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This story has been beta by TheMischieviousPuppyDog.
Also, a small A/N at the end of this chapter.
Today was the day that Team RWBY, NNUL, CRDL, and three other teams would be taking their class field trip to Forever Falls to collect red sap for Professor Peach, with Professor Goodwitch monitoring the first three while Professor Peach monitored the other three. They were taking two Bullheads over to it when they all heard a noise coming out from the cargo area.
"What was that?" asked Yang.
"I'll go see," said Glynda, who had volunteered to watch over this trip.
"Don't worry, I got it!" exclaimed Nora as she went into the cargo hold, "I know who it is!"
"Who?" echoed Ren, "Nora what did you do?"
"Well, Pyrrha really didn't get the chance to visit him for longer than an hour last weekend, so I brought him on the trip!" shouted Nora before dragging a large sack with holes out of the hold before untying it before them all to reveal Jaune.
"Gah!" breathed Jaune, "Nora what the heck!? Why did you stuff me in a sack?"
"Jaune!?" they all shouted.
"Nora!" grinned Nora, "I figured he could come along with us! Let him get some hands-on experience!"
"Miss Valkyrie, that is a very dangerous and foolish idea," warned Glynda, "Bringing a civilian into a place where Grimm resides."
"Bah, we can all protect him," said Nora, "Plus he has Aura! He can also learn to protect himself!"
Glynda did a double take at Jaune, sensing his Aura reserves. Professor Peach and Port were right when they said he had huge reserves. Still, it was not a good idea to bring civilians into Grimm areas, even if he was somehow wearing armor and weapons. She debated about turning the Bullhead back to Beacon, but that would delay the trip longer than it needed to be.
"Miss Goodwitch, if needed, my team can act as his guards as it was one of my team members who forcefully brought him along," volunteered Pyrrha, "I will bear the responsibility of her actions as her leader."
Glynda could only sigh, "That's alright, Miss Nikos. It's too late to turn back now. Mr. Arc will just remain by my side for the trip. Miss Valkyrie, you will be serving detention for this. I will think up of an appropriate one after this trip, though."
"Aww," pouted Nora.
"Anyways, go ahead and take a seat Mr. Arc," directed Glynda.
Jaune didn't respond.
"Mr. Arc?" asked Glynda as she turned around just to see a face-down Jaune. She bent down to see what was wrong just to see his hands covering his mouth, his face pale. She immediately knew the signs.
"Do you have motion sickness?" asked Glynda softly, to which Jaune merely groaned in pain. Glynda quickly pulled him up to a seat, putting her forehead to his, "Mr. Arc, listen to me very carefully. Sync your breathing with mine. Breath in through your nose and out your mouth."
While he did so, Glynda began to glow gently, pouring some of her Aura into him, both of them glowing purple, "Aura helps with motion sickness. Take in what you're currently feeling, and use your own to match that feeling. I was told you had quite a bit."
His Aura suddenly flared up and responded to it, surprising Glynda just how much he had. In fact, it was already nearing her reserves. Port had only given a base glance, unable to truly judge how much he had. Now that she was in direct contact, she could get a true estimate, and it shocked her. Soon, Jaune's body glow began to change from purple to white, starting from his chest and expanding all over his body. Glynda had cut off her side and quickly backed away as the glow completely filled up Jaune's body before going away.
"Wow, I feel a lot better!" blinked Jaune, "Thanks for the pick me up!"
"That was your own," smiled Glynda, "I merely helped you draw it out. Though how you managed to unlock your Aura is curious."
Pyrrha had to look away and cough at her statement, causing Glynda to raise her eyebrow at that. She, however, decided to refrain from asking as they were nearing their destination.
"I do hope there was nothing important that you had to do today," commented Glynda.
"Mmm not too much," mumbled Jaune, "I was actually going to use this day to go shopping for supplies, but I do have most of the main items ordered. Luckily I already locked the door before I went out and got captured by Nora. Hopefully, nobody is looking for me."
Back at Jaune's place, Miltia and Melanie frowned as the knocked on the door.
"You think he went out?" asked Miltia.
"Maybe," frowned Melanie, "That's no fun, though. Today was a chance for Jaune to come spend time with us!"
"And get a full body massage out of it," retorted Miltia, though not that she was against that plan.
"Junior's been riding us hard to fixing the place," pouted Melanie, "We deserve a massage."
Then she gave a smirk, "Plus, who says we can't pay back the favor. I'm sure he won't mind having us massage his back."
"Ooh, I like your idea," said Miltia, "Should we make it a soapy massage with no clothes?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," giggled Melanie, "And he could return the favor by doing the same!"
Although the two girls were just joking, somewhere in the far corner of their mind they shelved that idea. More for the fact that it was terribly fun to tease Jaune.
"Yep. Definitely shouldn't have anything," nodded Jaune, "I put the closed sign up, too. It would be fun to see Forever Falls"
"Very well then," said Glynda, "Please do not leave my sights then and stay near me at all times."
"Aww, that's no fun!" pouted Nora, "I brought Jaune here because Pyrrha said she wanted to see him!"
"Nora!" squeaked Pyrrha.
"What, it's true," scoffed Nora, only to be elbowed by Ren.
"Yea, we can take care of him!" chimed in Yang, "With you around, he'll just get bo-"
"What my partner means to say," interrupted Blake, "Is that it would be better if Jaune interacted with people of his age if he is to have fun with us. This could also in turn teach us how to do protection missions."
"Yea, team RWBY can handle it!" cheered Ruby, looking at Jaune with a smile. Truthfully, she wanted to use this time to get closer and figure out why Jaune had been so cold to her all of a sudden.
Jaune glanced a Ruby and gave a smile, but Ruby could tell there was a little pain in there.
"Hmph, it would help us to learn more about protection missions," commented Weiss, "With two teams together, I'm sure it will not be difficult, provided he listens to us."
"No need to be so stiff," frowned Nora. Pyrrha found herself agreeing with her accusation.
Glynda hummed as she pondered about their suggestion. The main point of this trip was not only to have them collect samples of red sap, but to be aware of their surroundings while doing so, as they were in a Grimm populated zone.
Adding a civilian protection detail was something she was a bit wary of, but considering there would be two teams with him, and the said teams were all very accomplished fighters, she considered it. Not to mention Jaune seemed eager to go with them.
"All right," sighed Glynda, "I will permit Mr. Arc to accompany you both, provided your team stays together."
"Yaa!" cheered Nora as she hugged Ren and Jaune before dragging Jaune to sit next to them.
They made it to Forever Fall without a hitch and landed in a secure zone. Glynda began explaining what they were expected to do.
"And I expect you all to carefully guard Mr. Arc," added Glynda, directing her gaze towards Ruby and the others, "Since you volunteer to do so, I expect his safety to be top priority. If he is harmed, then expect a failing grade even if you do get a sample of Red Sap, as the sample is your second priority."
"Yes, ma'am!" saluted Ruby.
"Good. We will rendezvous back here at this exact spot at 4 o'clock. Please remember this area, and do not get lost. Other than that, have fun," finished Glynda before heading back towards the Bullhead to wait. The pilot and their transportation would need protecting.
"Alright, team RWBY and NULL, let's move out and protect Jaune!" cheered Ruby.
The others cheered eagerly except for Oreo, who looked disgruntled. Without even a word to Pyrrha, Oreo ditched them and left to join Cardin's group. Pyrrha gave a small frown as she saw her partner leave her alone, but the two currently had problems with each other. Still, that meant she was now partnerless.
"Hey Jaune, why don't you go with Pyrrha as her partner!?" Nora suggested/shouted simultaneously.
"Eh, is that alright? Doesn't Pyrrha have Oreo as her partner?" asked Jaune.
"He seems to have left to join Cardin's group," said Ren, "Plus, as you are a civilian, someone should stay by your side at all times. Seeing as Pyrrha is the strongest fighter in our school, she is the perfect candidate to be your bodyguard for the remainder of this trip. Not to mention you two are quite familiar with each other already. I have to make sure Nora doesn't go wild."
"That sounds grand," smiled Pyrrha, already hooking arms with Jaune.
Jaune could only shrug and smile, walking with Pyrrha into Forever Falls with the others.
"I think I'm allergic to dis stuff," sniffed Jaune as he held up a jar of red sap.
"Perhaps we can take a seat over by that tree," suggested Pyrrha, as she had finished collecting her own sample. Poor Ren had to find some other trees with Red Sap as Nora would keep drinking her own sample.
"As long as we don't get too close to dis stuff," agreed Jaune as they sat down, leaning back on the tree that was thankfully not one with Red Sap.
Seeing her chance, Ruby decided to lean on the same tree and ask the burning question inside her.
"Jaune?"
"Yea?" replied Jaune, looking at Ruby.
"Tell me the truth... did I do something to you?" asked Ruby
"I'm not sure I understand your question," blinked Jaune, "This is our second time meeting each other now. I thought our first impressions weren't that bad.. was it?"
"No, no, no!" panicked Ruby, waving her hands in a frantic motion, "It's just.. just..."
"What my baby sister is trying to say," interrupted Yang as she waltzed up, "Is that you suddenly had a frosty face during my sister's massage. What's with that? My little sister is one of the kindest people, and you suddenly dislike her? You-"
Blake elbowed Yang to stop her before continuing on, "What my partner means to convey is that they noticed a change in your personality and wanted to know the cause of it."
Jaune slightly winced at this before responding, "Ah, don't worry about it. I was just reminded something of my past. Something a bit... uncomfortable while you were chatting with me."
"What did you say?" asked Ren to Ruby.
"Well...," pondered Ruby as she reviewed what she said.
"Well it can't be because she's from Beacon," frowned Weiss, "Ren's from Beacon too, and he works there."
"Ooh, don't forget that she's probably one of the youngest to attend Beacon!" chimed in Yang, "She's one of the bee's knees!"
"I don't want that, I have normal knees!" wailed Ruby, "I mean, it was cool that Professor Ozpin let me into Beacon two years early, but I didn't get to bring my friends. I told you, I want to be one with normal knees!"
"There it is," noted Weiss, who had been observing Jaune, who winced once more.
"Ruby, if I may ask, how did you get into Beacon?" asked Pyrrha, drawing attention away from Jaune.
"Oh, I was at a Dust shop, looking at a magazine while listening to my music, just chilling out" Ruby quickly explained, "Then some thugs came in making trouble. I totally kicked their butts! I was like, hoo yahh waaa."
Ruby began to make sound effects while showing off karate poses, making most of them aww at her acting.
"Anyways, I went to chase down a criminal, which didn't go so well. But still, I impressed Professor Goodwitch... for a bit. Then Headmaster Ozpin came in, we talked, and the next day I was on my way to Beacon!"
This time Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren winced at this. They were aware of Jaune's dream, and hearing how a girl just miraculously landing a spot at Beacon without even applying would be a sore spot for Jaune. It was true that Ruby was quite strong for her age, already having defeated several other first years despite being younger. Still, to hear somebody else get a position without even trying in front of the one who didn't get but so desperately wanted had to be painful.
"You all know something," declared Weiss, "What is it, did Jaune want to be a Huntsman, apply to Beacon, and was rejected?
"... Yes," sighed Jaune.
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" babbled Ruby quickly, "I was completely rubbing it against your face, wasn't I? I didn't know! I didn't mean to do it! It wasn't my intention to put salt on your wounds!"
Ruby then whirled to Yang, "Yang, why didn't you tell me I was being mean!?"
"Me!? How would I have known?" replied Yang in a panic.
"You went to his place on Thursday!" accused Ruby, "You two were together alone! There had to be something that was mentioned!"
"Nothing of that sort happened," retorted Yang, "I only got a massage and...,"
Yang trailed off as her mind flashed back to her... flashing Jaune. Twice. The first time was just a series of unfortunate events to which Jaune only got a glance, which was more than what she wanted to show. The second time was when she tackled Jaune into the bed after laughing at her pun. Sure Jaune had been knocked unconscious and didn't see anything, but the fact that she bared her chest to him in full view without control was something she did not want to share.
Everyone looked at Yang curiously as she trailed off, her face slowly turning red.
"Yang?" asked Blake, "Are you okay?"
"No, nothing happened, hahahaha! Certainly, nothing that you'd think of," babbled Yang, "Jaune did not see anything, and I certainly didn't-"
"Ahem!" coughed Jaune loudly, interrupting Yang's babble. He had a feeling she was about to say something that would embarrass them both.
"Ruby, don't misunderstand, please. I'm happy that you got in. It's just that talking about getting accepted to Beacon just reminded me of my own rejection letter," sighed Jaune, "It was unprofessional of me to show it on my face. Please, forgive my behavior."
"Ah, nononono, I should be asking you that," said Ruby hastily, "I should've known better to keep talking about it!"
"Yea, I take some of that blame," added Yang, "I was so proud of my baby sister that I keep telling everyone without thinking that there could be a chance some people would not have the same happy reaction as me."
"Aww, hugs everywhere!" shouted Nora as hugged the closest person, who happened to be Ren as usual.
"No, Nora, you're not using this chance to get the red sap again," deadpanned Ren as he held the jar high above his head.
"Aww, c'mon!" pouted Nora, who had been using the hug as an excuse to grab that jar of delicious sap again, causing them all to laugh as the tension was slowly loosened.
"Why?" asked Weiss, suddenly interrupting the laughter, "Why choose a goal that you're clearly not suited or trained for?"
"Weiss...," started Ruby, only for Weiss to shake her head before continuing.
"I'm sorry, but given the fact that his current occupation as a masseur, I find it hard to believe that he would be prepared for such a workload. Being a Huntsman is no easy task. I have had extensive training before being able to attend such a prestigious academy, and so have the rest of the students. From what I have gleaned, you barely know how to even use Aura. Every student who has at least attended the first year of primary combat school or something similar know the basics of Aura. For someone such ill-suited as you, how could you possibly dream of attending Beacon without even putting the effort into it in the first place?"
Blake slightly winced at this blunt but true assessment while others seemed to glare at Weiss. Jaune, despite his workouts, was barely showing muscle from what they could see. The rest of the group had lean and firm muscles, which was the result of constant training. Even Weiss, who seemed to the most petite out of the whole group, could easily bench 170 pounds. Not to mention their bones had been hardened and muscles conditioned to take hits from an Ursa without Aura and still get up easily to fight. Not only that but from what they could tell judging by what had happened at the Bullhead, Jaune wasn't used to using Aura yet, either.
Blake didn't want to be mean, but she had to agree with Weiss's assessment. Of course, none of them really knew just how large Jaune's Aura reserves were. Being able to sense someone's Aura reserve was well beyond any of them. Only Pyrrha was the exception as she had been the one to unlock it for him.
Weiss was used to glares, being the heiress of a multi-millionaire corporation, but seeing Ruby and Nora glare at her made her flinch. Two of the most energetic and happy people at Beacon glaring at her was not very common, and Weiss did not think she could get used to that. Then seeing Pyrrha also glare at her somehow made it worse.
Suddenly, Jaune stood up and began to quickly walk towards Weiss.
"What? Are you unhappy with the truth?" asked Weiss, slightly stepping back at the sudden movement from Jaune, but ready to stand her ground.
Jaune suddenly grabbed Weiss, who was ready to defend herself, when Jaune spun her around and hugged her, as if protecting her from something. Weiss blinked in confusion when a second later, she heard a male's voice yelling out, "Watch out!"
Another second later, a jar of red sap crashed into Jaune's head, spilling its contents all over him.
Few minutes earlier
Sky and Dove had finished gathering their sample before both glanced back at where Cardin was, who seemed to be in a deep discussion with Oreo.
"Hey Dove?" asked Sky, "Think our 'glorious' leader is planning something stupid again?"
Sky had raised his hands and emphasized the word glorious with his fingers as he asked.
"Most likely," snorted Dove, "I don't see Russel, though. I'm a bit worried though, with Jaune on this trip. Oreo clearly shows on his face that he doesn't like Jaune, and Cardin hates Jaune too. Now that he's here, they might do something drastic."
"Didn't Oreo and Russel collect Rapier Wasps a few days ago?" mused Sky, remembering seeing them out in the forest while he was going on a run.
"Did they now? And did they happen to put them in a box with a huge W on it?" asked Dove as he narrowed his eyes.
"Yea, how'd you know?" asked Sky.
"Because Russel is carrying that said box to them right now," Dove pointed directly at Russel as he said this.
"Please tell me they aren't planning anything suicidal," paled Sky, "Anymore of this and we'll be expelled!"
"That's why we're stopping this now," declared Dove, quickly pulling Sky with him as he marched forward towards the trio, "I read the student handbook after Cardin threatened us to listen to him. We can choose to leave the team if we feel like the leader is not acting in our best interest. And I'd say he's clearly not."
"Haha, you ready for this?" grinned Cardin as he hefted one jar full of sap.
"I get Pyrrha, you get Jaune," nodded Oreo, "And if time permits, we use two more jars at Nora and Ren."
"Man, your team is just full of jerks," giggled Cardin, "Well, if this works out, then they'll be too scared that they'll quit Beacon. If you need another team, you can always join mine. I'm sure I can pull some strings to get you in."
"Much appreciated," said Oreo, "Is Russel ready with those Rapier Wasps?"
"Oh yea," smirked Cardin as he tilted his head towards Russel's direction, who had just set the box down.
"Why aren't your other two teammates joining in on this?" asked Oreo, "With two more people, we can get them all at once."
"Those two are cowards and idiots," growled Cardin, "Questioning my authority. Bet they want to mutiny, but I'll deal with them later. Come on, they're all distracted, let's get them!"
As Cardin and Oreo raised their arms to throw, both felt hands latch onto the jar.
"What are you doing!?" hissed Dove, "Are you trying to get us all expelled?"
"Do not question my decision," Cardin fired back, "Plus, relax. There's no way that they'll know it's us. Even if they accuse us, we can easily deny that claim, and blame it on that all Faunus team that came with us. Those filthy animals would love the chance to get Weiss, but with the poor aim, they could just miss."
"It's just a small prank," added Oreo.
"A small prank does not involve setting Rapier Wasps upon them," shot back Sky, "You know how dangerous that is? Rapier Wasps are one of the few animals that can actually sting a person even if they have Aura protecting them! Their stingers bypass through the protection! And you're planning on unleashing a horde of them on a civilian on top of that?"
"Oh c'mon, it's not like anything bad will happen," scoffed Cardin, with Oreo nodding in agreement. Russel seemed a bit scared, as he had no idea Rapier Wasps could do that.
"No, absolutely not," growled Dove, "I don't care if you're the leader."
"Are you mutinying?" growled Cardin, "I can have charge brought up for that!"
"Not if I quit first!" fired back Dove, "You've gone too far this time!"
Cardin and Dove began to struggle over the jar, rolling on the ground in a battle to get the jar. Russel just stood back, not knowing what to do. Oreo, however, managed to get his jar out of Sky's grip and began to throw it. Sky desperately tackled Oreo and tried to take him down, but it was too late. Though Oreo's aim had been at Jaune, the tackle caused him to misfire, arcing it way up into the sky. Sky and Oreo watched the jar slowly arc up into the sky before gravity took its place, falling towards a distracted Weiss.
"Watch out!" shouted Sky just as Jaune quickly covered Weiss.
Back to present time
Seeing Jaune being hit, Oreo shouted to Russel, "Throw it!"
Russel, however, hesitated, not knowing what to do. He may dislike him, but it wasn't enough that he wanted to maim him for good.
"Oh I'll do it!" shouted Cardin as he shoved Dove off him, who had been too surprised to react. Cardin grabbed the box, and with all his strength, hurled it towards Jaune and the others. Due to its construction and weight, and add the fact that Dove threw a rock at Cardin's head to make him misfire, the box only flew halfway towards Jaune and the others before hitting the ground. However, the noise that came from the box sent chills up most of their spines. Rapier Wasps buzzed out of the box angrily before latching onto a sweet scent in the air. As one, they started to fly towards Jaune.
"That doesn't seem good," said Jaune nervously as he slowly backed away just to see the Rapier Wasps following him.
With a shout, he dashed away as the Rapier Wasps followed him. He purposely chose a path away from Ruby and the others in hopes that they wouldn't be stung. He didn't get far as the Red Sap was still playing hell with his senses, and eventually tripped onto the floor.
'Oh this won't be good,' thought Jaune as he heard the Rapier Wasps right above his head.
Suddenly, he felt himself being moved by his armor before suddenly being scooped up by Pyrrha herself in a bridal carry. Pyrrha used her Aura to put more power into her feet while using her Semblance on her own metal greaves to accelerate faster, escaping the Rapier Wasps.
"Pyrrha, over here!" shouted Ruby as the others had their weapons out.
Pyrrha made a turn, sharply avoiding the Rapier Wasps as she dashed towards the group. Weiss made several glyphs beneath Pyrrha's feet to make her go faster while Nora fired off several grenades into the Rapier Wasps. Ruby sharply sniped one out with a bullet loaded with fire Dust. The resulting explosion destroyed the majority of Rapier Wasps, the remaining amount easily taken care of by the others.
"Yea, that's how we do it!" cheered Ruby until she heard a growl from behind.
They all turned around to see several Grimm prowling about. The momentary panic attack from Jaune and negative feelings from team CRDL had attracted them over.
"Pyrrha, protect Jaune and retreat to the Bullhead! Nora, Ren, cover them. Team RWBY, attack!" snapped Ruby.
Seeing no real flaws in this plan, Pyrrha nodded and began to retreat towards the Bullhead, carrying Jaune while Ren and Nora covered her retreat, firing bullets to dissuade any Grimm form pursuing.
"We have to help them!" gasped Sky.
"Screw that, we gotta run!" panicked Russel as he began to run away.
"Yea, I ain't sticking around to help them out," nodded Cardin as he also began to run, just for Dove to grab him by the arm.
"You damn coward," hissed Dove, "You caused all this mess, and now you want to run?"
"Get off me traitor," growled Cardin, only to hear more growls coming from the woods. Team CRDL and Oreo turned towards the source to see more Grimm approaching them.
Cursing under his breath, Cardin began to snap off orders. Though Dove and Sky had technically quit his team, they still obeyed them as Cardin's strategic mind was still above theirs, and the orders made sense. They began to slowly retreat while defending themselves, making sure their backs weren't defenseless as they made their way back to the Bullhead.
Yep. The jar throwing incident still happens. Let's face it, in cannon, Cardin was already getting pissed off of Pyrrha. Whether Jaune is in Beacon or not, this would have been coming no matter what.
Anyways, good news, I've hit past 3k follows for the first time in my stories! Yaaa *hurls fireworks up in the air*. Thanks for all the support, and special thanks to pat reon supporters.
And now for the bad news... kinda. Next month, I will NOT be updating ANY of my stories. The reason for this... is basically because I'm going to be spending pretty much all my free time playing KH3. No life threatening crisis or anything, but let's face it, I'm not going to have time to write, nor will I want to, when I got KH3, which I have been waiting for ages.