Hello Everyone! I'm still alive, thank you very much! Hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Reminder, I have a pat reon, look up azndrgn making fanfic. Donators get perks!
This story has been beta by TheMischieviousPuppyDog.
A/N at end, me ranting about KH3.
Oh and heads up, dragonmanb is now writing a reaction fic for this. Story ID: 13223298, Titled: Reading Mending the Knots. Go check it out.
03/22/2019: Quick edit, correcting the error. I had Haven by accident instead of Vale
"I dink you can let me down Pyrrha," sniffed Jaune as Pyrrha continued to carry him to safety, with Nora and Ren by her side.
"I think it would be safer if we took you to Professor Goodwitch first," Pyrrha argued back.
She was more concerned about getting Jaune to safety before heading back to team RWBY to help them out.
"Then send Nora and Ren to help out team RWBY," suggested Jaune, "I dink we're close to the landing zone now."
Pyrrha gave Nora and Ren a glance, who glanced back at the area they had left.
"Think you can handle guard duty?" asked Nora.
"Go, we're almost there," nodded Pyrrha.
Ren and Nora veered away, intent on backing team RWBY up.
"Almost there," huffed Pyrrha. Though she was slightly worried for team RWBY, Jaune's safety was a higher priority right now. He was a citizen in a Grimm filled area, and despite his training, he was not ready to face Grimm yet.
Suddenly, several Grimm Beowolves jumped in front of Pyrrha and Jaune and attacked! Despite the surprise, Pyrrha calmly dodged the attacks before jumping onto one of the Grimm's head and used it as a springboard to jump even higher.
"I've got an idea!" shouted Jaune, "Throw me towards the Bullhead!"
"What!?" exclaimed Pyrrha.
"You can't fight if you're carrying me," explained Jaune, "Throw me at the safety zone, and your hands will be free to grab your weapons to fight! I'm sure Professor Goodwitch can catch me! If not, I'll just tuck my head in and roll!"
Pyrrha bit her lips in contemplation before agreeing to the plan.
"Be safe," whispered Pyrrha as she started to spin in midair, gaining momentum before throwing Jaune towards the safe zone.
As soon as she had let go, she immediately used her semblance to summon her weapons to her hands. Using the momentum she had built up, she continued to spin and slice a Beowolf in half. She then parried another blow and struck true with her javelin, thrusting Milo into another Beowolf's throat. Then she heard a roar coming from Jaune's direction, and quickly whirled around to see an Ursa Major standing in between Jaune and the Bullhead.
"Jaune!" shouted Pyrrha as she began to dash over, only to have a few more Grimm blocking her way.
When Jaune had been tossed, he had already prepared himself for the rough landing that was to come. Upon coming into contact with the ground, Jaune tucked his head and rolled for a bit before miraculously springing off the ground with his legs, ready to run for help... only to run straight into an Ursa Major.
"Just my luck," moaned Jaune as he quickly drew his sword and shield out.
The Ursa Major roared before giving Jaune an almighty swipe, sending him flying to the right.
"Gaa!" coughed Jaune, picking himself up. This was what Pyrrha and the others had to fight? All that training that he started to do did not prepare himself for this! As much as Weiss's words hurt, they were the truth. It was wishful thinking that he could match up with people who had been training for most of their lives with just a few months of training, even with Pyrrha helping him every now and then.
Still, it didn't mean he was just going to curl up in fear and hope for the best! He could hear Pyrrha shouting for him, and glanced back to see her running through Beowolves to get to him. Where in the world was Professor Goodwitch anyways!?
Still, he couldn't risk Pyrrha's life like that as he saw her tanking through attacks with her Aura. He had to do something! Jaune got up, and with a roar, charged at the Ursa Major. The Grimm merely dodged his clumsy sword strikes and batted him into the ground once more.
'Crap, crap, what do I do?' thought Jaune as he scrambled back up once more. His mind flashed back to all his training, his texts, his usual workload, his weapon, his Aura... Aura! He had been meaning to experiment more with this! Weiss had said that he had no training in such thing, which was true. All he could remember was when he attempted to channel them through his hands for massages. And his weapon, Crocea Mors. Didn't they mention about it being special?
Desperate now, Jaune foolishly channeled all his Aura into his sword, deactivating the passive Aura that protected his body. He raised his sword up and charged at the Ursa, attacking with a slash that Pyrrha had made him practice every single time. A downward strike right to the Ursa's head. Which in reality, was not something practical to use against Grimm. The downward strike from top to bottom was more used to help Jaune get used to swinging his sword, building up the necessary muscles. But the Grimm mostly had protective bone-like carapace on various parts on the body, especially the head. Which meant that most attacks would bounce off of it unless the strike was powerful enough.
Jaune didn't really know about that as he had never really fought Grimm, much less study one. The Ursa Major roared, its claw swiping in a diagonally upward curve towards Jaune.
Pyrrha saw it, and immediately knew what would happen. The Ursa's attack would reach first, and without the Aura protection that Jaune foolishly deactivated, he would die. Pyrrha blitzed through the three Beowolves and dashed towards Jaune, her shield on her back. With luck, she might be able to tackle Jaune out of the way, and her shield would take the attack. It would most likely launch her into the ground, but she was confident she could take it.
However, before she could sprint, the Ursa's attacking arm suddenly stiffened, unable to move. A telltale glow of purple showed that Glynda had arrived. She had been busy dealing with a few problems at the southern quadrant of the safe zone before quickly heading back just to see Jaune attempting to take an Ursa Major head on. With a quick flick of her crop, the Ursa Major was frozen stiff by her Semblance. Glynda had planned to then send the Ursa Major flying when Jaune's sword struck!
Instead of bouncing off or getting the blade stuck into its skull, Jaune's Crocea Mors cleaved right through the skull like a hot knife on butter. Jaune roared as he continued his swing downwards. All the boney protrusions on the Ursa's back did nothing to halt or even deflect the blade's path. Soon, Jaune completed his swing all the way down, standing still as he did so before collapsing on the ground, completed exhausted. The Ursa Major stood there for a second before slowly splitting in half. Jaune's slash had completely separated the Ursa Major into two halves before dispersing into the winds in black ashes. The Ursa Major was huge, and his blade's reach had only cut through halfway in, and yet the results spoke for themselves. Somehow, the reach had extended long enough to cut through completely.
In short, Jaune had pure dumb luck to account for this kill.
"What happened!?" demanded Glynda as she waved her crop, sending several more Beowolves flying in the air.
"Grimm," replied Pyrrha quickly as she slid down to Jaune, quickly putting his head on her lap to keep his head elevated, just in case, "Northern quadrant. Something attracted a lot of them. And before that, someone hit Jaune with a glass full of Red Sap and released Rapier Wasps on him. Team RWBY, Nora, and Ren are driving them back.
Glynda frowned before marching towards the place where she had assigned the three teams.
"I'm so sorry," whispered Pyrrha as tears started to leak out of her eyes, "So sorry. You almost died because I wasn't strong enough."
Twenty minutes later, team RWBY, CRDL, and the remainder of NNUL had arrived back to the Bullhead with Glynda marching them towards it. Ruby and the others had pushed back the Grimm and were on route back when they had to stop to help out CRDL and Oreo. They were in the middle of dealing with it when Glynda showed up and finished the job with a few swipes of her crop. She soon ordered them onto the Bullhead and had the pilot drive them to Beacon. Jaune remained unconscious for most of the trip, sleeping on Pyrrha's lap as she gently stroked her hair. Oreo was giving death glares at Jaune, but was largely ignored.
Pyrrha felt guilty about throwing him to the safe zone despite the fact it was Jaune's idea. If she had been graded on protection detail, she would've gotten a big fat F on this. Ruby was feeling guilty, as she had been so eager on this side job and felt like she also failed, as did her team. They had been told what had happened earlier.
Nora was feeling the guiltiest of them all. She had taken Jaune out of the safety of the city and put him on risk on a trip that he wasn't even supposed to be on. She never thought this could happen. It was supposed to be a fun trip, take Jaune out of his stuffy office and have him hang out with them! She knew Pyrrha wanted to hang out with Jaune a bit more, but she never imagined that she could endanger Jaune on a simple school trip!
"Urggg, my head," groaned Jaune as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Jaune!" exclaimed Ruby, Yang, and Nora.
"What happened?" moaned Jaune, blinking as he tried to clear his vision.
"What's the last thing you remember, Mr. Arc?" asked Glynda worriedly.
"I remember... oh crap! Grimm! The Others, are they alright!?" exclaimed Jaune, trying to get up, only for Pyrrha to push his head back down to her lap.
"You need your rest," said Pyrrha gently with a sad smile. Jaune noticed the tears in her green eyes and frowned, but chose not to comment.
"What you did was quite foolish," lectured Glynda, "Pouring all of your Aura into your sword? You should've run away Mr. Arc. You're not a trained Huntsman, you're a civilian... with his Aura unlocked. But by doing so, you disabled the passive ability to protect yourself. If I hadn't arrived, who knows what would have happened?"
Jaune winced at the lecture, feeling quite down, but he knew she was telling the truth while also protecting him.
"We'll be going to see the Headmaster when we land," sighed Glynda before glaring at all three teams, "I mean all of us."
Each one of them gulped in nervousness.
"So allow me to reiterate what I was told," stated Ozpin calmly as he sipped his coffee.
All three teams were standing in three columns, with the leaders of each team in the front of his/her team, slightly sweating in nervousness. Glynda stood next to Ozpin watching them while Jaune was sitting at a corner with a cup of hot chocolate.
"Miss Valkyrie from team NNUL decided it would be 'fun' to kidnap Mr. Arc, and bring him on a trip to a destination that has been told beforehand that it was populated with Grimm, just on a whim," began Ozpin.
Nora whimpered as she did her best to shrink herself behind Ren.
"When the Bullhead was already flying towards the destination, it was then that it was discovered that Jaune was on board, against his will, I might add. It was then decided in order to save time and Lien, Jaune would accompany you all on the trip. Team NNUL and RWBY volunteered to be assigned to protection detail. Team CRDL, along with Mr. Uziel, decided not to join in and focused on the assignment on hand," continued Ozpin.
Ozpin gave Glynda a glance, who could only look away. In Ozpin's opinion, Glynda should have just turned the Bullhead around and reschedule another day. True, the council would make a fuss about wasting time and Lien, but the safety of the citizen was paramount. Jaune, however, was quick to defend Glynda, saying it wasn't her fault, but his own for wanting to come along anyway.
"Upon arriving, Jaune went with team RWBY and NNL as Mr. Uziel went off with team CRDL. I believe I did stress that being with your partner would be in your best interest. If there were any conflicts between your partners, we do have partnership counseling as well as a professional counselor, completely separate from the nurse. I myself sometimes help out in that department. It's listed within the student handbook given to you upon attendance."
This was true, as Ozpin believed in the importance of communication. The council of Vale had originally wanted to make budget cuts and cut off this department entirely, citing that it was a waste of resources, that the nurse along should be enough. Ozpin vehemently fought against this plan, and eventually won. Some of the more powerful teams had used the counselor before, such as Velvet and Coco. The two of them had not gotten along the first time they met and constantly argued until finally going to the counselor. A few consecutive meetings in a month, and the two were acting as if they had been best friends their whole life.
"The problems were only rather recent and...," Pyrrha trailed off. It was rather difficult and damning for her to admit that she didn't know there was a counselor, with her other job, keeping her grades up, keeping appearances up, working out, the extra team leader classes, and visiting Jaune.
Oreo had not known either due to not reading the student handbook. Quite a few of them within the room also didn't know that there was such a counselor. Not everyone read through the handbook completely, and the council of Vale, while producing the student handbook, had put it in the very back of the book while marking it as supplementary.
"Continuing on, the assignment was going well until a jar of Red Sap hit Jaune. Speaking of which, while on protection detail, one must always be wary of their surroundings. This is doubly important when the said assignment is a civilian. Instead, a civilian took the hit for a Huntress that was supposed to be the one guarding."
At this, both team RWBY and NNL looked ashamed while Cardin, Russel, and Oreo snickered. Sky and Dove, however, looked grim.
"That was my fault," said Jaune quickly, "I distracted them all."
"Nonetheless, even if they were talking to you, they should've been aware of their surroundings at all time," Ozpin replied back, "This is something I expect them to have known, or learn from this. Anyways, after being hit, a horde of Rapier Wasps came chasing after Mr. Arc. Luckily, the situation was dealt with before Mr. Arc was stung. Coincidentally, though, a horde of Grimm were attracted to the general area. Miss Rose, excellent decision on engaging the Grimm to buy time for Miss Nikos and her team to escort Mr. Arc back."
At this, Ruby could only blush and mumble shyly, trying to dig a small hole in the ground with her feet.
"Miss Nikos, upon nearing the safety zone, you sent your teammates to assist team RWBY. It is good that you were worried about them, but it was a bad decision to make as the team leader. You should have escorted Jaune safely to Professor Goodwitch with your teammates before sending your teammates back out. You did not have your partner with you."
Pyrrha could only bow her head in further shame. She was a source of inspiration to Huntsmen and Huntresses everywhere and an idol for the kids. The ideal leader, so to speak. Yet she certainly didn't feel deserving of being a leader right now. Nor did she feel like she was a suitable leader in the first place.
"In the end, Mr. Arc was forced to fight an Ursa Major, and with help from Professor Goodwitch to stop it from moving, managed to... apparently bisect the Grimm completely, from its skull all the way down. Quite impressive, Mr. Arc... if you hadn't so foolishly to disengage your passive Aura protection."
This time Jaune could only look down in embarrassment while Cardin and Oreo made no attempts to hide their snickering. Others, such as Yang and Nora, seemed impressed that Jaune could do such an attempt. The amount of strength needed for such an attempt was quite large. Even they would need their Semblance to do such a thing.
"And that's about it. Would anyone like to add anything else to that? I am most curious on to how a jar hit Mr. Arc, and where the hive of Rapier Wasps came from, as they are not indigenous at the Forever Falls."
Here, Cardin gulped nervously and put on his best poker face. Behind his back, he was signaling his team to shut up. He desperately believed that nobody knew the truth except for them. While Russel followed his orders, Sky and Dove could only look at each other and sigh. They knew Cardin could make life difficult for them with his sort of pull, and it would be even harder if they got expelled. But they owed it to Jaune to speak the truth.
"Headmaster, I... we have a confession to make," stated Dove, pointing at himself and Sky, who nodded.
Cardin almost roared and tried to tackle them, only to be suddenly pinned down on the floor, the glowing purple light surrounding him telling everyone that Glynda had pinned him down.
"Continue," stated Ozpin, as if Cardin hadn't attempted anything.
"First, Sky and I would like to officially quit team CRDL due to the fact that we have had several arguments with our leader that can no longer be resolved by just talking," started Dove.
"And you are sure?" asked Ozpin.
Sky stepped in on this part, "Yes. Though we followed his orders, much to our shame the first time when bullying Jaune, we decided to... reflect on our actions and seek forgiveness."
"I can attest to that," piped in Jaune, which made Dove and Sky give him a thankful smile. Pyrrha gave the same comment, telling Ozpin that Cardin had tried to blackmail her, only for Dove and Sky to vehemently refuse to follow such actions.
"Anyways, we had a bit of falling out that I doubt counseling would help," admitted Sky before hesitating on the next part. Dove took over from there.
"And as for the jar incident and Rapier Wasps... it was-"
"Stop right there," declared Ozpin, cutting Dove off. With a hand gesture, he told them to move back, to which the two did as ordered, confused at what he was doing.
"Mr. Winchester, Mr. Thrush, Mr. Uziel, please step forward," commanded Ozpin with a serious tone.
Glynda had released Cardin, allowing him to stumble forward with the other two.
"Any of you three have anything to add?" asked Ozpin with narrowed eyes.
Russel trembled in fear, almost convulsing at this point as he was about to release the dams in his mouth when Cardin elbowed him hard.
"In fact, I do have something to add," stated Cardin suddenly, stepping up to the plate, "I know who threw the jar and released the Rapier Wasps."
Ozpin and the others raised their eyebrows at this and waited for Cardin to finish up.
"It was Dove and Sky," lied Cardin with a straight face.
"You ba-" started Dove, only to be restrained this time by Glynda.
"Those two were always making trouble for me," continued Cardin, "They tried to oust me before, but I stopped them. Then they went ahead and tried to pull this trick. I have no real grudges against Pyrrha now, but I bet these two still do. I bet they were about to push the blame on me, as their leader. Well, I don't want them on my team either, a buncha backstabbers on my team is shameful. I demand they be expelled for endangering a civilian and classmates, and blackmail. Russel and Oreo can back me up on that. Oreo, despite having arguments with Pyrrha, tried to stop Dove from throwing the jar, causing him to misfire."
Russel eagerly nodded his head while Oreo just gave a small head tilt, acknowledging Cardin's word."
Ozpin closed his eyes for a second before standing up. He turned his back at the others, staring out the window, his coffee mug in his hand. Everyone except Glynda was confused why Ozpin had suddenly turned... serene. An uncomfortable tension-filled minute passed by in silence before Cardin shifted his leg. Just as he did so, Ozpin spoke once more.
"Mr. Winchester. What does it mean to be a Huntsman? What is the definition of such an occupation?"
"Huh?" said Cardin stupidly, surprised by the question, "Well, it means we're the best of the best, elite warriors. We fight the Grimm and other stupid threats."
While saying that, it was easy to see that his mind flashed at Faunus and disregarding them. Suddenly, Cardin felt something impact his head, sending him sprawling into the ground.
Before he could find out what hit him, Ozpin's voice cut him cold.
"It seems despite the lessons Professor Oobleck and Port have tried to drive in, you show that what you have on your neck is not a head, but a rock. Allow me to explain what a Huntsman/Huntress truly means. True, we are elite warriors to fight the Grimm, but that is not our only purpose. A Huntsman/Huntress job is a warrior who has accepted the role to safeguard all of mankind's future. In each academy, one of the main lessons driven into the students is empathy, teamwork, and lasting bonds."
Cardin growled but didn't say anything.
"Just now, I was giving you a chance to redeem yourself, and you blew it up rather spectacularly," continued Ozpin, taking out his Scroll and pulling up some videos before putting them on display, "Forever Falls is a place where Grimm is populated. We do carefully monitor the area, not as detailed as the Emerald Forest, but enough to put some cameras on."
With a finishing swipe, he put his Scroll down, allowing a projection to appear before them all. There, in plain view, showed the whole conflict, from beginning to end while taking a seat once more.
"A coincidence that you chose a place where we had a camera," stated Ozpin as the video ended, "But here's to me hoping that you would've admitted your crime. Any one of you."
"W-w-what happens to us now?" stuttered Russel in fear.
Ozpin closed his eyes and took a deep breath before shooting a question out.
"Miss Nikos, given this video, do you think that it is still possible for you and Mr. Uziel to reconcile with each other?"
Pyrrha glanced at Oreo, who was steaming, before staring back at Ozpin to reply, "I will admit that I am at fault for not seeking counsel. I was unaware we had such a thing and must have missed while reading through the student handbook."
"To be fair," chimed in Weiss, "That note about counseling was actually on the very last page, in small print, in the supplementary area."
"That's not where it should've been placed," frowned Glynda. Weiss handed her, her own personal copy, where Glynda quickly scanned through it before finding it at the end, showing it to Ozpin. Ozpin groaned and cursed under his breath about the council before pushing forward towards Pyrrha.
"If this incident hadn't happened, I would have been willing to undergo counseling with my 'partner'. However, after being shown this video of my partner actively sabotaging the mission as well as actually aiming to hurt me, I'm afraid I am going to petition to have Oreo removed from team NNUL, whether he stays at Beacon or not. I don't want to put my other teammates in the same situation if they are alone with a person who would betray them."
"Miss Valkyrie, Mr. Ren, do you two feel the same way?" asked Ozpin, "Keeping in mind that if you do so, then team NNUL will no longer be eligible to participate in the Vytal festival tournament, as a team need four people to participate."
They both nodded in agreement with Pyrrha.
Ozpin then leaned forward on his seat, looking straight into each boy's eyes.
"Mr. Thrush, you were already warned once about stepping out of line. Despite your hesitation to harm a citizen and following your moral code, you still committed a felony. Right now, I am giving you a choice. You can either choose expulsion with the chance of applying to the Huntsmen Academies next year or transfer to Atlas Academy for the remainder of the year while on academic probation. You have until tomorrow morning to make up your mind."
Weiss gulped when she heard that. Being on probation at Atlas Academy meant the school monitored everything you do. Students were to follow a strict schedule with barely any free time, and even free time was still monitored. Heck, even using the bathroom was monitored.
"As for you, Mr. Uziel," said Ozpin as he switched over to Oreo, "Though this is your first offense, it is a rather dire one, as you had no qualms in hurting your own partner and a civilian. I offer the same choice to you as I did with Mr. Thrush, with the same deadline."
"As for you, young man," stated Ozpin as he turned to Cardin, "As the primary instigator to all of this and also having being warned not to do so, there is only one choice. You may pack up your bags tonight, you're expelled. You will not be welcomed here ever again, and consider this to be a permanent black mark on your records. I doubt any other Academies will be willing to accept you after this."
Cardin gaped at Ozpin for a second before roaring, "WHAT!? You can't do that!"
"I just did," deadpanned Ozpin.
"My father is on the council! He'll overrule that expulsion!" stammered Cardin.
"The council of Vale have no power over the student population," stated Ozpin coldly, "They may have some say in the budget and various other fields, but the power to expel a student resides solely on the Headmaster. Only the Vice Headmistress along with two other teachers can veto my expulsion, but I doubt Professor Goodwitch would disagree with me."
"Indeed," nodded Glynda, giving Cardin the evil eye, "You're dismissed now."
"I'll get you for this!" swore Cardin, glaring at Ozpin, Glynda, and then at Jaune himself, "You haven't seen the last of me!"
"What did I do?" mused Jaune as Cardin stormed out, "Uh if he's heading to your dorm, will you guys be ok? I mean, will he try to, I dunno, break your stuff?"
Dove and Sky glanced each other at this comment, to which Glynda quickly excused the rest of team CRDL, accompanying them to their dorm. Oreo was excused after, with team RWBY following after him to make sure he didn't do anything reckless.
Which left the remaining members of team NNUL, Jaune, and Ozpin in the room.
"Miss Nikos, you realize that since you only have three people on your team, no matter what happens after today, your team will be ineligible to participate in the Vytal Festival?" reminded Ozpin, "Even if we take someone from the reserves or anyone without a team, the rules state that it has to be a four-man team that has been together for more than a semester."
"I understand, but I stand by my decision, as do the rest of my team," nodded Pyrrha, as did Nora and Ren.
"Good, though I hope your... sponsors are just as understanding," advised Ozpin.
Pyrrha blinked and froze for a second. She remembered her agent yammering about the Vytal Festival and all the publicity that it could bring before shaking her head.
"I believe once I explain the situation, they will understand," sighed Pyrrha.
"Very well. Now we must dive into the hardest part of this. The punishment," said Ozpin, causing Jaune to once again try to defend them.
"Mr. Arc, though it is good to see you defending them, they must learn the consequences of their action," explained Ozpin patiently, "Especially since they are training to be Huntsmen and Huntresses. You yourself should be familiar with this, running a business yourself."
Seeing Jaune sit back down again, Ozpin continued, "Mr. Ren, your only failure was leaving your leader before she reached the safe zone to hand Mr. Arc to Professor Goodwitch. I want an essay about your failures and what you should have done, and any other improvements. Two pages long."
Ozpin then turned to Nora, "Miss Valkyrie, I'm quite disappointed in your action. You not only kidnapped a civilian, but you also endangered him. For that, I want you to do the same as Mr. Ren, except yours will be four pages long. Then, you will also serve a month's worth of detention with Professor Goodwitch. Consider this a warning. If there is a second time, then I will have no choice but to either put you on probation, suspension or worse, expulsion. Huntsmen and Huntresses protect civilians, not take them out to dangerous places, no matter the intention."
Nora looked like she was about to cry, but held it in.
"Finally, Miss Nikos. I want you to write a 5-page essay researching about the role of leadership and tactics. Though Mr. Arc may have suggested you toss him to safety to deal with the Grimm, the fact ends up that your choice made a civilian face a Grimm. Think over it and see if there could have been other choices. Luckily, Mr. Arc is still alive, so this is a good chance to review over what you did wrong, and what other choices you could have done so this doesn't happen in the future once more. Also, a week of detention with Professor Peach."
"Yes sir," replied Pyrrha, feeling dread. She had never received detention before! She had always been the model student, the perfect student! Beacon certainly was changing that perspective.
"As for you, Mr. Arc, I deeply apologize for the whole thing," said Ozpin as he turned to Jaune, bowing in apology as he did so, "This situation should not have happened to you. If there is anything we can do for you, just ask."
Jaune blinked stupidly for a second before quickly waving his hands in front of him, telling Ozpin that there was no harm done. He, of course, requested that the remaining team NNUL, now renamed PLN, to have a lighter punishment, but Pyrrha and the others insisted that they deserved it. It was until he remembered that he had a lot of shopping to do that he decided to modify his request.
"You know, the original plan for this week was for me to go shopping for some supplies today. I already ordered the majority of items to be delivered on Thursday and was going to hire some extra muscles to help me move them in. Perhaps Pyrrha and Nora can swing on by to help move the stuff so I don't have to hire movers. It could count towards their detention. I also probably need someone to hold all my stuff while I'm shopping for more supplies."
Ozpin gave a simple hmm, contemplating about it while team PLN crossed their fingers, hoping he would agree.
"The terms... are agreeable," nodded Ozpin causing Pyrrha and Nora to smile, "But both Miss Nikos and Valkyrie must make up for the class time missed if they are to help you on Thursday. Just because they are serving detention doesn't excuse them from their classes. I would also be willing to send Mr. Bronzewing and Lark to help out, using it as an alternative form of detention."
"That would help," nodded Jaune, "I have a lot of stuff I needed to restock, so I ordered quite a bit. My Thursday trip will actually be me mainly buying office supplies, cleaning supplies, and probably stock up my fridge. I'm running low on ingredients, and some of my stuff needs replacing."
"Then we are in agreement," nodded Ozpin before grabbing a piece of paper and signing his name on it with a date stamp on it before giving it to Jaune, "And as a thank you/apology, just present this signature to any grocery store or office shop while you're shopping, and you'll get my personal discount, along with the usual Huntsmen and Huntresses' 10% discount on your total price. Usable only on this Thursday, though."
"Sweet, that'll really help!" grinned Jaune as he took the paper, "I should really get back to my shop, though. It's laundry day for me."
"Then by all means," nodded Ozpin while waving his hand to the door, "I have a Bullhead waiting to pick you up and take you back to Vale, to which a cab will be waiting to drive you back."
Jaune quickly bowed in thanks before saying his goodbyes to Pyrrha and the others, dashing to the elevator to take it down.
"That will be all," sighed Ozpin to team PLN, "You three are dismissed. As for the Vytal Festival tournament, I hope you aren't disappointed that you will not be able to participate."
"Nora and I will be fine," stated Ren, "The festivities during the Vytal Festival will be enough for us."
"Yea, and I'll play the hammer games!" cackled Nora.
"It would be nice to have a break from fighting," admitted Pyrrha, having participated in a fighting tournament four times in a row already.
With that, the three of them left the office, leaving Ozpin alone in his office. He stared out the window, pondering about the future.
"Well that was a bust," groaned Azul as he left a massage clinic, "Damn masseur barely knew what he was doing. Definitely not the place, and I don't see how they deserve that 4.9 stars on Zelp. Probably bribed people."
Azul had taken the job to hunt down the person responsible for preventing Pyrrha from refraining on commenting about their business. Frankly, in Azul's opinion, the manager's decision to strike down the other business was too radical. If the opposing business catered to the same customers, then it would make sense for radical actions, but their customer base was just too different. Instead, in his opinion, the better choice would be seeing if they could hire this masseur or integrate him into their chain.
He stopped by the next one on his list and looked up to see Elysium Oasis. This was the next one on his list, and the most probable one in his opinion. Unfortunately, when he tried to open the door, he found it locked. Frowning, he quickly found the hours of business and cursed his luck. The next available time he would be free to come would be on Thursdays, to which then he would have to wait eight days.
"Better make an appointment," muttered Azul as he left the area.
Just as he turned around the corner, a car pulled up to the entrance.
"Thanks for the ride!" waved Jaune as he unlocked the door to his shop. He had a lot to do and so little time. Luckily, from a quick glance, he wouldn't be too swamped tomorrow.
And done! Cardin gets expelled! Oreo and Rush have a choice!
Alright before you all argue about how harsh I am on Cardin or how out of line it is, keep in mind that in canon, Cardin is willing to blackmail Jaune. He is willing to hurt others. And then he was willing to have someone throw a jar of sap onto someone who was more popular than him and release a horde of wasps as a prank. He willingly beat up Jaune for disobeying his order that would endanger another person's health.
Well whatever, hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter!
As for KH3, well I beat it in two days. Spent the rest of that time getting 100% on my trophy list. Also got a quite a bit of guest reviews 'spoiling' the ending for me. Luckily, those came AFTER I beat the game. I deleted those because I didn't want the unfortunate chance of someone who hasn't beaten the game, going through the reviews, and getting spoiled, though at this point it's highly unlikely.
As for the ending... well let's say I might do another one-shot about KH3, about how the final battle SHOULD have gone. Look forward to that... if I get the time to do so.