I finally have my courtesy car. And there was much rejoicing.


Cover Art: Mysterywhiteflame

Chapter 17


To say Ruby hated her team was unfair.

Ruby hated that her team had up and abandoned her, and she hated that her sister had done so again! She couldn't use the excuse of Ruby needing to make friends after she'd already gone and made friends with Blake and Weiss. Mission accomplished; job done; applications for friendship filled; no more work necessary. Yang had no excuse to run off and leave her to show a team around, especially not a team that looked so much more professional than hers.

Arghhhh!

"So," said the girl with multicoloured hair. "This is the cafeteria?"

"No!" blurted out Ruby, before realising that it was, in fact, the cafeteria. "I mean yes. Um. Cafeteria. Yes. We eat here. Food!"

Four sets of eyes looked back at her for that insightful comment.

Ruby wished a Nevermore would come and abduct her right now.

"Wow," said the girl with orange hair, turning to her team. "They eat at their cafeteria, too. Just like us." She smiled brightly. "Isn't that amazing?"

"Penny," said the leader – Jaune, she thought his name was. "Everyone eats at a cafeteria. That's what a cafeteria is."

Kill me, thought Ruby. Kill me now.

She wasn't normally so useless but this had come out of nowhere. Okay, actually, it had been mailed to her a week in advance, but it had gone into her junk, and Ruby didn't check there, and maybe Miss Goodwitch should have sent a follow-up to make sure everyone got it. Or maybe she should have asked for volunteers. This was Weiss' kind of thing. She actually wanted to go meet the new people and scope out the competition. Ruby had been left no time to mentally prepare herself or come up with any plan or route to show them around, and having to plan all that on the spot had her panicking.

It didn't help that the team looked so cool. They were all dressed in matching uniforms that didn't look like school uniforms but more like military dress outfits, all fancy and stately and awesome. They had their weapons, too, but also more weapons on top. The way the leader had an SMG slung idly on his back and a sword at his hip had her imaging him leaping into a group of Grimm dual-wielding, splashing blood across his white uniform as he went.

Also, it was totally unfair that they got to carry their weapons but she had to leave her emotional-support-scythe in its locker.

So unfair!

"Your emotional what-now?" asked the dark-skinned guy with the black hair.

"My emotionally awesome weapon!" said Ruby, laughing hysterically. She threw herself into describing Crescent Rose both because it was familiar and out of a desperate hope they'd forget what they had overheard.

"So, it's a sniper rifle and a scythe?" asked Jaune. "What happens if it jams or a firing pin breaks?"

"That doesn't happen."

"What does that mean? Wear and tear is a thing."

For a normal weapon, sure, but Crescent Rose wasn't a normal weapon. It was her baby and she made sure it was well looked after, checking it every day and constantly making little tweaks, cleaning it, adjusting equipment as it got old. She'd be the first to admit mecha-shift wasn't always reliable, but that was because people took it for granted and didn't look after it properly. "Crescent Rose has fired over one thousand rounds and never malfunctioned," she said, proudly. "And if she did then I'd repair her."

"Wait, you made it?"

"Yep." Ruby thumped her chest. "I made her all on my own. And my sister's gauntlets, too."

Not that Yang took nearly as much care as she should over those. Oh, she cleaned them, but only because failing to do so made Ruby tear up worse than Zwei. Yang was weak to that, and Ruby was weak to seeing something she'd spent weeks creating be mistreated. It was a perfect little ecosystem.

"That's pretty impressive," said Jaune. "We don't use so much mechashift in Atlas. It's not really all that practical."

Ruby gasped. "What!? Mechashift is totally practical!"

"For you and your team, maybe," said the faunus. "You can repair all their gear for them. How many teams have someone as knowledgeable as you on them?"

"I guess…" They weren't insulting mechashift or Crescent Rose, but everyone else for not knowing how to look after them. That was acceptable. She supposed. Barely. Ruby personally felt mechashift should be taught as standard to everyone, even at Beacon. "But if you just use standard weapons then that's boring. What about character? Personality?"

"I have a trumpet," offered Flynt.

"Ignore him," teased Jaune. "The instrument is his only claim to a personality." The others laughed. "And as for character, well, I guess Atlas prefers compatibility. The advantage of us having the same gear is that we can swap it out if we want to and getting parts for repairs or even a new weapon is easy. Ease of ammo, too."

The words made sense but still hit her like sniper rounds.

Same gear?

Swapping weapons?

To replace a beloved weapon when it broke…?

It was official.

These Atlesians were crazy.

/-/

"These Valens are crazy," said Neon the moment they were left along in their new dorm. "I mean, leaving aside the obsessive girl with a weapons fetish and the fact out guide didn't know where she was guiding us, this room is… is…" Her tail flicked in clear agitation. "It's not a room! it's a cell!"

It was small, he'd give her that. It was probably about the same size as their room in Atlas to give it credit, but that had the beds sunken into pods in the walls whereas this one had four singular beds arranged along one edge, which made it feel a whole lot less spacious. There was a single window in the middle with a nicer view than back in Atlas, but then they could simulate any view they wanted with atmospheric sounds and even temperature controls.

Jaune liked to think Atlas had made him a hardier person than he had been, and in many ways he was right in that, but looking at the bed he would be sleeping in for the next two months, he couldn't help but want to cry. "Atlas has spoilt us."

"Beacon is going to break us," said Flynt. "Our spines if nothing else."

"The rest of the school looks nice, though," said Jaune. It didn't make Neon any happier as she tried to bounce on the bed and found she couldn't. "It feels a lot more open than Atlas. Benefits of being on the ground I guess."

"The forest nearby is convenient as well," said Penny. "Real-life combat experience whenever you need it. We would need to chart a Bullhead off Atlas to get the same."

True. It'd be fun to let loose out there with the team – a sentiment he never thought he'd have when it came to huge monsters. There had actually been precious little combat against live Grimm in Atlas, mostly due to the fact the school was floating over the city of Mantle. Beacon had the distinct advantage of being based outside the city of Vale proper, meaning they could not only let Grimm roam but even bring live specimens into the school to fight against.

There were ways it was less convenient on the other hand, like having to trek all the way to the city or not having as easy access to amenities as they did back home. Every upside had a downside, but when you were confronted by hard beds and cramped dorms after living the good life, it was best to focus on the upsides.

"I can't look at this place," announced Neon, standing from her bed. "Let's go for a walk. This room depresses me and I don't want to see it again until I have to sleep – or try to sleep – in it."

"Honestly, not a bad shout." Flynt stood as well. "Any ideas? Random wandering?"

"Food?" offered Jaune.

"Sounds good to me. Let's see if we can find the cafeteria that – shock – people eat at."

"Be nice," chided Neon. "Poor girl looked like she was having a panic attack. And she was friendly enough when she calmed down."

"I'm just teasing. Chill. C'mon. Let's grab some grub."

Finding the cafeteria again wasn't as hard as it should have been. The teachers in Beacon, clearly having expected a lot of lost transfers, had set up little signs here and there pointing down corridors with titles like cafeteria, library, training rooms and dorms on them. They weren't the only Atlesian students milling around too, nor the only transfers at all. Jaune saw some he assumed were from Vacuo or Mistral – hard to tell without uniforms – and another team that was definitely Mistral and still wearing theirs. The green-haired girl met his gaze and raised an eyebrow in challenge, but was ushered away by her dark-haired teammate.

Looks like tensions are running high. Everyone here is looking to do well in the tournament. Everyone other than them. Jaune grimaced but pushed ahead with his team. All the teams here would, or should, be the best of the best, though Vale had a clear advantage because they could afford to enter many more teams.

The cafeteria was crowded. Packed, in fact. It clearly wasn't ready to host its own student body and the transfer of three other schools, and maybe everyone would spread their eating times out in the future. As it was, the poor kitchen staff looked swamped and almost every table was occupied and filled to near bursting. The food was okay. Nothing more. Atlas served incredible food because it wanted to win you over and they weren't afraid to spend big, but this was just decent-quality canteen food. Metal trays lay filled with eggs, bacon, meats, mashed potato and the like. It all looked fresh but one person's meal wasn't that much different from another's.

"Stay strong," whispered Neon. "You can cry in our room later."

"I'm not about to cry over food," said Jaune.

"I am," wept Flynt. "I want my five-star cuisine back…"

Finding a seat was their next challenge, but it was one swiftly solved by a widely grinning blonde waving energetically at them. Jaune wasn't sure why until he spotted the small girl in red at her side desperately trying to get her to stop. So, that was Ruby's team, huh? Well, they needed somewhere to sit and that was as good an invitation as any. They wandered over, the other members of her team coming into view and one causing Flynt to growl under his breath.

"You okay?" asked Jaune.

"I'll play nice," he growled back.

Nice? Why? Oh. He recognised the Schnee not by her name or fame but by her similarity to Miss Winter. Give or take a foot of height. White hair, pale blue eyes, stern face. The body wasn't the same but everything else smacked of a family resemblance, which made this the heiress to the company that had driven a wedge between Flynt's parents and led to their divorce. Wonderful. It was too late to back out however, and Jaune was glad they were being given space opposite the team and not on the same bench.

"Hey there," said the blonde. "I hear you're the team my darling sister showed around. How was she? Best damn tour guide in Beacon?"

"Y-Yang, please…" whispered Ruby.

"Ruby was alright." Having grown up with sisters he knew you needed to side with the oppressed every time. They really didn't look all that related, though. "I'm Jaune. This is Penny, Flynt and Neon. We're team Jackpot. From Atlas. Nice to meet you."

"Yang. This is Blake and that's our resident ice queen, Weiss."

"Hey!"

"And you've met my little sister, Ruby." Yang swiped her sister's hair, making her duck. "So, first day in Beacon, eh? How you finding it? Pretty cool, eh?"

"The food is awful," said Flynt.

"Your dorms are torture," said Neon.

"I like your forest," chirped Penny.

"It's alright-" tried Jaune, but the damage had already been done.

"What's wrong with our food and dorms?" asked Yang.

Weiss then stepped in. "Are you saying Atlas Academy is better than Beacon? I think you'll find Beacon holds the record in terms of the quality of tis graduates. Why, it's not even close. Beacon has won numerous awards for-"

"Terrible dorms?" chimed Neon.

"Food poisoning?" added Flynt. They exchanged a quick high-five.

"We're having teething problems settling in," admitted Jaune. "Our quarters back in Atlas were… quite a bit more spacious. And advanced." He watched the Schnee bristle and sighed. "You asked a question and I'm giving you an answer. We have pictures if you really need proof, though why you should care enough I don't know."

"I'll have a look," offered Yang. "Just curious."

Shrugging, Jaune offered his scroll over, unlocked, and her, Ruby and even the dark-haired girl with the bow leaned in to take a look. There were some "oohs" and "ahhhs" at the dorms, and then some far more worrying "awwws" and other croons.

"Hey! Hey!" yelped Jaune, diving for his scroll. Yang pulled it out of reach. "What are you looking at!?"

The girl, Blake, shot him a sly smile. "Nice dress."

Gak! Saphron, Sable and the dress they'd forced him into. He'd thought he deleted that from his scroll. Jaune's skull impacted the table as the trio burst into laughter. It served him right for handing over his scroll without thinking and expecting them not to have a rummage.

"But hey," said Yang, "You're right. Your dorms look way better than ours. Though we solved the space problem with bunk beds."

"You can ask for those?" asked Neon.

None of the girls answered, though Weiss coughed into her fist nervously.

"A-Anyway," laughed Yang. "Beacon has other good parts. The view for one, and the forest. There are ancient ruins and everything out there. Plus, Vale. And the tournament. You lot are competing, right? As first years?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"We're in the qualifications for it," said Ruby. "And we're doing well."

"We will get in," said Weiss, almost dismissively. "And Beacon will be winning this year. We have Pyrrha Nikos after all."

"Isn't she Mistralian?" asked Flynt. "And a first year to boot. I don't think it counts as Beacon's achievement if someone trained in Mistral wins the Vytal Festival after not even a year of study here. It's not like they made her what she is."

"I'd say it's a bad sign for Remnant as a whole if she wins," said Jaune. Weiss looked affronted, but the other three merely curious. "I mean, I've heard she's good and all but she's still a first year like us. I'd like to hope the education we get over the next three years would amount to more than what someone can get privately in Mistral."

"He makes a good point," said Blake.

"Yeah," added Yang. "I mean, it's fine if we lose to her but I'd hate to be a team about to graduate getting their butts kicked by a first year. Plus, what's the point of any academy if private tutors and the tournament scene can make you stronger than four years at an academy can?"

"We got our asses blasted by our fourth years," said Flynt. "Didn't stand a chance."

"Our qualifications don't include them," said Blake. "Ours is specific to each year group. I'm surprised yours do."

"Atlas can only afford to send so many teams," explained Weiss, saving them the need. "I'm sure theirs would be the same as ours and vice versa if the festival was taking place in Atlas. Still, you must at least be competent if you made it this far."

Jaune didn't wince but he almost wanted to. They were competent, in a sense, but it wasn't in the way she meant and they hadn't really earned their place in the tournament. They'd be more than earning their place in the Specialists, however, and that was what mattered.

"Yeah, I guess so. Miss Winter seemed to think so."

"You know my sister?"

"She's one of our teachers," said Penny. "Miss Winter is strict but fair."

"More like brutal but strict," grumbled Flynt.

"Do you have a problem with my sister?"

"Not a personal problem," interrupted Neon. "But you can't expect us to not complain about the harshest teacher in Atlas. Miss Winter takes a certain pleasure in testing her students that doesn't so much border the sadistic as place down a flag and colonise it."

"And you call her Miss Winter?"

"We call her Miss Schnee," said Jaune, "but that might get a little confusing in present company. Or we call her ma'am, usually with a salute."

"Why?" asked Yang. "You're not military."

"Atlas Academy is run on the same island as the army training camps. We have a lot of crossover."

"Many Atlas graduates join the military after as well," said Blake, not quite judgmental but not entirely relaxed about it either. "Atlas likes to keep its graduates close to better protect Atlas, whereas the other academies are happy to let their huntsmen roam."

Jaune shrugged. The way she said it made it sound bad but it felt reasonable to him. Any academy was going through a lot of effort and cost to train you up, and most of it was going to be taxpayer funded. Why shouldn't they try and keep you local afterwards? He'd wager most graduates of any academy stuck to that area for at least a few years after. You'd grown used to living there after all. Still, it might be better to change the subject if it was going to be an issue. The tournament would have enough competition between the schools without this conversation turning into another.

"So, is there anything we should keep an eye out for here? You know the teachers. Anything we ought to know?"

It turned out that there was a lot. Between Doctor Oobleck's rapid speech and the difficulty of taking notes, to Professor Port's long-winded stories and random bouts of Grimm being delivered to the classroom, to Professor Goodwitch's no-nonsense rules in the training rooms, which didn't sound much different from Winter's if he was being honest. Maybe it looked worse for being compared to two other teachers that looked to be more bizarre than typical.

There was also a bit of a racism problem apparently, that Blake felt the need to warn Neon about. Several students – a Winchester named as one – who liked to grab faunus parts and tug on them, and make light of it all.

"They can try," said Neon. "I get jumpy if someone grabs my tail. They'll get a foot to the face before I can even think."

"Thank you for letting us know though," said Jaune. "We'll keep an eye out. Neon is our teammate and we won't sit idly back while she's abused."

"That's kind of the problem," said Blake. "They only do it when the faunus are isolated."

"Brave of them," said Flynt.

"I will protect Neon!" said Penny. "No one shall touch or harm her while I am here."

"You guys, seriously!" groaned the faunus in question, blushing badly. "I'm totally capable of looking after myself. Geez. You're making this super weird."

Once dinner was over, with a promise to hang out if they ever met Team RWBY again, the four of them wandered out the cafeteria and onto the grassy fields outside Beacon. The moment they got there, Neon casually said, "So, that Blake girl? She's a faunus."

"Is she?"

"Ears," said Penny, with an easy smile. "I saw them as well."

"Looks like the female side of Team Jackpot is the perceptive ones," teased Neon, once it was clear neither he nor Flynt had noticed. "But yeah, it's her ears. It seemed odd to me she was so keen to warn me about faunus being picked on, and then her eyes got all hard. Sure, there are plenty of humans who hate the racism as well, but they're not so personally wound up by it. Didn't see a tail or any other features, and the bow was super obvious after that. Watched it for a bit and saw it twitch."

"Is that something we should look into?" asked Flynt. Neon shrugged.

"Probably not. Plenty of reasons for a faunus to want to hide what they are. The most obvious of them being the exact thing she was so emotional about. Most White Fang don't hide them; they want you to know they're faunus."

"We shouldn't talk about that," said Jaune. He didn't mention the investigation but they all knew what he meant. Even so, he deflected in case anyone overheard. "Blake's secrets are hers to keep. We're just here to compete in the festival."

"Yeah. Course. So, in the spirit of that why don't we go kill some Grimm?" Flynt jerked a hand toward the forest. "Come on. It'll be fun."

/-/

Jaune lowered his SMG and idly switched out the magazine for another, stashing the spent one in the drop pouch on his right hip, opposite side to Crocea Mors. The weapon felt light in his hands, but also alive, with the barrel still faintly smoking and the pleasant vibrations of the recoil jumping through his arms like a faint hum. The Beowolf, a fairly decently sized specimen, crumpled to the ground riddled with holes. Bullets weren't normally all that viable against Grimm because they didn't rely on organs like humans did, but for something small they were more than fine.

His team were finishing off their own members of the small pack that had tried to ambush them, weaving around with gunfire and weapons flashing – or trumpet blaring. Their fight hadn't been quiet by any means but the extra Grimm that had come were just as easily dealt with. It made him feel powerful in a way the assessments in Atlas didn't. Those were made to be hard, probably to stop anyone getting a big head, but this was the reward. The catharsis of being able to let loose and see first-hand the fruits of their labour.

And he – alone – had killed three Grimm.

On his own.

He could hardly believe it.

"This is awesome!" cheered Neon, skating over with the wildest grin he'd ever seen on her. "Imagine being able to do this every day! Miss Schnee being a bitch? Work it out on the Grimm. Specialist assessments breaking our backs? Go slaughter some Ursa. Stress levels would be way lower in Atlas if we could just go on a killing spree whenever we wanted."

"Word choices, Neon."

"You know what I mean. A Grimm killing spree."

"Yeah, I know." He felt his own smile growing. More than de-stressing, this was validation. It was euphoria. It was blood and adrenaline rushing through his body. "I'd love this, too. Guess it's too expensive to ship teams out of Atlas whenever they need to burn off some steam. You like this better than having pod beds, though?"

"Eh. I'm imaging a world where Beacon and Atlas are smashed together into one."

"That's a dream I can get behind."

Penny and Flynt were just finishing up with theirs; Penny had taken on twice as many, and had no problem cutting her way through. It was fast becoming obvious she was the heavy-hitter of their team, and it was odd that they'd never really noticed it before. He knew she was better than him – who wasn't? – but Atlas prioritised teambuilding and teamwork over individual combat skills, so it had never really come up.

"So," said Jaune, once they were gathered in the middle of the clearing. "I think this proves we won't have any trouble trekking through the forest to reach Vale if and when we need to. I know there are Bullheads to the city, but if we need to get out of Beacon, or back to it, without being seen then we're going to have to cut through here."

"Getting back into Beacon won't be a problem but what about the city?" asked Flynt. "I know we have passes and all, but those will be logged and we're trying not to leave a paper trail."

"Bribing city officials should not be difficult," said Penny. "We can show them our passes to prove we are legally allowed in, then bribe them not to log our details down. If they ask, we can just say Atlas is strict and enforces a curfew but that we want to go party in the city."

"That's not a bad idea," said Neon. "The partying, I mean."

"Nor is the excuse," said Jaune, with a laugh and a swipe at Neon's head. She ducked it. "They probably won't even see a problem if we legally have the right to go in and out anyway, so taking a handful of lien to not mention it wouldn't even be putting their jobs at risk."

"Any news from Warden?" asked Flynt. "Do you think we should report in?"

Jaune considered that. "I suppose we could. Do you want me to?"

It was a quick vote in which everyone agreed it wouldn't hurt. They were in the Emerald Forest with very little odds of people being around, and they'd heard anyone coming if they did. Jaune pulled out his scroll, activated the app, swiped and spoke. "Warden."

"Warden here," replied the man with the same codename. "Do you have a report?"

"We've landed in Vale and taken to the Emerald Forest to scout it," said Jaune. "We think we can use it to reach Vale if we need to get in or out without notice. We just wanted to report in and see if you had any leads for us before the weekend starts."

He hoped that didn't sound too impatient or childish of them, but the man only grunted and replied, "We have some updates. Are all four of you listening?"

"Yes."

"Good. So, there's been a rash of robberies in Vale that have been claimed to be related to the White Fang. Primarily, dust stores have been hit. Our hacking efforts into CCTV have shown that not all of it is by masked faunus; some is by criminal elements of a local gang, led by a rather flamboyant character called Roman Torchwick. To make things clear, he is not your business nor a target. The point is that some of the robberies have been perpetrated by masked faunus."

"They're collecting dust," said Neon. "Is it fuel for the weapon?"

"We suspect so. The local authorities believe it just for resale and funding of White Fang operations. Dust is easy to smuggle and sell after all, and anyone and everyone is a buyer. However, we think it's to be used as fuel and munition for the weapon we're looking for. It was shipped empty of both as a safety precaution, and crafting munitions for it isn't as simple as pouring dust into a chute. It uses specialised shells made in Atlas."

"Will they be able to make any at all, then?" asked Jaune.

"They'll figure it out eventually. Or they'll damage the machinery using inferior munitions. Either is bad, because it can still do a lot of damage even if it's not properly equipped. The point is, they're still stealing dust, which implies you still have time before the weapon will become active. Our resident detectives are going over a map of all the robberies. They're no discernible pattern but they are finding a lot more have been hit over at the western quarter of the city, suspecting they – or a storehouse – might be closer to that direction. Finding that won't be easy. Instead, we want you to keep watch over four different dust stores on Friday and Saturday night."

"You want us to split up?" asked Penny. "Won't that impact our combat efficiency?"

"You won't be fighting. Your goal is to spot a dust robbery and then plant a tracker on a vehicle or – if you're able – to follow them. Capturing several terrorists isn't nearly as valuable as finding out where they're taking their stolen goods. Once you've planted a tracker, if you're able, you can bug out and return to Beacon. We won't be sending you after the storehouse tired, and the White Fang might do some fancy driving to disguise where they're going."

"Okay. Where can we get the tracker? Do we need to file a requisition form?"

"It's been done on your behalf. Winter Schnee will be visiting your dorm this evening to return to you some misplaced luggage you left on the aircraft. It will contain books, school supplies and – in a pen case – the trackers, and a set of earpieces and radios each. Stay in contact on the night. Contact us Friday evening for specific details on which shops we want you watching. We still need to do some digging on which are and aren't run by faunus. The White Fang don't like to hit their own."

"Sounds good. So, to recap. We wait for instructions on which shops to scout. Split up. Stay hidden. Watch over them until morning. Move to plant a tracker on a vehicle if the White Fang do show up. Then leave and await further instructions?"

"Correct. Defend yourselves if necessary or if you feel you must intervene to protect someone's life, but all prior cases suggest the White Fang won't be killing anyone if they can help it. Theft is one thing, but murders will force Vale to investigate. If you jump in and spook them, they might ramp things up lethally whether they want to or not."

"Understood, sir. We'll stay out of trouble."

"You mean we'll try and stay out of trouble, right?" asked Flynt, once the call had ended.

"We're sitting around watching shops late at night," said Neon. "What kind of trouble could we possibly get up to?"

Jaune sighed. "You just had to jinx it."


Anyone else having issues with the site saying its emails are blocked? I've put them on my email settings' white list or whatever and they still keep getting blocked. Annoying.


Next Chapter: 4th February

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