(Chapter 5)

(One Month Later, Atlas, October)

The office of James Ironwood was considered a sacred ground. The many duties that lie on the shoulders of the general kept him confined to the space for a large portion of his day. All students had seen the office's interior at least once in person, and all could attest to the office being a picture of excellence and tranquility.

Currently, the only sounds permeating the room was a satisfying sound that resembled something being put into place, then rearranged after a few moments, and a clock or timer that would be gently pat to restart its ticking. The gloved hand of the general reached out and though firm, gently wrapped his hands around a finely carved marble figure before, after a moment of deliberation, placing it in his desired locale.

He let his fingers linger on the piece for just a moment more, before letting go slowly and allowing his hand to fall upon an ornate desk clock next to the board. His opponent observed the board before he decided upon his course of action. His azure eyes narrowed by determination, he plucked his desired piece from its former resting place and tapped it into position on the board.

He was committed to his decision and let his fingertips retreat from his piece, and as he tilted his head slightly to look at the clock and reset the timer, his blonde locks bounced slightly. This back and forth had been going on for almost half an hour, and neither of the two had muttered a word since the game started.

"Check." The weathered voice of Ironwood cut out across the silence. The blonde observed the board and saw how the older had a target placed on his most essential piece and from where. Jaune whispered a swear internally, seeing that the end of the game likely grew near now that he would be forced to act as Ironwood either desired or anticipated.

Jaune castled his king piece and remaining rook, neither of which had moved since the beginning of the match. As the game sped up, both players finishing their turns faster and faster. Jaune's frown of frustration was on display for the world to see, as was Ironwoods smirk that was slowly ghosting onto his face.

Suddenly, Jaune saw that he had lured the Atlesian headmaster into a trap on the board, and let his own smirk peek through, earning of look of confusion from the general. Ironwood had moved a piece, a pawn, into the worst possible position, yet he didn't know it yet.

Jaune used a very uncommon chess move, the en passant, to take the general's freshly moved pawn and begin to attempt and wreak havoc on Ironwood's forces. The move earned a look of mild shock from the older man, not having expected such a situational method of retaliation.

Ironwood moved a piece to respond to the threat that was now in his home territory, then stopping the clock and ending his turn. As he did so however, Jaune moved one of the bishops from his side of the board that had been inactive for quite some time to be directly in front of a pawn from the center of the board. A sacrificial play to be certain, but one that Ironwood wouldn't fall for.

After Jaune stopped the clock, Ironwood immediately used on of his bishops to take Jaune's forgotten queen. Next turn the blonde's king would fall, or so the general thought. Upon doing so, the blonde smiled devilishly. He moved his bishop a space further. And his voice rang out with a joy Jaune couldn't keep contained.

"Checkmate." The general looked aghast, he observed the board to search for a possible method of escape. His king was in check by the teen's ignored sacrificial bishop. If the bishop was killed, there was a knight in position to take his king. Ironwood's king's only remaining escape route was also sealed by the blonde's rook that the king had castled with that had sneakily found its way to the essential piece's starting spot.

The older man looked on, before he let out a sigh and smiled, tipping over his king on the board.

"I'm impressed by your decisiveness. You win Jaune, good match young man." The words of the general broke the silence again as he reached his hand forward to congratulate the blonde. The blonde reached forward and met the general's hand with his own, unable to contain his grin as he did so. The blonde's expression of elation shifted to one of sheepishness, as he accepted the praise with reflection.

"Thank you headmaster, it was a difficult match. I just wish that I could've won a match sooner. But I learned a lot from this." The general nodded his head in approval of the younger man's drive to always strive for better, yet also know when he did something worthy of notice. Ironwood poured himself a cup of coffee and offered one to Jaune, who graciously accepted the offer.

As the blonde added sugar and cream to his coffee, the general began to inquire about his school life. "I've been watching the various freshman classes recordings. You've been improving at an impressive pace. Especially in combat class, climbing from the bottom rank to closing in on the middle to upper-half of the freshman students."

"I appreciate you saying so, but I didn't do anything on my own. If it wasn't for my teammates and team WICK, I'd be floundering at the bottom of the barrel trying to figure out how to get stronger." Ironwood just made a sound of thought as he sipped from his cup before he spoke again.

"By chance, did you ever play any strategy games against Ozpin? He happens to love them more than even I do." Since the first strategy game Jaune and the general played, they made a habit of playing some from of strategy game a daily procedure, unless one of them had a prior engagement. Chess, checkers, conquest, battle fleet, tactical risk and many more, Jaune had never won a single match against the older man, until today which broke his fifty-six straight loss streak.

"No sir, I never had the chance." The older man chuckled before responding.

"In all my years of knowing Oz and having had chances to test both strategies and wit against him, I can count on my hands the amount of times I've won." That notion sent a shiver down Jaune's spine. It took him countless times of testing different tactics and strategies to manage one win against the leader of the Atlesian military, how long would he have to toil and fail to win against the man who gave him a chance to be a huntsman before he could secure a win of his won?

At the same time, Ironwood was having similar thoughts of the younger man. From the first game they'd played, he'd been able to ascertain the potential that lie within the blonde teen. Every loss that the boy suffered was actually a hidden gift, fueling his growth further. He pushed the thoughts aside for another time as he tried to refocus the young team leader.

"Since you did best me today, I'll reward you with the greatest resource that any tactician can have; information. Would you like to hear it?"

"Y-Yes sir! Please, go ahead!" The blonde teen stammered out.

"This year, we are going to try implementing a concept for the freshman class that will continue until you all graduate from Atlas."

"Alright."

"Tell me Jaune, do you know the biggest problem that arises when two teams find themselves working together in the field?"

"…Personalities?" When the student answered, Ironwood leaned back into his seat and drank a bit more of his coffee and continued.

"Explain." At this, the blonde seemed to shift, not uncomfortably, but in trying to describe why he answered as he did.

"Well, I guess maybe 'personalities' fits the description, but maybe it would be more on target to say dynamics. Like, let's say for example our squad was sent to help another huntsman squad; our squad is rather well balanced, but three of us prefer short range combat, but the team we're being sent out to help all prefer long range combat and use high area damage weaponry. Our combat styles wouldn't mesh at all; if we go to engage, they can't use their weapons without possibly hitting us, and if they lay down fire, we won't be as effective, which would just hinder us both."

Ironwood smiled into his cup, impressed and slightly proud of his student's deduction. He motioned with his hand for Jaune to continue, who shrugged his shoulders before resuming his thought process.

"Besides that, there are tons of other factors that could affect multiple team efficiency. Relations between teams is probably the second biggest thing. Being able to trust that other team like you do your own and knowing how both how they think and fight."

"Excellent reasoning Jaune, and all correct. We already pair individual students as well as student pairs to form teams. So, as an experiment, we'll be pairing all the freshman teams together into squads." Now it was the blonde's turn to make a sound of thought, he sipped from his sweetened coffee and debated the idea of forming a squad with another team. It sounded like a lot of benefits with little downside, but he had to make sure.

"General, what exactly does forming a squad entail?" The older man rubbed his chin in thought before he answered.

"Well for starters, you and whoever the other team captain is will become co-leaders for your squad. Whether or not you and your squad mates do any teambuilding exercises is at your discretion but is certainly advised. Both squad halves can be sent out to missions around Atlas and Mantle at the same time, but if either team is sent out on an assignment out of the kingdom but still on the continent, the assigned team will have a graduated huntsman leading them, and other half of their squad must remain on standby at the academy in the event that the other team requests backup."

"What if there is a mission outside the continent of Solitas?"

"In the event that there is a mission on a different continent, the entirety of the squad will go and will be accompanied by at least one huntsman. Also, at least once a semester, you and your squad will be required to take an assignment together outside the kingdom. The huntsman that leads you will include observations about how your squad preformed and cooperated, which will influence your grade."

Jaune nodded his head in response. It was a lot of information to digest at once, but all interesting to the blonde. He finished off his cup of coffee and asked one last question to the headmaster.

"General, one last thing. How will squads be made? Will we get to form our own squads, or will we be paired together by the academy?"

"I will be creating the squads myself. In fact, I've already finished. Oh, and a couple last important details. If a squad in its entirety wishes to go on a mission together, they may. The other team doesn't have to stay back if they accompany each other. And if members of a squad that are on different teams wish to take a mission together, we will permit that as well, granted both team captains are in agreement." At this point, Jaune too had finished his coffee and was in the process of pouring himself another cup as the older man answered. The blonde knew it was a long shot, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Any chance you'd be willing to let me know who my team is paired with?" The general let a rare smug smirk slip as he drank his coffee.

"And ruin the surprise? I think not." Jaune sighed, having anticipated the declining of his request, but not the general's mirth. He thanked the general for another game and made his way back to his team's dorm.

The time read 18:27, and Jaune was at his usual lookout spot. For his personal physical training, he had started working out in the training center, but had found a much better way to train.

(Flashback-three weeks ago)

Jaune was alone at the training center, the time on the wall read 20:40. He had completed his workout routines and was now in front of a punching bag. Sweat cascaded down his face and arms as he threw punch after punch, weaving in occasional kicks, knee strikes, and elbow thrusts at the hanging punishment absorber.

He vaguely heard talking in the background but was focused into his routine and chose to ignore it. The training center was open 24/7, so while unusual for anyone to be here this late besides him, it wasn't impossible. He kept going, gradually increasing his pace.

"Good energy kid, but your form could use some work." Jaune jumped slightly and turned to his left to see a dark-skinned woman with black hair. She was rather tall, a few inches taller than himself, and had a muscular build. Realizing he hadn't responded to the unnamed woman, he picked up his side of the conversation as he panted.

"Yeah. I've been getting better with my weapon, but I don't want to let any of my skills fall behind the rest of what I can do."

"So, you're here, later and longer than anyone else in your class, working on your body and hand-to-hand."

"That about sums it up," The boy's expression went from one of exhaustion to one of happy determination before he spoke again, "I'm very grateful for getting an opportunity to come here and learn how to be a huntsman. I'm also very behind the rest of my class in just about everything, so I have to work harder than everyone else to earn my spot."

The large woman chuckled and put her hands on her hips. "Heh, I like your attitude kid. Name's Elm, what do they call you?"

"Jaune. No last name." Elm raised an eyebrow at that, but chose not to comment on it, instead grabbing his attention by changing the subject.

"Follow me to the ring kid, since you're already pretty worn out. I'll let you watch me square up against a training bot, maybe you'll learn something." And with that she walked off further into the building, Jaune trailing behind her with a tired grin.

(Present day)

Jaune halted himself in his reminiscing to check his clock again. 18:35. The person he was waiting for must have been running late, so he stayed in his spot on the rooftop watching for them.

Jaune truly was grateful to Elm and had learned a bit more about her. She had graduated from Atlas four years ago and was currently enlisted as a huntsman in the Atlesian military. She talked of her team briefly but didn't go into detail. He only saw her on days when she didn't have a mission, so it had been a few days since they saw each other.

Jaune's attention was focused when he saw the person he was waiting for on the streets below. Dark-skinned with greenish-black hair and a furry tail. Jaune had yet to formally meet the faunus he had been shadowing since he had first started running across Atlas during his morning exercises. Introducing yourself after borderline stalking someone for so long felt awkward.

The male canine faunus did some stretches before starting to jog down the sidewalks of the city. Jaune stealthily jumped down from the roof to an alley way below, putting up his hood before he jogged, albeit slower, behind the man. After a fifteen-minute jog, the man suddenly broke out into a full sprint, and cut down an alley, like he did every time Jaune managed to find him.

Jaune sped up as well, and when he turned down the alley the faunus cut into, he caught sight of the man flashily scaling a fence and rolling into a run after he hit the ground again. Jaune emulated him the best he could, which was much better than when he'd first started. The blonde constantly lost sight of the older man and/or fell on his face when he originally attempted to shadow the faunus.

Parkour and free running. This is what Jaune's mundane routine of jogging around Atlas had transformed into after once watching the man pass him up and preform multiple displays of acrobatic skills and experience. After that, Jaune spent a week trying to find where the man would start his run before he finally succeeded.

Today's run went on for fifteen minutes past the warm-up. Eventually, they reached a part of town near the academy and the man began his cooldown jog. Jaune was elated that he managed to fully follow the man for the first time today, and up ahead he saw the faunus slow to a walk and turn down an alleyway. Jaune stopped following the man and turned down a road to make his way back to the academy.

Jaune paused in front of a vending machine to get himself a drink and after he put in some change, debated on which beverage to purchase. After a moment of thought he decided, and as he moved his hand to select his drink, a voice rung out.

"Stay." Jaune's whole body froze, he could still think he noticed, but he wasn't even able to twitch a finger. A hand reached out past him and pressed the button he was reaching for, causing the drink to dispense out at the bottom of the machine.

A dark-skinned hand grabbed the drink from below and as the drink's cap was twisted off, Jaune felt himself regain the ability to move. He took a step back and turned to look at the owner of the mysterious voice, though he suspected he knew who the individual was.

The owner was the canine faunus he had been shadowing for many weeks now, looking curious, amused, but also slightly on guard.

"…Hey?" The blonde managed to lamely say. The faunus took a large draw from what would have been Jaune's drink, and letting out a laugh at the boy, he responded.

"So, this is what my stalker looks like?" The lighter-skinned teen quickly waved his hands in front of his face trying to clear away the misunderstanding.

"N-No no no, that wasn't what was going on, I swear!"

"Really? Then what would you call following someone every other day for weeks on end?" The blonde winced before responding.

"When you put it like that…it sounds really bad. Look, this is all my fault. Let me introduce myself, I'm Jaune." Suddenly the canine faunus became very interested.

"Wait, Jaune? That means you know Elm." The darker skinned man let loose a laugh at the situation he found himself in, while Jaune let loose a sigh of relief now that the tension was dispelled before questioning the greenish haired man.

"Yeah, I know Elm, she's been helping me with my in-gym workouts and hand to hand." At that statement, it was the faunus male's turn to wince.

"Ouch." The blonde just nodded his head in a solemn agreement before he spoke again.

"Is it safe to assume that you are either friends with her or a part of her team?"

"Yup! Name's Marrow, the newest member of the elite team that Elm is a part of, the Ace Ops!" The now identified Marrow exclaimed with no attempt to hide the pride in his voice or the joy that filled him, made apparent also by the uncontrollable wagging of his tail. Suddenly, a realization occurred to Jaune.

"Wait. Elm talked about me to you guys?" At this, Marrow couldn't prevent a snicker from escaping him as he responded.

"Yup, told us about this gold-hearted freshman with crappy C.Q.C. form, and how she mops the floor with you in the ring every time you train together."

Jaune deflated a bit but was happy he made a, at least in his opinion, rather decent first impression. Marrow noticed the slightly disappointed expression Jaune wore and spoke again. "Hey, be happy you're in the gym with Elm instead of Harriet. Harriet is our close quarters specialist, and even Elm rarely gets a win off her."

The blonde teen blanched before he turned back to the vending machine and paid for another drink, this time getting to enjoy the refreshing beverage as he gulped from the bottle. Marrow finished his drink off before tossing the empty container into the nearby trashcan and centering his attention back onto the blonde.

"Alrighty, now that the introductions are outta the way, why exactly have you been 'not stalking' me for so long?"

Jaune leaned against the wall and put the cap for his drink back on before looking Marrow in the eyes. "I was trying to learn how to do what you were doing today. The first time I ever saw you doing parkour, I was out on my evening run, and you flipped past me and did a ton of other cool tricks off, well, anything you wanted to. So, I decided I was going to follow you and try to copy you until I could parkour as well as you do."

The faunus in question puffed up his chest in pride as his tail continued to wag energetically. "I am pretty great huh?" Marrow let out a small smile before he leaned against the wall as well before clearing his throat and adopting a lecture like tone.

"Do you know the purpose of parkour/free running?" At this Jaune shook his head before the older man continued.

"The purpose of parkour is to take the most direct route to reach a destination possible while conserving energy and momentum. So, if you know the exact location of where you want to go, instead of having to waste time turning down roads and following traffic, you could scale buildings, fences, etc. All in order to minimalize moving in any direction but where you need too." The dark skinned faunus looked as if he was about to add on to what he said, but Jaune interjected before he could.

"And let me guess, all this at the benefit of looking cool while doing it?" The blonde wore a smirk that was met with Marrow's laugh. Once he steadied his breathing, he spoke again.

"That would be free running, but now you're starting to get it kid. And while a nice benefit of learning to move like this is looking cool, you can incorporate the acrobatics you use into you're fights. Making you look cool and move much more unpredictably." As Marrow finished speaking, he held a look that told the younger man that he was neither lying nor exaggerating the usefulness of parkour.

Jaune looked down at his own body and examined himself. Having never had any formal training, he lacked a definite build. He knew he would have to decide if wanted to be built for speed or power. If he focused on his speed, he wouldn't be able to hit as hard as he might need to for his team, but if he focused on his power, he might not be able to keep up with his team that seemed to be built around speed and finesse.

A hand landing on his shoulders stole from his wonderings. Jaune looked back to Marrow who wore a cheesy grin and had a thumbs up on his other hand.

"Look, you seem like an alright guy, so from now on, don't be a stranger. If you catch me during a run or wait for me where I start, just join me," the canine faunus' expression took on one of confidence as he continued, "IF you can keep up that is."

Jaune's expression shifted into one of determination at the challenge issued to him.

Another week passed before team JCKP found themselves seated in the auditorium along with the rest of their freshman peers. Team WICK was lost somewhere among the large crowd, but before any of the four teens could scope them out, Ironwood took the stage and began explaining the same squad mechanic that he informed Jaune of.

Knowing that there would likely not be any new information to what Jaune had been told, his team decided to make some light conversation from where they sat in the back of the large room.

"Hey guys." The improving leader spoke out to his friends, grabbing their attention.

"What's up Jaune?" The voice of Neon responded in a low tone, as to not interrupt any other shushed conversations, or worse, the general.

"We've been getting along great, but I was thinking of a good bonding idea for us, and I was hoping we might each spend a whole day with each other individually out of the Academy since we have our week of break coming up."

Penny looked positively radiant at the suggestion and quietly exclaimed to her friends. "That sounds like a wonderful idea Partner!" Flynt smiled and nodded his head, and Neon, seemingly infected by Penny's energy, shook her longtime friend and partner.

"…and now, I'll be announcing the squads. First, will team JCKP make their way to the stage." The four friends' heads snapped back to the headmaster from where he spoke on the stage, all slightly worried as he seemed to have picked them out of a particularly large crowd from their position in the back. One by one, the four rose and shuffled past the other freshman that were seated in the last row.

As they stood side by side on the stage, the gathered student populace sat quiet in suspense, all wanting to know who the first squad created would be. And after a moment of soaking in the anxious feelings bouncing around the room, Ironwood spoke once more.

"And their partner team. Will team WICK join us as well." As the sister team his friend oversaw made their way up to the stage, the blonde seemed surprised. He had quite a few thoughts running around inside his head, but decided to entertain them later. Seeing both teams standing next to each other, Ironwood called forward Jaune and Whitley.

"You two will be the co-leaders of your new squad. As such, you will have a bit more responsibilities than you did previously. If you see a squad mate struggling, help them. If you see an opportunity to better oneself, share it with your squad. And if you are out in the field, trust your squad with your life."

The two young leaders nodded to each other and shook hands as Ironwood gave them one last nod of the head and some parting words. "You're free to leave since you have your squad. And to all of you," This snatched the attention of the blonde's squad mates and team, all of them straightening their posture as they gave the general their full attention. "I expect great things." And with that he signaled that they were free to leave.

As the newly formed squad walked through the halls towards the dorm, Neon decided to start a whole new conversation around a topic still fresh in all their minds.

"Man! We are like, so lucky to all be on a squad together. We're going to be unstoppable!" The cat faunus managed to elicit a chuckle from her dark blue wearing squad mate.

"True. I am personally rather glad that your team is who we managed to get paired with." Kobalt spoke out in his deep voice with a small phantom of a smile tugging at his lips.

Jaune and Whitley, while plenty satisfied with their squad, were thinking of something else entirely. They shared a look before Whitley decided to gather the group's attention.

"I have no complaints about the squad arrangements. In fact, I believe that this is the best squad for us to have been paired with, but I find it odd." At this the squad of teens all stopped and gave their attention to the two leaders. Ivori tilted his head and decided to voice the general thought of the group.

"What do you mean Whit?" The boy in question took the nickname surprisingly well considering his upbringing, in that he seemed unfazed by it, before he answered.

"This whole squad system that was explained to us. The way they described it made it sound as if they were doing this differently. Jaune what are your thoughts?"

All eyes were on the blonde as they waited to hear his deduction, and after a few moments more of thinking, he voiced his reasoning. "Well I agree with Whitley. It seems kinda weird how they paired us. I expected for the higher ranked squads to be paired with lower ones. I know that method would probably hinder the stronger squad, but in the long run, it may also help the other team improve. The last thing I expected was to get paired with the other top ranked team."

At this, the group was understanding what the leaders of the newly formed squad were so confused about, as Whitley continued his line of thought.

"Exactly. I've been trying to ascertain why this was, but could only come up with three sensible reasons. First is that they paired us based on how our teams interact. Second, they may have paired us due to the admittedly lower skill levels of Jaune and I, intending for us to help each other climb higher. And third, the reason that makes the most sense, they paired us off to have their two strongest teams among the freshmen form a squad."

"Okay, the first two I understand, but you lost me on that third one chief." The ever-curious tone of Neon sung out, to which earned an explanation from her leader.

"Think about it guys, we're all here at this academy to become huntsmen and huntresses. So that raises the question; why this academy? Why not a different academy in a different nation? What is so good about Atlas Academy that should attract huntsmen prep school graduates?" As the tall blonde of team JCKP voiced the shared deduction with his squad, Kobalt raised a hand to his chin and looked off to the side while he thought aloud.

"So, we're not just a squad that's meant to lead by example and be the most successful, we're also meant to be good press for the academy. The headmaster is a rather shrewd man indeed." The stoic teen in blue only got nods of the head from his friends.

'You don't know the half of it.' Jaune could only comment mentally as he recalled many a game where he lost to the general's ulterior motives and strategies. His musing was cut short however, when Ivori decided to voice his opinions on everything speculated upon thus far.

"If all this is true, that means that we'll most likely be expected to stand out especially so during the Vytal Festival Tournament." All present could only nod, and Jaune's plan to deal with his former team imposed on his train of thought before he brushed it to the back of his mind.

After hearing her squad's pondering, Ciel decided to add her two cents into the conversation. "In any case, regardless of whether we're correct in our assumptions or not, does this truly change anything?"

As the dark-skinned girl said this, the group all gave her their attention. She merely cleared her throat and brushed a stray bang back into place before she resumed speaking.

"I don't know about any of you, but I'm not attending Atlas Academy with any intent less than being the best. I have that expectation for myself, for my partner, for my team," she paused and turned to the members of team JCKP before she continued. "and since we're all members of a squad now, I have that expectation for you as well. I know what we're all capable of, and I won't accept any effort less than our best." The punctual teen ended her monologue with a rare smile, and the group found it impossible to not mimic it themselves.

"Well, after a speech like that one, I think we're all on the same page. But, if we're made to be a show squad like Kobalt said, how are we supposed to show off?" Neon inquired to her friends. Flynt answered her question soon after with his own speculation.

"Probably gonna have us go on missions around Mantle and Atlas. Stuff that'll put us around common folk to try and earn their support, maybe even around kids so that more will wanna be huntsman like us, instead of corporate big wigs and such." Jaune nodded at the trumpeter's assessment before he decided to reinsert himself into the discussion at hand.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we even got missions outside Solitas. Atlas has bases around Remnant, so if there are any low risk missions on a different continent, we might get sent out for exposure."

As the blonde said that, Penny's eyes widened, and within a blink of an eye she breached his personal space, finding herself on the tips of her toes pressed up against him so that she could ensure his attention was solely on her as she asked her question.

"Really!? Do you really, really think we'll get a chance to visit abroad!?" She capped her outburst with a hopeful smile, but her face shifted to one of confusion as her partner's face was bright red and he was abnormally stiff. She heard snickers and turned her head around her slightly to see the various reactions of her friends. Neon and Flynt were laughing quietly, Whitley and Ivori only smiled and shook their heads slightly while Kobalt's hand met his forehead and Ciel pinched the bridge of her nose, though they were both wearing smiles.

She turned her attention back to Jaune and noticed that his temperature seemed to have risen, and immediately became concerned for his health.

"Partner, you seem distressed and it feels as though your temperature has risen. I sincerely hope you don't have a fever. Here, let me check." Before the tall blonde could react, she grabbed the sides of his head from her shorter height so that she could gently bring him down lower and pressed her forehead to his.

Once she did this, Kobalt sighed and took a few steps away from the group to get a drink from the vending machine left nearly unnoticed in the large corridor. Neon, feeling as though her leader had been tormented enough, chuckled softly to herself before pulling Penny away gently from her close proximity to the embarrassed blonde.

"I think he's fine Penny, you are crowding him a bit though." Penny realized her teammate was right, and her eyes widened, and began to apologize to her partner.

"Oh dear! Neon's right, I'm sorry Partner, I didn't mean-" But before she could begin to conduct a train of apologies, Neon cut her off with a wave of the hand.

"Don't worry about it Penny, Jaune just needs a second to cool down and he'll be fine, trust me." At this, Neon flashed a knowing and mischievous smirk to Jaune who seemed to shrink inside himself more than those around him thought possible. She turned her attention back to her fellow ginger who was now sporting a beaming smile.

"That's splendid! I was worried he might be getting sick," Penny looked confused again as she took a moment to think before she asked Neon another question. "but if he isn't sick, then while was his heart beating irregularly? And why was his body temperature felt above what is considered normal?" Suddenly, everyone focused their gaze on Jaune who now had his face buried in his hands. Neon laughed before she responded to her teammate.

"I'll tell you another time Penny. Say, why don't we go get something to eat, I'm starving." Penny nodded to the cat faunus and replied to her with a nod of her head as the two began walking towards the cafeteria. As Jaune stood there with the rest of his friends, he lowered his hands and looked to each of them, sporting an embarrassed blush on his face. Ciel and Whitley simply followed the two girls in walking to the cafeteria, patting jaune on the back and shoulder respectively as they passed him. Ivori flashed him a thumbs up, and Kobalt returned with a cold canned soda, tossing it to the blonde gently.

Jaune pressed the can to his forehead soothingly, nodding in appreciation to the blue clad brawler. Flynt hooked an arm around Jaune's shoulders and flashed him a smug grin as they too began to make their way to the cafeteria. However, there was one thought that all the members of the group were thinking, save Jaune and Penny.

'He's got it bad for her.'

Later that night, Jaune was staring at the ceiling from his bed, he could only hope that he and Whitley were able to catch up to their friends soon. He was also still wide awake so late at night after the event that transpired in the hallway corridor with Penny.

As he lay there, thoughts of the future, and friends, and his partner storming his mind, he noticed he was beginning to become unnaturally drowsy. He tried to fight it off but was failing spectacularly. He attempted to call out to his friends in the hopes of waking one of them, but as he tried to form the words, his eyelids felt so heavy it was getting hard to keep them open. His words were slurred and within seconds, unconsciousness claimed him.

(Meanwhile in Ironwood's Office)

The older man sat in his seat looking out over Atlas and let loose a sigh. Being a huntsman was a dangerous line of work, one that didn't promise a long life or safety to those who would walk its path. For those in charge of training future huntsman, the road only got more trying. They had to push their students to improve and give them tests to see who were cut out to be huntsman, and who weren't.

He looked over to the computer screen on his desk and saw that the sleeping agent was reported to have been deployed through the ventilation system in the first-year dorms. By now, it had most definitely taken effect and all the huntsman hopefuls were sound asleep. He gave the order for the students to be rounded up and brought to the bull head docks along with their weapons and supplies.

He truly hoped that in death his sins as a leader would be forgiven, because the first real test for the freshman class of Atlas would begin tomorrow, roughly 100 clicks away from the edge of Mantle, on the opposite side of one of the mountains outside the city. He could only pray that his students had been trained sufficiently enough that they would survive their first test.

(A/N)

Hey everyone, didn't forget about y'all, but with everything going on that's forcing us to stay inside and away from school/work/gatherings/etc, I've had a hard time getting this chapter finished. But I'm proud to say that we are finally getting into the first bit of the story that will focus on combat and trials by fire. Also I enjoyed writing that little fluff bit near the end of this chapter.

Two last little bits before I get to writing the next chapter. First, I changed my profile pic to what Whitley looks like in this story, so if you wanted a visual aid, just go check out my profile pic. Second, thanks to everyone who voted on the poll so far, and I'm gonna go ahead and ask again that if you have the time after reading this chapter, please go check out the poll in my bio, and leave a vote so I know what I should look into possibly exploring for you all to read.

Stay healthy, stay inside, stay safe,

B.J.H.