job, she'll have no choice but to start sending soldiers to the field instead. And I don't know about you, but I'm seeing two potential candidates right in front of me. So, what will it be?"
A cold sweat ran down on those two, mirroring each other.
They quickly turned around, whispered something in particular, then turned right back just as quick.
"As much as we are willing to die while defending the glory and pride that is the Kingdom of Atlas! ...We decided to accept your offer!"
"You will find more details on the holographic board to your left! All the clearances have been lifted-up! Once you are finished, aboard the armored vehicles as soon as you can!"
Qrow nodded. As the Nubucks went on a break, the Huntsman turned around and moved back to the group.
"Uncle, that was awesome." Ruby cheered.
"Don't mention it, shortie." He picked up his flask only to realize it was empty. "Well, I'm off now. This thing needs refueling."
"…Hold on, you're not coming with us?" She asked. "I thought you would be supervising."
"Oh, I'm gonna supervise, alright… From the closest bar possible. Call me if any of y'all are dying or something."
They watched as the drunk man stumbled his way out of the plaza.
"…How come he always finds a way to be partially useful at anything?" Blake complained.
"That's our uncle for ya." Yang shrugged.
"Nonetheless, we owe him for that." Said Ren. "Let us carry on."
After that little setback, the leaders went to the board. There were only a handful of missions on display.
"Well, it's all 'Search and Destroy'." Stated Ruby. "We'll be just taking the first one on the list. How about your team?"
"Hm? Are we splitting into teams now?" He asked.
"Well, yeah. I figured we would be covering a lot more missions that way." She explained.
"Oh. Well then." He shrugged. "I guess I'm still deciding. You can go on ahead."
"Okay then." She finished registering herself and her teammates through her scroll. "All set! Me and the girls are leaving now. Be safe out there."
"You too." He waved at her.
After parting ways, Jaune went back at the mission board. Just as he was going to pick a mission to his liking, someone tapped on his shoulder.
He looked to the side. "Oscar?"
"Hey, Jaune." The boy timidly said. "I-I was going to ask if you could let me go on a mission with your team."
"Oh, uhm… Are you sure?"
"Well, since you're only in three, I was thinking that maybe I should join you. Get used to this Huntsman life-style and carry my own weight-!"
Nora suddenly grappled on the farm boy's back.
"Please, let him go with us, leader! I promise I'll take care of him! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!"
The Valkyrie's plead aside, Jaune sympathized with him. Even if he didn't know the boy all that much, he seemed like he was just trying to prove himself to them. Which was exactly how he felt at Beacon before being yoinked away from his own time.
"Alright. I don't see why not." He extended a hand. "Welcome aboard."
Jaune and Oscar shook hands while Nora kept squealing on the background.
With all said and done, the leader signed himself and his friends to a mission on the southwest of Argus. Next thing they knew, they were being escorted into a military vehicle.
In the meantime, Jaune couldn't help but to notice Ozpin's cane dangling on Oscar's belt.
'Can't wait to hear about this one.' He thought.
[OMAKE] "Skipping Class."
"I still cannot believe you convinced me to go along with this." Ren said.
Both him and Jaune were sitting side by side, embarking on the last scheduled bullhead to Vale that morning.
"Hey, man. I already told you." Said Jaune. "There's this insane new Arcade in town that's been under construction for months. The inauguration is just in one hour and I've been dying to visit it."
"That much I already know, yes." He paused. "But did we seriously had to skip Goodwitch's class just for this? Without even leaving a warning? Do you realize how important our education as Huntsmen is for the future of society as we know?!"
Jaune was slightly taken aback but quickly recovered.
"N-Now, Ren. I totally get what you mean. It's just that these last few days have been a little taxing for me, and I was hoping I could do something to lighten up. That's kinda the reason why I invited you too. You seemed stressed lately. Besides, I know how much you like those arcade dancing machines."
Ren inaudibly cursed to the side. Betrayed by his love for the ancient art of DDR.
"Hear me out!" The blonde pleaded. "We're just gonna go there, have some fun, and be back until recess. Everything is gonna be fine."
Against his better judgement, the usually stoic boy gave in to his demands.
"Very well. However, there is just one problem with your plan. What do you think it will happen if anyone notices one of us is missing?"
"Look. No offense, man. But aside from Nora, and maaaybe Pyrrha? I don't think anyone would mind if you were gone for a few hours."
"I was talking specifically about you."
Jaune shot a confused glare towards his teammate.
"M-Me?! Dude, what you're talking about? My grades are low, my combat is lackluster and I'm the single most unpopular student in the entire Academy! Who in their right mind would miss me?!"
"Dove Bronzewing." Professor Goodwitch was in the middle of an attendance.
"Here." Said one of the first-year students. They all were in a regular classroom studying combat theories.
Goodwitch made a simple check and moved on with the next name on her list.
"Jaune Arc."
No one responded.
That made her come to a standstill. "…Mister Arc?"
All the other students (except Nora) sat right up and began to look around for one absent blonde.
Glynda went in a hurry to the front row of the class and examined one empty desk in particular.
Reaching for the wooden surface with a trembling hand, she came to a horrifying conclusion.
"Jaune's missing…" She muttered, her and everyone's fears were arising close to the boiling point. Until… "JAUNE'S MISSING!"
Then all hell broke loose.
Desks were broken and notebooks were sent flying. Students kept running around, yelling in despair.
Ruby and Yang held on each other for dear life, Blake was on the floor going back and forth in a fetal position, Weiss used her pencil to carve hers and Jaune's initials on her desk as if it would bring him back, Cardin kept slamming his head against the table over and over, Pyrrha unleashed a hysterical scream while pulling bits of her hair off before passing out and Nora continued to peacefully sleep while producing a comically large snot bubble.
The door to the classroom opened with about a dozen panicking students flooding into the hallway. Goodwitch made it to the other side and reached for a 'Jaune-Alarm' mounted on the wall. With her bare fist, she smashed the glass and pressed the button in one go.
As the alarm went off, the professor was left crying against the wall, with her tears consequently ruining her makeup.
Back at the airship, Ren could hear an extremely loud siren coming from the CCT tower. One that was usually reserved for a Grimm incursion, or other end-of-the-world scenarios.
However, his leader was too busy trying to keep his stomach in one peace to notice.
"J-Just bear with me man-!" Jaune paused to contain a barf. "Everything is gonna be juuust fine."
Ren spent the rest of the day with an imprint of his own hand on his face.
[/O]
Before you ask, yes, I totally stole this joke from a popular show.
Anyhow, since this is going to be a long-term fic, I figured I could (dump) add a few small stories that I had in mind.
As for the main story, I noticed there's a lot more going on in Argus than in Beacon, even after adding one of the antagonists in the mix. So, here's thinking of ways to balance it out. Having both Jaunes trying their darndest to not let things get out of control and with each Maria keeping them in check.
That's the general premise right now. At least for this arc.