Friends.
People whom one person knows and shares a mutual bond of affection without delving into sexual or familial relationships.
For people such as Lisa Lavender, her friends may have a different kind of definition.
"I saw the news conference last night. You sure made the poor Captain sweat." One of her 'friends' informs her from across the cafe table they are currently occupying.
Right now there are only the two of them sitting here, but she knows wherever this particular 'friend' of hers is, his own partner isn't that far behind. His partner who just so happens to be Lisa's very own junior from that same Preparatory Academy years ago.
"Cut the crap, Rom-"
"Shhh! It's Romeo. Romeo Candlewick when I'm out in daylight."
"I was gonna say Romeo, you ass." Lisa replies to her friend flatly with a deadpan stare.
Romeo Candlewick just smiles cheekily back at Lisa. Romeo Candlewick, Lisa's 'friend' who currently has his orange hair styled into messy curls while weaning a green sweater and dark pants.
Her friend's smile gives him a boyish charm and if Lisa didn't know any better she might have called him cute. But Lisa Lavender knows better. Beneath that smile lies a ruthless but charming rogue ready to terrorize Vale with his own brand of crime once again. Beneath that smile lies Roman Torchwick.
Yes, that's right. Roman Torchwick is currently having a nice cup of coffee in broad daylight in the middle of Vale. Why, you ask? To meet a friend, of course! In the middle of a slightly busy cafe in Vale, a criminal and a journalist take a sip of coffee.
"As I was saying, cut the crap, Romeo. You're the one who gave me the info about Beacon students interfering with you at the docks two nights ago. Now tell me, what are you planning now?"
"Nope, nah-ah. Our…relationship doesn't work that way." Roman wags a finger at her with a smirk.
"Tsk, one day Romeo. One day I'll get you to slip up. and I'll finally be the one to tip you to the police." Lisa scowls back but they both know it is an empty threat.
Lisa Lavender would love to have Roman Torchwick run around Vale so she has a constant supply of sensational news.
"Ha! Keep dreaming, in the meanwhile you might want to focus on something else." Roman leans forward, turning from a languid pose to a more serious one.
And speaking of sensational news, it seems her friend finally has enough of small talk. Lisa leans forward as well.
"Oh, is there a reason why we aren't doing this somewhere more…..private?" Lisa asks softly with half-lidded eyes.
"Sorry, baby. But I'm a busy man these days." Roman replies with a hint of regret in his voice.
"Oh, so there is a plan. Good to know. You're slipping, Romeo." Just like that, Lisa drops her flirty act and takes note of Roman's blunder with a smirk of her own.
It isn't exactly what she wanted. No exact details like time and place but at least she knows to be prepared to pick up the next big scoop.
"Consider that my apology for not being able to attend our….sessions." Roman rolls his eyes good-naturedly, sending a charming wink her way as he leans back before continuing. "Besides, don't you want to hear about the water leak from my…coworker's place?"
Coworkers, not partners so it couldn't be Neopolitan. The White Fang perhaps…or maybe the Xiong clan? No, if it was the Xiong's then Roman would've called them old friends. He's talking about the White Fang.
"I'm interested." Lisa replies, preparing to take notes.
"Word from their….workplace is that it might not just be one leak. They plan to find those leaks and plug them."
Leaks. Most likely defectors, spies, or just loose lips from their organization. Plug them, there's going to be murders. Multiple murders.
More murders means more sensational news, but that isn't the only effect these murders will bring.
With the recent disturbance in Vale and increasing Dust heists, adding murders will just bring public trust on the police down lower.
This is bigger than Roman's usual crimes. Something's up. Why would he work with the White Fang? Why would he want to lower the Police Department's reputation? Even last night's info on Beacon students fighting him off last Sunday was designed to embarrass the police.
Lisa thinks grimly, but before she could think even deeper and formulate her own predictions, Roman interrupts her thoughts.
"They've asked me for help." Roman says with a bit more seriousness in his voice.
"...Are you? Are you going to help them?" Lisa asks.
She knows that Roman is a criminal. There's ruthlessness in him but she also knows that he never went out of his way to go on a murder spree.
"...No." Roman answers after a long pause.
Sure, Roman Torchwick has hurt a lot of people, he most likely even killed some of his own competitors. But he has always tried to keep civilian casualties zero or at the minimum even on his heists. Doing the opposite would probably get the Unofficial Sheriff of Beacon, Glynda Goodwitch, to come down her mountain and beat his ass.
That's also probably why he doesn't jump to help his new coworkers. If he gets tied to murders, he's going to be Public Enemy Number One and Beacon would send their best to snuff little Torchwick's fire out.
After all, there's a very big difference in threat levels between a Master Thief and a Master Thief that also commits murders.
"So, what are you gonna do now?" Lisa continues, trying to pull out more information from Roman.
"Heh, I know what you're trying to do, but like I said earlier. I'm already a busy man, I've got no time to help them plug some leaks. In fact, I might just actually make a leak of my own just to fuck with them." Roman replies with a smirk.
He's going to let one free. Why? To weaken the White Fang, his own coworkers?
"Oh? Trouble in the office?" Lisa asks with a raised eyebrow, taking note of internal conflict between the White Fang and Roman Torchwick.
"It's just a prank, you know." Roman answers with a false smile.
"Sure, just a prank." She responds in a flat voice.
"Anyways, that's all I have for now. The boss is gonna get cranky if I don't get this next delivery. I might just get fired." Roman finishes casually as he stretches his back before standing up to leave.
Boss? He's working for someone now and it doesn't sound like he enjoys it. Cranky enough that might get him fired? Whoever this boss is, he or she is strong enough to intimidate Roman Torchwick.
Lisa thinks to herself as she stands as well, moving to give him a hug. She sees Roman pause for a moment before letting her get close to him.
"Be careful, Roman." She whispers to him as she wraps her arms loosely behind him, leaning her head on his shoulders.
"Oh? Worried about me?" She hears him reply lightly, wrapping his own hands behind her.
Moving back to break the contact, she gives him a flirty smile before leaning in for a quick peck on the cheek.
Roman freezes a bit, surprised at the sudden contact before Lisa sees a light blush slowly overtake his features. They've had more intimate moments but these types of light and affectionate acts between them are very very rare.
Heh, a ruthless charismatic criminal but helpless against the ladies. I still got it.
"Of course I am. I worry about you, you know." She replies, causing Roman to gasp lightly at her confession. Smirking at his reaction, Lisa continues. "After all, I still need you to make more sensational news."
Roman's surprised expression suddenly falls into a deadpan stare at that.
"Right, forgot you were a bloodthirsty journalist for a moment back there. Anyways, I have to go. See you next time Lisa, thanks for the chat." Roman waves at her as he turns around to leave by the door.
Laughing lightly at getting one over Roman Torchwick, she moves to sit back down to organize her notes and drink her remaining coffee.
She could confidently say that this has been a productive chat for her. With friends like these on the other side, Lisa has no shortages of sensational news and valuable information.
She's surprised when a voice interrupts her before she even manages to put the cup to her lips.
"Excuse me, Ma'am. Here is the cake you ordered." A waiter states as he brings a small but gaudy vanilla lavender cake to her table.
"Cake? But I didn't order any cake." She replies with furrowed brows.
"Uhh, but you just did Ma'am. You walked by the cashier earlier to order." The waiter blinks back at her, not knowing what to do.
Before Lisa could even reply, a knock on the window interrupts their conversation. Turning to the sudden sound, she sees Roman Torchwick in disguise grinning at her with a small green-eyed, black-haired woman waving at her. The woman's eyes flashes pink and brown for a moment, letting her know her true identity and who really ordered the cake.
Smiling at the two's kindness at her, she waves back with her free hand. Perhaps she should give them more credit and elevate them from informants to real friends.
The two outside look at each for a moment before laughing uncontrollably. Frowning at their response, Lisa is taken out of her thoughts when the waiter asks for her attention.
"That would be 400 Lien for the dine-in, Ma'am" The waiter states nervously as one of her eyes twitches. Looks like Neopolitan got the most expensive cake for her.
Sighing to herself, she moves to pay for the cake only to notice something too late. Neo is holding a similar cake inside a box…..with Roman holding her own wallet beside her.
Her cup cracks as her grip tightens and a tick forms on her forehead.
"How much for the takeout?" She asks in a low voice.
"1000 Lien, Ma'am." The waiter replies with a gulp.
Fuck! They got the better cake!
She takes it all back, with friends like these she's liable to lose all her money!
Friends.
Comrades that you could trust to guard your back.
For an immortal such as he, Ozpin has found innumerable friends throughout the centuries he has been alive.
A more jaded man might have thought that an immortal such as him would become bored and begin from seeing people as friends into pawns.
That jaded man couldn't be more wrong.
Ozpin has found that friends have helped make this unbearable eternal life a bit more bearable. Each of them is unique in their own way and always surprises him no matter the odds.
Each trait, each personality, and each surprise they have has given him friends worth lifetimes. He has held on dearly to those friends in each life he has lived for he feels they are his only tether left other than his mission preventing him from going insane.
Now, one such friend has surprised him yet again.
"Hello there." A voice greets him as he enters his office.
"General Ironwood." Ozpin greets back the man who has the gall to sit at his own chair.
Silence fills the room, tension building up as the two men size each other up only to be broken by simultaneous guffaws.
"Ozpin! It's so good to see you. It's been so long!" James Ironwood, General of Atlas yells out genially, standing up to meet Ozpin halfway.
"Well this is a surprise, I never expected you of all people would try to sneak into my school just to sit at my own office table while I teach a class to graduating students." Ozpin laughs jokingly as he grabs the man's hand in front of him for a friendly handshake.
"What do you mean try? I succeeded, you know?" James scoffs goodnaturedly at his very old friend.
"That's what you think. I knew you were in Beacon the moment some of my sensors started showing routine readings instead of the sporadic activity my students are known for." Ozpin grins victoriously at his very young friend, compared to him at least.
"Damn, you really can't account for chaos. You didn't think it was an enemy trying to sneak in?"
"I prepared for that eventuality just in case. Amber's vault is sealed and no one is going to get there without using my elevator which will send me an alert whenever it is set to go down to the vaults."
"That doesn't explain how you knew it was me though?"
"I knew you were in Vale since the debacle at the docks. Your….asset gave you away. Only one Kingdom has the technology and resources to develop one such as her. And it was only a matter of time before you contacted me yourself."
"Penny….At least it's good to know you're taking your security seriously." James sighs dejectedly.
"Cheer up, good friend. At least you know you still have it in you to go do stealth missions." Ozpin pats his back comfortingly with a cheery smile on his face.
"Heh, did you know I tried to hang from the ceilings so I could drop down and surprise you? I couldn't but if only I was five years younger I definitely would've." James replies good-naturedly, looking at the moving gears above them.
Finally taking a seat on his office chair, Ozpin motions James to sit across from him as he brings out two mugs.
"So what brings you to Vale this early? The Festival is still months away." Ozpin asks as he begins to take a more serious demeanor, pouring coffee out from one of his hidden tumblers.
"Can't I visit an old friend while surveying the Academy my own students would attend for a semester?" James still replies cheerily as he takes the now coffee-filled mug from Ozpin.
"Really? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival. Doubly so for you who is also running your own Kingdom's military. You could have sent Winter Schnee for that task." Ozpin responds with a raised brow as he clinks his mug with Ironwood's.
"...You're right….The Vale Council has asked me to be in charge of the security for this Vytal Festival." James answers, adding a dark mixture from his own canteen to his mug.
"Have they now? Regardless, it is still too early, we're only in the second month of the year."
"They plan to move up the Tournament."
That actually causes Ozpin to pause from enjoying his coffee.
"When?" Ozpin asks worriedly, move the events too soon and Vale would not be able to prepare adequately.
"Instead of the Tournament happening during the winter season, it would be moved up to the fall season." Ironwood reassures him with a smile after a sip from his now dark coffee.
While the new schedule is earlier than the first agreed upon winter schedule, it's not too early that they wouldn't be able to adjust.
"Hmmm, the Council means to use the Tournament to stimulate the economy." Ozpin smiles contentedly, thinking of a possible reason for the Council's actions.
"Correct, with winter directly after the festival, they hope that the people who would come to visit would stay in Vale for the rest of the year." James confirms, nodding in agreement.
"But why you though? No offense James but surely we here in Vale could have handled the security."
"Come now Ozpin, you would surely be busy handling the festival itself and Glynda would be busy dealing with the students. With students from the other academies already arriving I could already see you being strained. My men would be able to help lessen the burden for all of you once they get here."
"Your men?" Ozpin asks, pausing from taking a sip of his coffee.
"Ah…Well….Winter is on her way with the rest of the army." James speaks slowly.
"Army?!" Ozpin slams his cup down harshly, spilling some of his coffee.
"Please Ozpin, no need to waste good coffee." James replies placatingly.
"How many?" Ozpin asks with a serious tone.
"Five Ariships, a brigade of soldiers, and another three brigades made up of Atlesian Knights." General Ironwood counts politely.
"James! We are in a time of peace, bringing such a force would send the wrong impression."
"I'm just concerned about everyone's safety."
"I'm already concerned about your incoming army."
"Well, concern is what is bringing them here. You know why I am doing this. You saw Qrow's warning the same as me. If what he says is true-"
"If what he says is true, then we will handle it tactfully. It is the Vytal Festival. A time to celebrate peace and unity. I suggest that you not scare people by transporting thousands of soldiers across the continent."
"I'm just being cautious, Ozpin. It's better for us to be over prepared than under prepared after all."
"As am I. Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can."
"Believe me, I am. But ask yourself this: Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"
"I hope they never have to."
"Then do you believe you can trust them?"
"What are you saying, James?"
"You know it's really curious Ozpin. Penny met a number of your students last weekend. As a….concerned guardian, it is my responsibility to at least do a background check of her new friends. Do you want to know what I found, Ozpin?"
"I'm sure you're about to tell me."
"I found two suspicious people. One of them was a member of the White Fang and the other….a person with fake transcripts."
"Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Arc, yes I am familiar with them."
"Then why Ozpin, why let them be so close. I could perhaps understand Blake Belladonna as a defector of the White Fang, but Jaune Arc? He has no real records of training or combat school. Why let him in at all? He could be a spy for her for all you know."
Talk about surprises. This is what he gets everytime he reminisces about the types of friends he makes.
Sighing to himself, Ozpin prepares to explain and show how Mr. Arc's Semblance could help while thinking of how to bullshit James into believing he planned for this all along. His thoughts are interrupted when his elevator announces another visitor.
"Ozpin! We have a probl-! James?!" Glynda comes barreling out of the elevator doors only to pause at the sight that greets her.
James rapidly stands up and pats down any creases he might have had on his military uniform.
"H-Hello Glynda. It's been a long time." General James Ironwood tries to give her his best winning smile only for him to be brushed off.
"Nevermind that! We have a big problem! It's a disaster!" Glynda Goodwitch shouts, dragging the both of them back into the elevator with a quick and forceful use of her Semblance.
As he is dragged off of his table, Ozpin has one distressing thought in mind as he sees his coffee spill all over his table.
What kind of disaster could cause Glynda to panic like this?
Friends.
The brothers by choice you've made along the way.
Neptune Vasilias has always deeply appreciated the brotherhood that he has built with Sun Wukong and the rest of Team SSSN. So it hurt him when seemingly out of nowhere Sun found another brother to spend more of his time with.
"You should meet Jaune! He's cool and I'm sure he could help you with any lady problems!" Sun waggles his eyebrows at him to his own irritation.
Jaune this, Jaune that. It seems every time Sun wants to talk about something it's always about that guy since he came back from his excursion at Vale.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's cool." Neptune says sarcastically which flies over Sun's head as he regales the story of how he partied with Jaune Arc once again.
"Yeah! I mean he did hook me up with…..twins." Sun replies with the most uncharacteristic dopey smile that Neptune has ever seen on his face.
He could only smile wryly at that. But even if he wasn't able to do anything like that, he knew his friendship with Sun was still special. They are brothers who are ready to ride or die with each other. Such is the case in the situation they have landed themselves upon.
"Neptune! Look out!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Sun pushes him away, taking the hits that were meant for him. Neptune sees his body stagger from the projectiles that hit him before eventually falling backwards.
Red covers Sun's chest with the color even reaching his neck. With tears in his eyes, Neptune kneels beside his fallen brother and holds his hand.
"SUN?! SUN! HANG ON, BROTHER!" He screams with anguish in his voice.
A cough from his brother by choice pierces through his despair.
"G-Go on without me…..R-Run Neptune, run." Sun says in a whisper before finally closing his eyes.
Time slows to a crawl as Neptune slowly realizes how serious the situation they have landed themselves in. Hell on Remnant, and the devil? A red-haired beauty who even now seeks to deceive you with innocence.
"I'M SORRY" The she-devil shouts as if in slow motion from Neptune's perspective. False apologies from the one who has slain his dear brother just seconds ago.
Picking up a round object that has rolled to his feet, Neptune raises it up high. An object such as this has proven very effective in this kind of battlefield.
As Neptune Vasilias takes aim to avenge his fallen brother, he is interrupted by a shout from another direction.
"LOOK OUT!" Another voice, this time coming from a blonde male causes him to turn just in time to see red cover Neptune's whole face.
Reeling from the sudden shock of the hit, Neptune's head snaps back and he falls to the floor in a disgraceful heap.
"I'M SORRY!" He hears from his assailant as the blonde runs past him and ducks together with his red-headed partner under a table.
He hears shouts as he lays powerless beside his brother.
"FOR THE GLORY OF ATLAS!" A green-eyed ginger shouts as she annihilates any opposition via judicious use of any kitchen ingredient she could get a hold off.
Yells and warcries answer back from every angle imaginable.
"BEACON STANDS TRIUMPHANT!"
"SHADE COVERS ALL!"
"JNPR NUMBER ONE!"
And there lies Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias, the only representatives from Haven, covered in tomatoes and the first casualties of Remnant's first ever Great Food War fought in the middle of Beacon's cafeteria.
"Sooo, welcome to Beacon."
"Shut up, Sun."
Friends.
For the longest time, Nora Valkyrie could count having only one friend who has stuck with her through thick and thin. Her own best friend, Lie Ren.
Recently though she has added more than one friend to her very short list. First is Pyrrha Nikos, her own sister from another mother. Then there's Jaune Arc, their Fearless Leader who completes the team.
Other than those two, there's even a whole team willing to hang around with them. Their very own sister team, Team RWBY.
What started as just one friend has now grown into many many more than just one. Gladness fills Nora's heart as she skips to breakfast with Fearless Leader after their very own workout session.
She takes a pause and tilts her head when she sees Team RWBY already sitting at The Table with Ren and Pyr-Pyr. Team RWBY sitting with them isn't that strange, it's how they're currently acting that is.
She sees Team RWBY awkwardly looking at each other and nudging a stiff Weiss Schnee as they all lay eyes on Fearless Leader.
Whatever it is, Nora could already feel that the atmosphere is tense as all eyes slowly begin to turn towards them. She could already see unfamiliar faces that are probably from different schools turning to study their potential competition as Weiss Schnee shakily starts to stand.
Nora being Nora, she decides to…remove the tension so to speak. How, you ask? By blowing things up that the tension gets buried in the confusion of chaos of course.
In this case, she does this by flipping a nearby Cardin's tray and spraying his soup all over his face before shouting a declaration that all teens have an ingrained awareness of.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Chaos starts around them but Nora could still see the people near THE TABLE backing away. She can't have that of course, so she adds another provocative cry.
"TEAM JNPR NUMBER 1!"
"Nora! What are you doing?!" Fearless leader screams as he ducks under flying utensils and hardened bread.
"Declaring we're the champions of course!"
"Oh that's it! Come here, you bi-oof!" Cardin starts only to be interrupted when Ren throws apples at his face.
"Thanks Renny!" She shouts to which Ren just nods as he grabs hardened leeks and brandishes them like daggers.
The chaos is now spreading faster but it needs more oomph in Nora's opinion, so she shouts one last declaration as she throws a pudding at Yang's hair.
"WE'RE JNPR AND WE'RE GONNA BEAT ALL YOUR ASSES! Beacon, Atlas, Shade, Haven. It doesn't matter where you're from! JNPR reigns supreme and I'm Queen of the CASTLE!"
"SA-LU-TATIO-" A familiar voice greets from the main entrance behind them before promptly being silenced by a watermelon thrown by Nora.
Just like that, Nora Valkyrie has started Remnant's first war since the Treaty of Vytal. The battle currently happening has representatives from all corners of the world. Even the Vytal Tournament doesn't have free-for-alls like this. This could just be the largest battle they will ever fight, even counting the festival. For some strange reason, she feels that she should call this Ragnarok.
Friends.
For Jaune Arc, friends just used to be his sisters back at Ansel. It's not like he didn't try making new friends, it's just that having multiple protective and beautiful sisters gave Jaune a rough time for making friends.
If the other kids weren't there to use the friendship with him to get to his sisters, it's his sisters stopping everyone else from getting too close to their only brother, or forcing others to play nice with him. Suffice to say, that kind of living situation grated on him.
It was only in Beacon that Jaune Arc could honestly say he has made real friends. Never before has he met anyone his age as supportive and as kind as his own Team.
Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren have helped him immensely even after telling them his darkest secret of forging his way into Beacon. They trust him and accept him as their friend and leader despite him having the lowest battle experience out of all of them.
In fact, he didn't just make friends. He even got a girlfriend! Pyrrha Nikos, his wonderful and beautiful partner who also turns out to be Remnant's top female athlete their age.
However, his sisters would probably have a seizure if they knew that Pyrrha Nikos had roped in another one of their friends as his other lover. Blake Belladonna, a more recent friend and newly turned lover of his. But that's a whole can of worms Jaune isn't willing to open up right now.
Other than his own team and Blake, there is one more person he would never ever forget. His first friend, Ruby Rose. Not only is she his first friend, but she is also his best friend that managed to connect him with her whole team. So much so that both their teams see each other as sister teams.
Sure, fighting Grimm together during Initiation was a nice way to introduce each other, but his and Ruby's friendship kept the interactions going.
He ate breakfast with his team and Ruby would be there ready to talk about X-ray and Vav as she dragged her own team to sit with them. They would play video games in the library and their teams would be there doing their own things.
Jaune could see that without those initial connections and interactions, Team RWBY and Team JNPR might have just been acquaintances who fought together. Friendly, but not as tightly connected as they are now.
The result of those times spent together for the other members of both teams is that they don't need Jaune and Ruby to hang out with each other anymore.
Blake and Pyrrha have their own recent things to talk about which still makes Jaune's heart do funny things at the thought of both those girls together. Nora and Yang have a bit of a silly chaotic rivalry going on focusing on Yang's puns and Nora's reactions to them. He even saw Ren share a recipe of his to Weiss once.
The point is that Team JNPR and Team RWBY have grown together. Trust and friendship have been built between their teams that Jaune hopes would continue even way past their graduation.
Yet it seems that trust and friendship is already being tested as they are currently being interrogated by Glynda Goodwitch.
"It was them! They did it! We did nothing wrong!" Ruby Rose shouts, pointing at him and the rest of his team as every single one of them kneels in front of a glaring Glynda Goodwitch, Headmaster Ozpin, and another man who is apparently the Headmaster and General of Atlas, but the most surprising though is Penny who stands just behind the General of Atlas while covered in.
Just like that, Jaune is reminded that trust and friendship are fickle things in the face of survival.
"It's not our fau-!" Nora yells to refute but is interrupted by Ren's hand automatically blocking it off and Jaune screaming out a reply of his own.
"We were training!"
Perhaps he should be worried that when faced with a situation he couldn't fight, his first response is to lie and bluff his way out.
All heads turn to look at him. His own team opens their eyes wide in shock. Team RWBY's jaws drop. Sun, who apparently just arrived with his own partner, looks at him in a mixture of shock and awe. While Penny stands a short distance away with a dark-skinned girl with teal hair and blue eyes looking at him appalled.
He can't blame any of them either. If he saw someone face a wrathful Glynda Goodwitch in the presence of two headmasters with a lie, he'd think them crazy. Even a team from Vacuo composed of three boys and one girl snorted at him in ridicule. Come to think of it though, that team looks familiar.
"Training, Mr. Arc? Are you sure you want to go with that?" Glynda Goodwitch asks with a raised eyebrow as Headmaster Ozpin looks at him amusedly and General Ironwood glowering sternly at him.
He gulps at the pressure pushing him down, yet he takes heart. He takes heart in the fact that his methods have never failed him before. He just hopes they don't fail him now.
"Yes Ma'am." Jaune replies resolutely, not willing his doubts and weakness peek through his poker face.
"Oh, then do tell us what kind of training did you do in the cafeteria?"
"We were training teamwork in the middle of a chaotic free-for-all just in case the Tournament becomes a last team standing wins type of game."
No hesitation. He delivered that with no hesitation. He would've been impressed with himself if he didn't just see Glynda Goodwitch glower intensely at him.
"And why, pray tell, does this training include broken glass windows, holes in the roof, and a crater in the middle of the cafeteria?! Tell me, Mr. Arc. Was that part of your training as well?!"
"Uhh, they were part of the training for adapting to a rapidly changing environment?" Jaune replies with a high-pitched voice as he finally realizes that Glynda Goodwitch is a different beast altogether compared to the people he has bluffed with.
He is saved by Headmaster Ozpin as the white-haired man laughs.
"This is not funny Ozpin!" Professor Goodwitch interjects.
"Ahhh yes, yes. It's just I haven't heard that kind of excuse for some time now." Headmaster Ozpin chuckles merrily to Jaune and the other students' shock.
"They're supposed to be defenders of the world, Ozpin." Professor Goodwitch sighs out and almost all of the students look shamefaced at that remark.
"And they will be. Let them be students still, they are still learning."
"Students they may be, Ozpin. They still need to be punished." General Ironwood interjects as he looks sternly at all of them.
Jaune has the distinct feeling that General Ironwood is focusing particularly on him when he was talking about punishment.
"Very well, James. If Teams JNPR and RWBY want to train so much, they will have their original detention with Professor Port extended by a week. They will assist him in capturing live Grimm after classes." Headmaster Ozpin sighs out to Jaune's dismay.
All of them glare at Jaune for that punishment. Even his girlfriend is staring disappointedly at him. He can't even complain because he's the one who said they wanted more training in the first place.
"Come now students, think of it as training in teamwork and restraint." Headmaster Ozpin remarks with a smirk at their reaction.
He could only groan at how his lie has backfired so badly as Headmaster Ozpin rubs it in to Jaune's own dismay.
"Meanwhile, I will leave the students involved from your school to you, James."
"As they should be. Be assured that they will learn from this, Ozpin."
Jaune sees Penny's head droop as the dark-skinned girl beside her nods solemnly at General Ironwood's chiding stare.
"Teams from Shade and Haven will stay to help Professor Goodwitch clean up the cafeteria before returning to the guest dorms."
"What? That's not fair! We didn't even start the fight." One of the guys from Vacuo complains loudly.
"That might be true Brawnz Ni, yet you and your team still participated. Consider this a lesson in restraint and knowing when not to fight." Glynda says, cowing any other opposition.
Huh, it's all coming back to Jaune now. That was the team he beat in a 4 vs 1 during the Vytal Tournament in his dream.
"Is this arrangement satisfactory to you, Glynda?"
"Yes it is, Teams RWBY and JNPR go and get changed so you may attend your morning classes."
Yang and Nora complain since there are still classes but Professor Goodwitch goes on.
"Teams from other schools do not need to attend today seeing as most of them have just arrived. You will have time to acclimate to Vale but you will all be eventually required to attend lessons until the end of semester. That would be all, dismissed."
"Well, that went well." Jaune remarks after gathering with his team and the rest of their friends. Not one second after that remark, he is tackled by an orange and green-blur together with Nora.
"Salutations!"
""PENNY!"" He and Nora greet back as the three of them find themselves in an impromptu group hug.
"It is very nice to see you again my frie-!" Penny starts but is interrupted by a stern voice.
"Penny, come." Two words. Two words were all General James Ironwood of Atlas needed to dampen Penny's mood.
Jaune sees Penny's shoulders droop as her expression changes from happy to sad in an instant. Jaune would have loved to say that he said something but that would be a lie. He stares frozen at General Ironwood's glaring eyes locked with his.
"Yes, sir." Penny replies forlornly as she separates from Jaune and Nora's embrace.
"Don't worry, Penny! We'll see you after classes!"
Thank Nora for being able to lift their spirits up as she successfully puts a smile on Penny's face.
"You will?!"
"Of course! That's a promise my ginger sister!"
Oh Gods, he takes it back. Nora and Penny together? The chaos would be unstoppable. Seems like he's not the only one who noticed because Jaune hears Ren choke on air at the thought of it.
"I've never had a sister before!" Penny gasps in surprise as she tries to move to embrace Nora again.
"Penny." Yet General Ironwood's stern reminder puts a stop to that, however it doesn't have the power to remove Penny's smile.
"Wow. What's his problem?" Sun unexpectedly pipes from behind him as the General leaves with Penny.
"Sun! You're here!" Jaune yells with a smile on his face as he turns around to look at his friend.
"Yeah, I know. You killed us." Sun replies with a flat voice as he gestures towards all the red on his shirt.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologizes with gusto from beside Ren as she helps him remove the bits of watermelon from Nora's hair.
"Nah, no worries. Besides, it was just tomatoes and it was fun. Anyway, I'd like you to meet Neptune. My partner from Haven." Sun waves it off with a good natured smile before introducing his friend.
"Ahh, nice to meet you. The name's Jaune Arc….Sorry for throwing tomatoes at you?" Jaune greets him with a sheepish smile and an apology, catching himself at the last second before he accidentally uses his go-to intro to another dude
"...Hi, Neptune Vasilias. Sun's been talking about you." The blue-haired guy says to Jaune with a flat voice.
"Nothing bad, I hope?" Jaune asks worriedly, he knows Sun promised to keep his secrets last weekend, but Jaune also understands sharing information with your own partner.
"Arc! What are you doing? We still have classes." Weiss yells from behind him as he sees Team RWBY already walking towards their dorm room.
He sees Blake too busy helping Yang get the bits of roof debris out of her hair to see him. And for some strange reason Ruby is avoiding his gaze. Before he could reply to Weiss however, Neptune steps past him to offer his hand to Weiss in introduction.
"The name's Neptune, Neptune Vasilias. Could I get your name Snow Angel?"
"O-oh? You don't know who I am?" Weiss asks confusedly, looking back and forth between the offered hand and the eyes of the man currently talking to her.
"It shames me to say that this is the first time I've seen anyone as beautiful as you. I'm sure I would have remembered you if we'd already met."
Jaune's eye twitches at Neptune's smooth answer to Weiss.
"O-oh. Weiss…My name is Weiss Schnee." Weiss takes the offered hand, surprised and embarrassed at Neptune's reply.
"Then it is my pleasure to meet you, Ms. Schnee." Unexpectedly, instead of being satisfied with a handshake, Neptune bends down to offer a light kiss on Weiss' knuckles.
"Q-quite." Weiss replies with a light blush on her face at Neptune's daring actions.
Silence engulfs the two of them as Weiss stares into Neptune's eyes. She doesn't notice Ruby gagging in disgust behind her and Jaune furrowing his brows tightly
"Weiss, come on, I thought you said we still have classes to get to?" Jaune interrupts, finally having enough of their staring contest.
"Y-yes! We do! I apologize Neptune, perhaps we should continue this later."
"I would love to."
As Jaune and his friends leave he sees Sun waving at him beside his partner and Jaune waves back half-heartedly as he and Neptune lock eyes.
"Not cool, dude." Sun speaks as he watches his new friends leave the cafeteria.
"What?" Neptune tilts his head in confusion.
"You lied to her. I've seen you watch her musical performances."
"Yeah, so?"
"Then why did you pretend not to know her?"
"Cause I wanted to be her friend and didn't want to come off as a fan?"
"Is that all?"
"What? I thought you told me to make more friends here."
"Just…be careful, Neptune."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything bad."
Before Sun could reply to that, they are interrupted by a voice from behind them.
"Hey! You two! Don't just stand there and help us!" Brawnz Ni shouts as Glynda Goodwitch leads them to clean up the mess of the Cafeteria.
"Coming! Name's Sun, Sun Wukong by the way. I'm from Vacuo too actually." As usual, Sun cheerily greets another stranger and tries to make friends.
For Neptune however, he gives one last look at Jaune Arc and Weiss Schnee as they hurriedly walk back to their dorm rooms to change.
Other than the food fight Neptune feels like his day is starting out alright.
For one Weiss Schnee, the day is not starting alright.
Why, you ask? Mainly because of her friends.
You heard that right. Friends, not sycophants nor yes-persons.
In Yang's own words, friends that would slap the silliness out of you.
And slap the silliness out of her they did. Just thinking about how delusional she was being sends a lance of shame through heart.
Jaune Arc being an evil mastermind bent on the conquest of Remnant by enslaving beautiful, powerful, and influential women?
Gods, what was she doing to think such a thing? Now she had to think of a way to apologize to the dolt. She blames this mess on probably being just tired stressing things out when Blake ran away and she got reminded of her assignment for Doctor Oobleck. And that's another thing, her assignment.
She never would have expected to learn a darker perspective of her family by jumping straight into this assignment. She's embarrassed to say that when Blake told her the truth last night, she whined and whimpered piteously in protest. Denying that her grandfather could be anyone else other than the perfect valiant warrior who was kind to her when she was young.
Her grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, someone who she has looked up to as the paragon of courage, honor, bravery, wit, and determination. He built the SDC from scratch by charging into the fray and leading the defenses of newly-formed mining towns. So yes, he was all of those things.
However he wasn't only those things. Nicholas Schnee was a ruthless businessman. One does not build up the SDC to such an extent in a single generation without exploiting others.
Nicholas Schnee apparently used the aftermath of the Faunus Rights Revolution as means to recruit cheap labor. During those times, outside of Menagerie, nobody wanted to hire any of the Faunus because of the lingering hatred between them.
Her grandfather took advantage of that. He promised them jobs, houses, and livelihood. He promised them towns and places of their own. The Faunus, fresh from their war, were understandably wary of course. But with limited options and flush from their victory, they had no choice but to eventually turn to him.
For a time, her grandfather did give them that. He took loans and formed frontier towns where his tenants could mine the Dust veins he discovered. Eventually though, slowly but surely, those towns became similar to slave camps and extracted unprecedented amounts of Dust. It might not have been the intention, but business and demand for Dust inevitably pushed his company to go into that direction.
The reason why nobody brought it up that the Faunus were already being discriminated against at the time? It's because he did the same things to humans. Nobody could cry discrimination when they're all being equally exploited.
The reason why nobody even thought of rebelling or fighting? The power of public relations and limited choices, the Kingdoms were still reeling from losing the war and Nicholas Schnee was a major pillar in keeping the global economy going.
Eventually though, escapes from the mining camps happened. These escapees managed to reach Menagerie and eventually the White Fang was born before her parents even married. That was also apparently how Blake knew the stories. The escapees told her father and her father told her once she was old enough.
According to Blake, the White Fang was very different then. They were more peaceful and used diplomatic means to push for the changes they wanted. Blake's father was even using diplomacy with Nicholas Schnee to reconcile their races. The way Weiss sees it, her grandfather wasn't evil. He was just pragmatic. That pragmatism made him become the businessman he was.
Weiss understands that during the aftermath of the Faunus Wars, economies were reeling, and governments were scrambling to adjust to the Faunus victory. Someone had to prop the economies up. Someone had to push businesses forward and create jobs for people, even if it had low pay at least there was some pay.
Her grandfather saw that and he had the stomach to go through it and come out of the other side with his family poised to become a titan in the financial world. As exploited as the Faunus were however, her grandfather did still uphold safety standards. Perhaps it was out of kindness or maybe he believed that any loss of personnel was a loss of productivity that was very detrimental to the company.
It was only when her father inherited the company that the safety standards became lax because he believed they were unneeded expenses. That policy made it easier for accidents to happen, and when accidents happen, people become angry. That's not even adding the apparently racist attitude her father's workers adopted. Thus, years pass and the current militant White Fang was born.
Thinking about it now, Weiss could actually conclude that the Schnees really did make their own enemies. Her grandfather didn't make them, but he certainly did plant the seeds which her own father watered with hate and callousness to make those seeds bloom into what they are today.
Her heart grows heavy at the fact that the enemies she always hated were enemies of their own making. Which is also why when Doctor Oobleck asked her for her output, she had nothing to show.
She'd take the pain of her teacher's disappointment over the shame of having to air out her grandfather's misdeeds in public. She could have submitted a censored version of the events, but Blake's disappointed face stops her. She couldn't do that to her friend. She couldn't continue to perpetuate the cycle of lies just to make her family look better. If she wanted to make the SDC better, she had to be better than her predecessors.
That decision led them to this current event now. Without her to contest Arc's assignment, he automatically won and instead of waiting for tomorrow for him to present, Doctor Oobleck had him present now.
She must admit that he presented a clear timeline of events on the reaction of the Faunus in the aftermath of their revolution. It was logical and concise but the content was something that anyone could have found using the net or the library. It was probably the result of Pyrrha's efforts instead of Arc.
However, Jaune's report on what the White Fang could have done better to solve their problems was certainly no textbook answer and was most likely his own brainchild.
"The problem with the early White Fang was that while they pushed for equality, there were no humans among them. How could they have pushed for true equality if their group was composed by just the Faunus? It would've been better if they recruited human members to show that they really wanted equality."
Such a simple solution. Yet Weiss could already see why it would have been hard to do at the time of the White Fang's formation.
"Yeah, right. Next thing we know you'd want us to sleep with animals. As if a self-respecting man would do that." Cardin Winchester interrupts with a mocking roll of his eyes as his lackeys nervously laugh with him.
Weiss' nose crunches at the racist's disgusting remark. It is people like those that stand against the path to true equality. She shudders to think that she might have been part of that group with her blind hate for the Faunus. Being counted in the same group as someone like Cardin Winchester sends a shiver down her spine.
Before Doctor Oobleck could get a handle on the unruly group however, Jaune interrupts with a shout of his own.
"They're not animals! They're wonderful, beautiful people that deserve the same rights as you and me." Jaune retorts hotly.
"And how do you know that? It's not like you could've even slept with one with how weak you are." Cardin sneers at Jaune and to everyone's surprise, instead of being angry, Jaune Arc stands there….with a blush on his face.
"...Holy shit…You did!"
Weiss could see Jaune blush in front of the class and he's surely not the only one. Their very own resident Cat Faunus blushes as she sits with her partner during every lesson. She can't blame her as Weiss could also feel a blush appearing on her cheeks.
"I-That's none of your business!"
"Holy shit! You really did sleep with an animal!"
"She's not an animal! She's smart, sexy, beautiful, kind, and strong enough to kick your ass!" Jaune yells out to Blake's own embarrassment.
It is, as Yang would say, the cat is out of the bag. People gasp, classmates mutter, Faunus students perk up, and Weiss could already see the gossip mill already turning.
It takes Jaune a moment to realize what he's said and Weiss Schnee sees him try to backtrack with a blushing face before being interrupted.
"That is quite enough students! Keep the crude talk outside of this classroom." Doctor Oobleck interrupts with a loud clap of his hands, finally getting control of his own classroom again.
Jaune just fumes hotly as Cardin still looks at him in shock.
"Regardless, thank you for your presentation Mr. Arc. You are quite correct that recruiting humans into the White Fang would have sent a better message, but the fact is it isn't only the humans who hated someone. The Faunus hated the humans back, creating a divide between the two races."
"But, did no one even try?" Jaune asks with sadness on his face.
"On the contrary, there were many attempts to bridge that divide by intermarrying with each other. Why, 7 years ago there were even some talks that the daughter of White Fang's founder would be engaged with the human son of a prominent family from Vale." Doctor Oobleck pipes up to everyone's shock, especially Blake's as Weiss could see her dropping her jaws in surprise.
"I-what? What happened with that attempt?" Jaune asks confusedly for all of them.
"It fell apart of course, the founder got usurped five years ago by the current leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan."
"O-oh." Jaune breathes a sigh of relief.
Oh indeed. Weiss was just as surprised as all of them that she forgot that Blake's father, the founder of the White Fang, was usurped. It's not something she usually forgets but the surprise overwhelmed her.
"However, it's not as if attempts to intermarry stopped there. There were still people who wanted peace and managed to fall in love with each other. Sadly in most cases however, the Faunus half had to defect from the White Fang to avoid being persecuted by their own people." Doctor Oobleck finishes sadly.
Defectors. Other than Blake, Weiss had never known a Faunus who defected from the White Fang. Where could those defectors be?
Cling! Cling! Cling!
"Hi. Welcome to "Tukson's Book Trade", home to every book under the sun! How can I help you?"
Two pairs of shoes step foot inside the bookshop.
A/N: Hello everyone! We are back! Life kicked my ass back at December what with having two jobs and getting sick right before Christmas but we are back! Like I said before, I would never leave Pineapple Jam. I will always come back to this fic. This is my first baby, after all. Anyways, enjoy the read and I hope you had a fun holiday season unlike me.
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