Ch. 39 Partners in crime
When the Atlasian style ship landed in Vale, Jaune was the first one to run out to locate the nearest trash can.
Despite the embarrassing situation he was proud of himself. While he did forget to take his medication, with Ruby's help he was able to stay mostly calm and avoid emptying the contents of his stomach for the entire duration of the flight. The landing shook him up some, thus his current predicament, but it was still one of the better flights he experienced while off of his medication.
While Ren and Nora were busy unloading their bags and looking after Zwei, Ruby actually followed up on what she was doing the whole flight and made sure he was ok. She pulled him away from the smelly trash can and made him sit on the floor, while she rubbed circles on his back and talked to him, taking his mind away from his nausea.
"Mister Arc, are you alright?" inquired Winter.
"Just motion sickness, I'll be alright. Could do with washing out the taste from my mouth and maybe some mouthwash though."
"We'll prioritise signing into the hotel then. There'll be a bathroom available there."
"Thank you. And I'm sorry for forgetting my medication."
"While that is an oversight I'd rather you avoided in the future, let it be known that I appreciate that you managed to avoid soiling my ship."
A short walk from their landing spot later Jaune was able to wash out his mouth in the hotel lobby's bathroom. A look in the bathroom mirror confirmed that he no longer looked as pale, so after splashing some more cold water on his face and drying off with some paper towels he exited the bathroom and was immediately met with an argument.
Ruby stood opposite Winter with Zwei in her arms and Ren and Nora behind her, and Jaune could only hope it was about something relatively minor.
"Nuh uh. That just won't work."
"Miss Rose, I've booked the rooms up in advance and it simply isn't feasible to change it now. With the festival coming up all other rooms are booked."
The receptionist that stood behind the desk just subtly nodded, both confirming the specialist's words yet trying to avoid getting dragged into an argument between huntsmen.
"Oh, the rooms themselves are fine as is, I guess. It's the way you split our team. Ren is just about the only person on Remnant who can manage to wake Nora up without getting hurt or restrained in her bed. The obvious solution is Ren sharing a room with her and me sharing one with Jaune."
"What you're proposing is indecent, I cannot…"
"What is indecent about this? Do I have to remind you that the four of us share a single room at Beacon? How is that any less indecent than letting us pair up according to partners rather than gender."
"Miss Rose, I understand you're a bit younger but…"
That made Ruby angry. Not so much the jab at her age, she was used to that and it was true that she was a bit younger than the rest of them. No, what made her angry was the insinuation that Jaune would hurt her. And while the specialist had no way of knowing of their relationship that meant nothing right now.
"I seriously hope you're not trying to say Jaune would do anything indecent to me against my will. I trust Jaune with my life, specialist Schnee."
Ruby grit her teeth together as she spoke her name. She was practically growling at the older woman in front of her, eliciting a similar reaction from Zwei.
"And I trust Ren with mine!" chimed in Nora, poorly concealed venom underlying her otherwise cheerful voice..
Jaune was about to join the conversation, but Ren beat him to the punch.
"With all due respect specialist, if what you were insinuating was the case, then the problem would have made itself apparent long before now. Nora and I have been travelling together for most of our lives and trust each other explicitly. As for Jaune and Ruby, despite Ruby being younger than us, she is not only emancipated as a huntress in training, but also our team leader. While you may be responsible for us in terms of our mission, I believe which bed we choose to sleep on isn't something you get to choose for us." Ren spoke with complete calm in his voice, though the way his body shifted to grayscale spoke volumes of the emotions he was suppressing with his semblance.
Winter pinched the bridge of her nose. She suspected this would end up being the case after going through some of Penny's reports but that didn't mean she had to agree with the outcome.
"I suppose you're right, this isn't my decision. Very well, but let it be known that I disagree with the arrangement and you decided this on your own."
She then grabbed her keycard off the counter and started leaving.
"We'll start the investigation in the evening. I expect you to be ready and waiting here at 1800 hours. Do as you will until then."
Soon after Winter left, Nora and Ruby grabbed their respective keycards from the counter as well, thanking the receptionist. Nora then dragged Ren away, presumably to explore their room.
Jaune decided to apologise to the receptionist for the disturbance, but he just offered a knowing smile when Ruby tugged on Jaune's sleeve. Jaune just sighed and picked up both his and Ruby's luggage.
"Enjoy your stay." waved the receptionist when they left.
A few flights of stairs later they caught up with the other pair just as Nora opened their door and with a satisfied grin dragged them both inside.
Left alone with Jaune in the hallway, Ruby just shrugged it off and opened their own room.
"I'm going to brush my teeth. I can still taste the journey."
"Sure, I'm gonna unpack."
While Jaune dropped the bags in the entryway and entered the bathroom, Ruby continued inside the room proper. It wasn't all that big, only about the size of their dorm room at Beacon, but considering it would be just the two of them and Zwei sleeping here, it was actually quite spacious.
There was just one thing that was a bit out of place. Or rather the fact that there was only one was the issue. The sight of the single king size bed made Ruby's face heat up at the implication. Then she realised she could have ended up sharing that bed with Nora and while the ginger girl was one of the sweetest people Ruby had ever met, she really didn't trust a sleeping Nora not to turn her into an involuntary hug pillow.
She was reminded of the night they spent in Jaune's old room above the smithy in Velia. On one hand, it could be argued that it was circumstances that had made the decision for her again. Though on the other hand she argued with the Atlesian specialist in charge of them in order to be in the same room as Jaune so in her mind that counted as making this happen by her own will.
As she stood there, Zwei took the opportunity to free himself from her grasp and make his own sleeping arrangements. First he jumped on the bed and secured one of the two pillows. Then he dragged the pillow onto the floor and under the desk by the opposite wall from the bed. As the corgi made himself comfortable he looked towards Ruby with a satisfied expression before deciding it was time to take a nap.
When Jaune exited the bathroom, he found Ruby sitting on the only bed in the room. He stopped in his tracks, his mind racing. It wouldn't be the first time they slept in the same bed, but with the concerns Winter brought up a few minutes ago, he couldn't help but be extra nervous.
Despite this, when Ruby patted a spot next to her he obliged and sat down next to her. As both of them fought the blush creeping up their faces however, Jaune noticed what happened to the other pillow and couldn't help but laugh.
"So, I see our chaperone made his own bed. I just hope you won't make me sleep in the dog house, I don't think I'd fit under that desk."
This made Ruby chuckle, dispelling the awkward atmosphere in the room.
=O=O=O=
"You're late."
"No we're not?! There's still like five minutes left."
"And I expect you to be here at least ten minutes in advance. Keep that in mind next time."
Jaune wasn't entirely convinced that this wasn't just petty revenge for the room argument, but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut. Unlike him, Ruby couldn't help but grumble about how stupid it was and how Winter should have told them to be here ten minutes early if she wanted them to be here early.
Luckily for all, Winter either didn't hear that or at least pretended like she didn't. Either way, she led them out of the hotel into the streets. The investigation has started and it was up to the four students and a dog to keep up with the Atlasian specialist.
The night went by slowly and while they had plenty of clues to follow up on, courtesy of both the VPD and the Atlas military, most of them went nowhere. An abandoned warehouse here, a suspicious shop there, an obviously racist red herring followed by a murdered faunus bookshop owner, all interwoven with what could be called patrolling if they did more than visit every dust shop on their route from one location to another.
Eventually they returned back to the hotel, but by that point the sun was already up and they all retired to their room to sleep.
Though the teenagers woke up in time for lunch, it wasn't because they were sufficiently rested, but because of hunger. One lacklustre lunch from a noodle stand later they received a message from Winter to once again be ready at 1800 hours.
Their afternoon was spent lounging around in Ruby and Jaune's room. Nora had quickly joined Zwei in taking a nap on the floor while Ren made some tea. Jaune was busying himself with drawing again. A small notepad and a pencil were things easily acquired, since he didn't actually remember to pack his own.
Ruby spent her time working on Crescent Rose, lovingly disassembling, checking and reassembling every subassembly of the complex weapon. Jaune caught himself staring at her more often than not. They were both beautiful in his eyes.
When evening came they were once again out in the city, following the same modus operandi form the previous night. Unfortunately the similarities didn't end there, much like the night prior they returned to the hotel along with daybreak and again they had nothing to show for it.
The preparations for the third night out went along a little differently since specialist Schnee actually let them be involved in planning and going through the reports. Not that it changed much. Though much better informed about what they would be doing, it changed nothing about the fact that it was just more of the same.
=O=O=O=
When Winter picked up the emergency alert on her scroll, she was almost certain it would be unrelated to her investigation. Miraculously though it wasn't, it was about as close as one could get to an actual sighting of Roman Torchwick as possible while not being that.
No, the alert was about a sighting of Adam Taurus and that was enough for Winter to order team RNJR to immediately make their way there.
They were first to arrive at the scene. Despite the VPD's best effort the shortage of manpower meant that it would take time to get a response team on site.
One of the first things they noticed was that the store was devoid of dust, despite the fact that Taurus and his White Fang cohorts barely had any on them.
Either some of the White Fang had already escaped, or far more likely, there wasn't much dust left in the store in the first place.
"Why are you doing this!? The faunus families need that dust! I sell it to them at cost so they can stock up for winter! They'll freeze because of you!"
Jaune couldn't help but notice that the covering shopkeeper, held at gunpoint by the terrorists, was a faunus himself. Some kind of wolf or fox judging by the bushy brown tail protruding from his lower back.
"There's going to be other things to worry about then, I can promise you that." replied Taurus.
"Though it seems we have company, and it's a Schnee to boot. What an honour."
"Adam Taurus. You're under arrest!"
Taurus just smirked and charged Winter with speed that nearly matched that of Ruby. His Mistrali style blade met Winter's sabre with great force. The resulting exchange of blows was a battle of speed and skill that pushed Winter on the defensive.
"Nora! Take out the Fang! Ren, support her! Jaune, we'll support Winter!" Ruby took on the leading role the moment it became obvious that Winter wouldn't be giving any orders while engaging Adam.
Ruby took aim and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out forcing Adam to deflect the bullet with his blade, providing a much needed opportunity for Winter to push the advantage.
At the same time though an explosion rang out just behind Ruby, causing her to turn around.
"Nice shot Red!" Yelled Torchwick from the surrounding rooftops. The fire dust explosion was meant for her, but instead of hitting her in the back it was deflected by Jaune.
Jaune remained unbothered despite taking the brunt of the heat. Compared to the constant heat of the forge the fire dust was gone before it could affect him beyond some aura loss.
"Ruby, launch me up!"
There was no hesitation from Ruby. She immediately wound up for a swing with the now unfolded form of her warscythe. She swung and pumped her aura to increase the momentum behind the swing while Jaune ran into the swing, jumping and pushing off the moving scythe with enough force to stop it in its tracks, using the momentum like a springboard.
Roman's eyes widened. He was only there to pull the bullheaded White Fang leader out of trouble, but instead he met not only the girl in red that almost caught him before but also her team. So obviously the plan was to keep distance and run away if they tried to climb up.
As the blonde swordsman flew through the air however, Roman could only mutter "Well shit…" before being forced to block the black blade with Melodic Cudgel, his beloved cane flare gun slash grappling hook.
He could hear more gunshots ring out on the street below, but since they weren't aimed at him he couldn't care less. What he did care about was the fact that he was being pushed back by the sheer force of the barrage of sword swings.
Yeah, he could guard, deflect and parry all the blows so far but his arms were already feeling it. He needed to get some distance.
Several exchanged blows later Jaune found himself staring down the barrel of Melodic Cudgel. Unfortunately for Roman, his situation wasn't much better as he himself was staring down the barrel of Ignis Manus.
Triggers were pulled and fire erupted from both weapons, forcing both combatants to take a step back. When the smoke cleared Torchwick's concerned expression was gone, replaced by a murderous smirk.
This time Jaune found himself on the defensive, deflecting a barrage of blows he could barely keep up with. Torchwick was fighting very differently from before, it was almost as if Jaune's eyes were playing tricks on him, with the weapon in front of him often changing direction in the last split second.
In a desperate bid to make an opening Jaune lowered his stance and intentionally let the cane strike slide down his roof guard, opening the redhead's face to be struck by the hand that held Atra Aurora.
Of course no swordsman would ever go for such a desperate atack, because it meant letting go of his sword, but that was no problem to Jaune, he had plenty of other blades to fall back on before needing to reveal his semblance.
He could see the criminal's eyes widen as the hidden blade of Occultus Ferrum shot out from his gauntlet. But instead of the expected spark of aura he was met with the sound of breaking glass.
The criminal that now stood before him wasn't Roman Torchwick. The short woman in front of him was Neo Politan, Roman's lesser known accomplice.
"He's gone isn't he…"
Instead of an answer he received a smirk in return, swiftly followed by a stab with an umbrella. Jaune took a step back to avoid it only to nearly get skewered by the estoc like blade that shot out of the tip.
Jaune's eyes widened. Not because of the imminent danger, but because of the umbrella in front of him. He just couldn't help but immediately think about how useful it would be to always have an umbrella stored within his semblance.
"I think I'm gonna borrow that idea. Speaking of borrowing."
Instead of continuing as he had before Jaune decided to take a book from Mercury's book and attacked Neo with his legs, catching her off guard. Despite the surprise Neo easily guarded from the kick aimed at the side of her head, coming face to face with Jaune's red and white sneakers.
Jaune couldn't help but smirk as he managed to get her with the same move twice in one fight. As the blade of Cultri Pedum shot out from the tip of his foot this time it produced the expected effect of sparking against protective aura.
Unknown to Jaune, in that moment Neo pretty much mirrored his previous thought process with a simple "I want those" going through her mind, quickly followed by a decision to leave before any more surprises reared their head.
But though she managed to push Jaune off balance, since he still wasn't entirely used to fighting with his feet, there was still one more surprise she would need to contend with.
Neo managed to make enough distance to jump off the opposite side of the roof, away from the dust shop robbery. As she opened her umbrella mid jump, partially to slow down and partially to turn around and give her opponent one last taunting smirk, she was met by a sight of the blonde performing a roundhouse kick while far out of reach. Her confusion was short lived however as a strong gust of wind not only disturbed her glide down, but pushed her away in a direction she couldn't control.
To Jaune it seemed like his adversary flew up several stories and then suddenly disappeared.
=O=O=O=
"What do we have here? The kids gave you a run for your dust, huh."
Roman spun around to meet the gaze of his pursuer.
"Oh for… How many of you are there? First the Schnee then the kids, what's next!?"
"Oh relax, would you? I'm not exactly working with them to capture you."
Qrow leaned against a chimney as he took a long swig from his flask.
"Well that's new, the poe-poe are my bread and butter but I haven't had a huntsman after my life. Oh wait, I've had one for months!"
"Oh, someone I know?"
"Doubt it. She's my employer… well kinda, I don't exactly get paid if you get my drift."
"Well, what's the story there? This all doesn't seem like your MO."
"Of course it isn't! My crimes used to be works of art! I'm rather unsatisfied with thís last gig. She has me working with ANIMALS! Do you even know how many times they almost blew themselves up?! I want to get off of Mister Bones' wild ride!"
Roman threw his hands in the air in exasperation. He only now realised how utterly desperate he must be right now to vent his grievances to the guy probably here to arrest him.
"Seems were on the same page, I don't suppose you'd help me out with that one?"
"I'd like to keep living if you don't mind. Crossing that bitch is a life sentence. And not the one where you get three meals a day."
"What's the plan then?"
"Lie, cheat and survive! Like I always did…"
"And your little partner in crime that's aiming to stab me in the neck?"
As he said that the glass shattered and Neo went for the kill, only to be blocked by Harbinger. He easily swatted the bladed umbrella from the short girl's hands.
"As I said, I'm not here to fight you. Not today anyway."
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
Personally, I like to imagine both Neo and Jaune comming out of that fight thinking something along the lines of "Damnit that could have gone better... Also, I need to get me a sword umbrella/ a pair of knife shoes." respectively.
Also, since Neo was blown away by strong wind once don't expect that to surprise her again...
On an unrelated note I was looking at the shiping chart because I was playing aroung with the idea of the Snowbird ship and found out that QrowXIronwood is called Wood Pecker which somehow makes Qrow calling him Irondick back in Ch.29 even funnier. Just in case you haven't realised my sense of humor is broken...
By the way, if my math is correct, with this chapter we passed the 100k words mark on this fic. Though admitedly around 6000 words are just author's notes.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch.40 Snow white shackles