Disclaimer: See prologue.
Chapter 3:
The next day.
Jaune's first day at Beacon officially began as he woke up early this morning, with Beacon's grounds already warmed by the rays of dawn. He took the time to stretch himself after the refreshing night of sleep he had, then he sat up and let out a content sigh while looking around the dorm room. His eyes hovered over the still sleeping figures of his teammates, and a proud smile instantly appeared on his face as he remembered what they all managed to accomplish the previous day.
'My team… And to think that I was even made their leader!" He thought with a wistful smile. 'I sometimes dreamed of it but I never thought it would actually happen…'
With a last content sigh he rose from his bed, made it, and after gathering his brand new uniform made his way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Once he was done with all of his morning ablutions, he exited the bathroom and proceeded to wake up his teammates, which led to some endearing early morning antics from the ginger of the team.
Eventually, after they were all dressed and ready to go, they left their dorm room and went to get breakfast.
In Beacon's Dining Hall…
"Man I'm so hyped by the first class!" Exclaimed Nora while she pumped her arms up, the stack of pancakes she had pierced on a fork precariously balancing on top of each other dangerously flapping around at her abrupt movements.
Team JNPR were seated around the table eating their respective breakfasts, Nora and Ren on one side with Pyrrha and Jaune on the other.
"I hear you," answered Pyrrha, polishing the last of her fruit crumble at a sedate pace. "Professor Port is a very much renowned Huntsman, I look forward to take part in his teachings."
"Indeed." Added Ren, as sipped on a smoothie. "Even all the way from the more uncharted parts of Mistral he has quite a reputation…"
'As expected from Beacon Academy, they really take the best of the best, be they the students or the teachers themselves… Quite the elite school.' Thought Jaune as he munched on a piece of toast topped with ricotta cheese and honey. 'And I'm in!' He added as an afterthoughts with a smile.
Smile which didn't escape his partner's attention.
"Jaune?" She asked pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm?" He made as he swallowed down his toast. "What's up?"
"What have got you being all smile like that if it's not too indiscreet?" She asked with a tentative smile.
"Nah it's okay," he waved off with a friendly smile in return, "I'm just thinking about how happy I am to be at Beacon of all the academies present worldwide, especially with such an awesome team. Eheh might be too cheesy maybe?"
This made his teammates either coo or warmly smile at him.
"No don't worry it isn't too cheesy Jaune, I also think the same." She answered with a bright smile.
"Hear hear!" Exclaimed Nora, raising her glass of juice spilling some all over.
"So do I." Said Ren with a more sedate tone yet you could easily hear the pride in his voice and see the way how his eyes lit up.
They merrily finished their breakfast and headed out of the Dining Room.
On their way Jaune idly remarked a odd thing.
'Huh, now that I think about it we didn't see Team RWBY…' He thought as he walked. 'I hope for them they haven't overslept. Oh well…' Then he shrugged it off and went his way.
In Professor Port's class.
After their breakfast it appeared that Team RWBY had indeed overslept going by the way how they had rushed into the classroom disheveled, fact that Nora gleefully remarked to the displeasure of the most fashionable members of the all girls team, nonetheless Jaune and his team had entered their first class of the day, and indeed of their first year, the Grimm Studies class hosted by Professor Peter Port, renowned Huntsman of his craft.
Jaune had heard quite a few stories about this Huntsman, especially about his long lived career, a most rare feat concidering the many occupational hazards that comes with the territory of Remnant's most dangerous profession, and he was very much looking forward to learn from him. Keyword was. Because just mere minutes into the class his excitement quickly died an ugly death.
'That's a joke right? He's pulling our legs right? Please tell me it's some kind of hazing or something like that..!' He thought as he watched the portly professor slightly waddling around the front of the classroom.
To his disappointment the teachings methods of Professor Port basically consisted in him telling the students stories of his illustrious past in the field during his life-long career as a Huntsman. Now this wouldn't outright be an issue however the stories bewildered, in the bad sense of the term, Jaune and his peers with their contents and the numerous colorful ways how Port handled the Grimm each and every time.
'I mean, all I get from this is that Beowolves are especially susceptible to being hit behind their-'
Oh.
"Oh…" He said aloud faintly garnering the passive attention of those around him before blinking as he realized he hadn't used his inside voice, and he blinked again when he finally grasped what the professor was spewing after the good part of half an hour, a cold sensation of dreadful comprehension washing over his mind. 'So that's what he's trying to convey… But that's completely counterintuitive!' He managed to repress a very sudden urge to face-palm himself. 'Why couldn't he just come up and outright tell us- He's doing it on purpose…' He deadpanned. 'That guy either loves the sound of his voice or he's a troll…' Jaune thought, his respect for the professor now on a thin edge.
Which wouldn't be helped with the portly professor's actions later on.
For after regaling is audience with the outlandish tales of his youth, the professor decided that it was finally time to enervate his students by appealing to their prides.
"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"
He asked to the half-asleep or uncaring students after a buildup often seen in one-man-shows, which so far could describe his entire teaching methods.
"I do!"
"Fearless leader absolutely does!"
Exclaimed both Weiss and Nora respectively. At this Weiss's eyes first went to Nora, who had an unapologetic smile on her face, then to Jaune who had the courtesy to look at least apologetic at his teammates antics on her behalf. But Professor Port who picked up from this fully intended to milk this opportunity for all it was worth, his love for a grand spectacle truly knew no bounds. But he lived and breathed for entertainment!
"Ohohoh! Well, this is unexpected! What says you Mister Arc, are you willing to back up your teammates claims? After all, it just wouldn't do for a leader to disappoint the expectations of those looking up to him, mmh..?" Professor Port said with a tilt of his head and quite a bushy eyebrow raised, with a mischievous grin cleverly hidden behind his formidable mustache.
Jaune could only look at the professor with a deadpan at the blatant manipulation. But with a look at the hopeful face of Nora, who looked at him with glimmering hopeful eyes and her fists excitingly clenched at her chest, he sighed and answered with a shrug.
"Why not…" He said with a roll of his eyes.
"Fantastic! Sadly I only have the one Grimm…" He began to Jaune's growing anticipation at those words, though even if the portly professor was aware of it he wouldn't have cared much anyway, after all, the show must go on! "Hmm… Ohoh! What do you two say about showing the class what an unexpected cooperation between two hunters looks like!"
At this Jaune looked at Weiss and she at him.
"I mean, if you're game I don't have anything against it…" He said with a shrug.
"Well… Alright, then." She accepted, not unhappy about the arrangement.
"Capital! I'll let you both get yourselves geared up while I prepare our little friend here."
As he said this he stepped up to a bust of himself, apparently made out of gold, and flipped the bust's head backwards, revealing a hidden button embedded in the neck of the most blatant symbol of narcissism that Jaune ever saw, and he had access through the Unlimited Blade Works to many weapons that were specifically designed to either appeal to their wielders, or to stroke the ego of some of History's most narcissists Heroes, namely some king of a city long past called Uruk, so that was saying something. Though in retrospect that maybe wasn't the best exemple…
Anyhow, after activating the button, a portion of the floor gave way to let an object rise through the cleverly hidden trapdoor.
It was a cage, and within it was without any doubts, a live Grimm.
After having looked at the cage in surprise then at each other in bewilderment then with resolution, they both headed to the Locker Room to change, and after a moment they both came back to the classroom dressed in their respective outfits.
For some, it was the first time they had a close look at Jaune's outfit and, suffice to say, to the few more heroically inclined he cut quite the figure.
"Very well!" He said as he walked towards the cage, his weapon in his hand. "Step forward, and face your opponent!"
The respective teams of the two challengers where fast to show their support.
"Show them fearless leader!" Shouted Nora with a huge grin while waving wildly at him, as Ren contented himself by sending him a supporting nod.
"Goooo, Weiss!" Said Yang.
"Fight well!" Picked up Blake as she waved a small flag saying "RWBY".
"I'm rooting for you Jaune!" Pyrrha told him with her hands held to her chest as she sent him a warm smile.
"Yeah Weiss, represent Teeeeam RWBY!" Exclaimed the aforementioned team's leader.
While the Magecraft user was clearly welcoming his team's support by sending them a warm and cheerful wave, it would seem the heiress wasn't that thankful of the support shown to her.
"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" She said as she lowered her sword and looked at her team leader.
The sudden outburst startled Jaune who looked at her with a raised eyebrow, his waving hand frozen in the air. Yet the one the most affected by the outburst was Ruby, who looked rather contrite at the reprimand sent by her partner and awkwardly tried to placate her.
"Oh, um… Sorry…" She said with a sheepish look while slightly folding on herself with her two fingers awkwardly tapping each other, the sight hadn't escaped the Red Reaper's big sister who with frowning eyes looked squarely at the heiress.
Professor Port, who wasn't as oblivious than what a majority of Beacon's students thought, slightly frowned behind his bushy eyebrows at the most unsavory sight. And while he still kept on with the show he made sure to register the moment to a corner of his mind.
Meanwhile Jaune had his own opinions on the matter. He wasn't liking the way how things were going between his first good friend at Beacon and the frosty heiress.
'She's being unfair…' He thought with a displeased frown as he glanced at his temporary partner from the corner of his eyes. 'That's not a way to act with anyone…'
Though his judgmental thoughts were interrupted by the professor's calling.
"Allllright!" He exclaimed as he was now standing next to the cage and readied his weapon. "Let the match… Begin!" He added with showmanship as he hefted his weapon and broke through the lock that kept the Grimm prisoner within.
And taking advantage of its newfound freedom the Grimm, which was revealed to be a Boarbatusk, quickly burst out of it like a pig out of hell. The porcine creature looked wildly around until its baleful eyes settled on the nearest targets within its proximity, namely Weiss and Jaune.
The two weren't idling around as they waited for the Boarbatusk to reveal itself, they had their weapons out and had readied themselves for the battle ahead.
Raising his shield and flaring his Aura up, while preparing to circulate his Od throughout his Magic Circuits, Jaune got in position in front of Weiss who had herself readied what his Structural Analysis told him to be, her Multi Action Dust Rapier, or otherwise known as a MADR named Myrtenaster.
"I'll keep its attention on me while you strike?" He asked as he tried to not let his opinion of her influence his professionalism.
"This works for me…" She answered with a businesslike voice.
He nodded and banged on his shield, instantly gaining the Boarbatusk's attention which made it charge at him with a pig-like demonic squeal.
When the Grimm impacted the shield's face Jaune made it redirect the kinetic energy to the Boarbatusk, making it fly backwards and allowing Weiss to do a counterstrike by sending a beam of Hard-light Dust at it.
The Grimm squealed in pain and anger at the hit and got back on its feet. It then distanced itself from the duo, studying them with an uncanny intelligence in its baleful eyes.
"Ha-ha!" Chortled the professor. "Wasn't expecting that, were you?"
"Hang in there, Weiss!" Encouraged Ruby.
"Make it fly higher Jaune-Jaune!" Added Nora which made her team leader shook his head and smile in good humor.
"Alright, here's what I-"
But before he could even finish his sentence Weiss had already dashed towards the Boarbatusk, leaving him startled but for a moment at her actions.
'Alright do your thing on your own no problem…' He inwardly grumbled as he followed behind her.
However as she got close to it in a straight dash with the tip of her blade pointed right at its skull, all she managed to do was to trap her Myrtenaster's blade in the beast's tusks. Not wanting to be parted with her weapon by the beast's trashing she hanged on to its hilt, but the Boarbatusk tossed her around as she struggled to free her rapier back.
"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Guffawed Professor Port.
"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby said as she tried to encourage her partner.
But this unfortunately distracted Weiss enough that, when she turned her head away from the Boarbatusk to glare at Ruby, the beast took advantage of her focus being elsewhere to violently turn its head, which ripped the sword from her grip in the process. And as Myrtenaster landed far away from its wielder she was knocked back by the creature's tusks.
"Oh-ho!" Exclaimed the professor. "Now what will you do without your weapon?"
"She could start to actually get on the cooperating part of this exercise…" Grumbled Jaune.
This surprised Weiss who looked up just in time to see Jaune standing between her and the Boarbatusk which was charging towards her, but without showing much reaction to the incoming Grimm Jaune merely stabbed Crocea Mors into the floor, letting a literal wave of ice to wash forward and entrap the beast within an icy shell stopping it in its tracks. This gave Weiss plenty of time to rush back to her weapon and with a slide toward it picked it up in her hand.
"Works better with a bit of cooperation isn't..?" He said dryly with his back to her.
This made her flush as she was ashamed by her previous actions. And her increasing amount of frustration at her situation wasn't helped by Ruby's next advice.
"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"
But she couldn't finish her sentence for Weiss instantly turned upon her with an ugly snarl.
"Stop telling me what to do!"
Ruby looked hurt at Weiss' rebuttal. At this point, Jaune's brotherly instincts nurtured by years of taking care of his siblings, had much difficulties of being repressed.
"Weiss!" He shouted, catching her's and the class's attention. "Focus on our fight…" He darkly told her with an eye briefly aimed on her before he went back to the Grimm. If she'd be asked later on, she would absolutely try to deny that she was intimidated by his almost burning sapphire eyes. Then he glanced back at her again but this time his glare had noticeably lessened. "Want to give it the coup de grace or should I?" He asked while tilting his head to the beast which was currently trying to shake itself loose from its icy coffin.
Finally reminded her of their task, she merely power walked to the Grimm with all the remaining dignity she could muster, and while she let out a frustrated breath through her nose, Weiss drove the tip of her blade into the Boarbatusk's stomach, making it squeal out in pain then fell silent, the creature's corpse a few instants later then began to dissipate afterwards leaving behind a negative of its shape in the ice.
"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress and Huntsman-in-training!" Exclaimed Professor Port as Weiss and Jaune stood up at attention before him. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and… Stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"
As the seated students rose from their desks and began to head out of the classroom, Weiss sent a glare at both Ruby and Jaune, though with more heat to the former, and turned away, walking hurriedly to the exit past her classmates and the rest of her teammates.
Jaune stayed in his position watching her retreating back, with a slight frown of his own, until she disappeared from his sights. With a sigh and a shake of his head he then walked toward his waiting team and the other three girls of Team RWBY.
"Sheesh, what's with her?" He asked rhetorically as he looked at each of his peers.
The remaining members of Team RWBY left behind could only look at each other with the same question echoing through their minds. And as they left the classroom proper and started to walk in the corridors, Ruby's downcast look as she ran after her partner made Jaune want to do something, while he could possibly worsen the conflict, his heart yearned to help. Throughout the years of learning Magecraft he had the opportunity, through Shirou's Reality Marble, to see the History of many leaders by way of of their Noble Phantasms and by seeing how they lead their people to war, victory or not, he had learned he felt precious lessons.
So his mind made he began to walk forward.
"You guys go ahead, there's something I'd like to try." He told his team.
"Are you sure Jaune?" Pyrrha called out to him, she couldn't help but to worry.
He briefly stopped in his steps, seemingly in thought for but an instant, and then looked back at her, determination shining through his eyes.
"It's something I feel like I should be doing." He answered with a nod as he turned back and walked off.
Eventually as he made his way down the corridor he reached the two partners, however as he got closer he realized that because of his hesitation he only could hear the tail end of the conversation.
And as Weiss stalked away with anger powering her steps he noticed Ruby was left on her lonesome looking downcast at the ground, her fists clenched at the folds of her skirt. This sight more than anything made him take the final steps toward her.
"Hey, Ruby." He softly called out.
Her sadness was forgotten for but a moment by the surprise of him hailing her.
"Hey, Jaune…" She weakly answered.
"So… I've about heard what she told you." This made her flinch, her teeth worrying her lips in shame. "How about we go for a walk?" He warmly offered her, then his experience dealing with his siblings gave him an idea to sweeten the deal. "I'll even throw in Crocea, I know how much you wanted to have a closer look." He finished with a wink.
She appeared to concider his offer and even in her current state of mind the chance to check out Crocea Mors was too good to pass up.
"Alright…" She agreed with a light nod of her head.
Thus they headed outside the building and walked on Beacon's grounds for a moment until they eventually found a bench. They took a seat and Jaune unbuckled his sheath, offering it to Ruby who excitedly took hold of it, her mood lifting slightly as her finger ran from pommel to guard, her digits tracing the various runes she could see speckling its surface, a small part of her couldn't help but to wonder what their significations were despite the angst her partner's words had caused her. He let her have a minute to gather her thoughts, and after a moment had passed with her still having not said anything, he drew a breath to speak but she finally opened up.
"Is Weiss right? Do you think I'm not a good leader? That Ozpin made a mistake?"
She definitely wasn't expecting the snort that followed her questions.
"Nope." He merely stated instantly without having to think about it. The direct answer clearly caught her by surprise going by how her fingers stopped still atop Crocea's shield. "That girl basically grew like a princess, but the kind who fights tooth and nail to take her fate within her own hands and does not take no for granted."
He thought back on the history of her weapon, Myrtenaster, and through it the story of her life. In some ways he could empathize with her concidering the glimpses he got of her home life.
"So I wouldn't put much thought in what she told you. She must have come to Beacon with lots of expectations, a few I'm sure being made the leader of her own team with an amazing partner who could reflect her standing such as Pyrrha, suffice to say she mustn't have concidered being made the partner of a girl younger than her." This comment made her flinch. "Don't sweat it too much," he waved off, "you're younger than us by two years, that's a fact not a criticism. Rather if anything that's more an accomplishment to be proud of than to feel ashamed about."
At this she seemed both to preen and to fold on herself with embarrassment, kind of an odd sight in his opinion and to his amusement.
"And I don't think you're a bad leader, frankly it's only been a day, two if you really want to count yesterday's Initiation and even then we were literally thrown into the deep end, it's just too soon to make such an assumption." He shook his head at that foolish idea. "But I don't think you've been made team leader on a whim. Which brings me to Ozpin. I don't think a Huntsman of renown such as him and the headmaster of Remnant's premier Huntsman academy would make such a mistake. Don't get me wrong, he's as much human as any of us and thus prone to our failings, but I'm certain this is not the case here. You're a skilled Huntress, Ruby. A prodigy who more than earned her place here. Back at the Initiation you were just amazing in how you took down that Nevermore, especially in how you coordinated the girls back then, you managed to get three different young women with as many different backgrounds and opposing fighting styles to work together in defeating an Elder Grimm. If that's not the mark of a great leader then I don't know what it is…" He saw how at first Ruby blushed at the amount of compliments he lavished on her, then as he kept on taking she began to seriously ponder his words, and he decided to wrap this up. "At the end of the day you need to give yourself, and especially Weiss, time."
They passed the next few minutes in a comfortable silence, with Ruby left to think about all that Jaune just told her while said young man hoped his words had reached her heart.
Eventually Ruby turned back to him, the light of a newfound determination brightly shining in her silver eyes.
"Thank you." She began. "You're right I shouldn't let what she told me get to me. I'll show her that I can be a great team leader, the best there is!" She sent him a bright smile which made her appear very cute in his eyes. After handing back his Mystic Code she gave him a brief hug which caught him unawares then she got off the bench in a leap. She took a running start back to the dorms and after thanking him again she waved at him and with a burst of her Semblance went on her way, leaving rose petals behind her for all proof of her presence.
As he had returned her wave he was left sitting alone on the bench with a wistful smile on his face, feeling proud in accomplishing this good deed. He knew then that he was a step closer in achieving his dream, of becoming a hero.
'I hope you'd be proud of me Shirou…'
The aspiring hero eventually then in turn left to get back to his team, unaware that it all happened under the eyes of Ozpin who had come to witness the moment by pure happenstance, sipping at his drink all along.
"You are an interesting enigma Mister Arc, I look forward to see what else you'll do in the future…" He said mysteriously as he went his own way.
The following days.
Fortunately for Jaune and everyone involved, the situation with Ruby and Weiss resolved itself naturally, the two young women had hashed out their differences by going past their previous hardships, willing to move on and in doing so managed to forge a bond of friendship that slowly but surely strengthened with time.
At this moment in time Jaune faced a hardship of his own as he currently stood on a stage decked in his gear, facing one of his fellow first year. The both of them were watched by an audience consisting of their classmates, seated on bleachers overseeing the stage, and by Professor Goodwitch who acted as a referee to the sparing match Jaune and his present opponent were selected to participate in.
Today was the first time that Jaune was called to participate in a match, conversely the rest of his classmates already had their turns, and thus there he stood faced against a certain Cardin Winchester who was himself decked into an armor but wielded a flanged mace instead of a sword.
Professor Goodwitch was currently in the midst of explaining the rules of this match, which Jaune payed half attention to as he was finishing contemplating which strategy to use against the mace wielder.
'-so in the end speed is going to be key in this match, won't be much of a problem though I best watch out for that mace, my Structural Analysis is formal there is Fire Dust within it…' He thought while standing tall with confidence and his arms crossed.
The professor asked the both of them if they understood the rules of the match she had listed, which they nodded in affirmation. At this she vacated the stage to its edge and readied her Scroll tablet.
"Students at the ready."
Jaune uncrossed his arms and unsheathed his sword while deploying its sheath into its shield form, all the while shifting his weight on the balls of his feet, and took a fairly loose stance that allowed him to move with bursts of speed. Cardin on his part held his mace before him shoulders squared, knees bent ready to launch himself at Jaune, with a mean glare sent at the hidden Magecraft user.
The Winchester scion had actually quite a bit of issues with Jaune as in the following days since the Initiation Cardin quickly began to show an ugly side of his personality. The ginger haired young man was often seen harassing his fellow classmates and even outright bullying the Faunus population of Beacon's students, and Jaune, being the aspiring hero that he was, couldn't of course let such blatant signs of wrongdoings happen before him without doing anything. So each time he was the witness of such distasteful acts, Jaune intervened by getting himself between the would-be tyrant and his targets. Gaining his ire in the process. However to the bully's disappointment, Jaune wasn't like one of his usual targets, the knight always effortlessly rebuffed the man-child every time he tried to assert any form of dominance on him, to the increased frustration of Cardin who couldn't find any excuse to physically strike back without taking any kind of blame, however today he felt quite the perverse joy when he thought he'll finally have the opportunity to display his superiority, and the best thing about this is that it'll be all above board he thought with a gleeful and threatening grin.
'Not gonna lie I look forward to bring him down a few notches,' thought Jaune as he noticed the grin on his opponent's face, 'he's been an arrogant prick since the beginning of the school year…'
A chime could be heard, it was the green light signal that the match had began, and Jaune instantly went after the mace wielder.
This startled Cardin who hefted his mace in an attempt to parry whatever Jaune would be trying to do.
However to his surprise Jaune hadn't planned to strike at him from the front but rather in the back by strafing to Cardin's sides, and then did a run by while striking at the back of Cardin's unarmed knees, which made the mace wielder stumble forward.
Jaune was quick to capitalize on his opponent's unbalance and slashed at Cardin's back with quick yet precise strikes onto it that sent the bulkier young man crashing down on the ground with a great impact sound.
And as he was about to follow up on the assault, Jaune felt the tell-tale signs of elemental energy coming from the Fire Dust embedded into the flanged mace's head and made a hasty retreat from Cardin's vicinity, evading right on time the burst of fire the Winchester scion had tried to blast him with in a desperate attempt to make his assailant back off.
'Phew, thanks the Root I've seen that coming… But if he wants to play with fire so badly who am I to disappoint!' He thought as he channeled Od into his blade's fire runes and sent a crescent of fire right at Cardin who, with wide startled eyes, scrambled to get on his feet at the sight and flung himself out of the crescent's way with a gasp as he felt the heat of the attack graze his back.
"Haha! Return to sender!" Jaune heard Yang shout.
But Jaune wasn't about to let up as he yet again channeled his Od, but to the lightning runes this time, and sent a continuous bolt of electricity at the armored mace wielder, who with his armor was as good as a living lightning rod as any, hitting him dead center screaming in pain. And while Cardin's Aura prevented him from being outright cooked alive, it still decreased to reach below the red limit, which sounded the end of match bell.
Upon hearing the bell Jaune instantly stopped the stream of lightning and backed off from Cardin altogether. As he saw the twitching form of his opponent and the spasms on his face he couldn't help but to frown and felt some concern.
'I wonder if I was too hard on him right now…'
His worries were very soon to be alleviated.
"You bastard!" Cardin began with clenched teeth as he forced himself to look at Jaune and to speak through the lingering pangs of pain. "You're a coward! Ya hear me Arc!? A coward!"
"Enough Mister Winchester." Professor Goodwitch said as she stepped in between them and scolded the, in many ways, sore looser. "Winner by Aura depletion, Jaune Arc."
She then went on the various ways either of them could improve.
"Mister Arc, while your Dust manipulation is on par with professionals in the field, continuously channeling Dust does consumes Aura at a terrible rate and-" But then as she was in the process of looking down at her Scroll tablet she cut herself short. "It… It would seem that you have more Aura then I concidered. Still, I would advise you to vary your style, it wouldn't do that you become too predictable now would it..?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes ma'am." He curtly nodded.
Then she turned toward the defeated trainee and offered him constructive criticism that the Winchester scion obviously listened to with nary a care to her hire, then sharply announced with a snap the end of class, dismissing all but one of the students who all quickly rose from their seats and exited the room. And while Professor Goodwitch told Cardin to stay behind, Jaune was as quick to make his way to the Locker Room for a proper shower and then to change, afterwards he rejoined his team who had waited for him then they eventually met with the girls of RWBY as they were headed to the Dining Room for lunch.
A couple of moments later…
Jaune was having lunch with his team and their sister team of RWBY. In the course of days interacting with one another they all had deepened their friendship some more than the others, and the group of friends were currently discussing the events and classes of the previous days in peace.
And it would seem that the resident heiress decided to initiate a conversation with the hidden Magecraft user, something that to this day still surprised a majority of their group given Weiss's infamous attitude toward Jaune.
"So, Arc…" She began, getting his attention as he was about to take a sip of his drink, and seeing his questioning look she continued. "I was meaning to ask you, how are you so well proficient with Dust? You barely expand any of your Aura unlike me… How do you manage to have such an excellent level of control with it, at least compared to the average person..?"
These questions made him blink as he considered her words.
'Woah, even when she compliments someone she manages to not make it sound like it…' He thought as he took a sip to buy some time. Eventually he put down his drink and cleared his throat, as he racked his brain to come up with a at least half-convincing answer. "Well… I guess I just… Focus..?" He half-answered half-asked lamely.
This made her raise a delicately well manicured and unimpressed eyebrow at his less than confident answer.
"Are you asking or stating?" She said dryly winning her a few blinks from the male blond of the group.
"…Stating..?" Surprisingly her eyebrow went even higher. "Stating. Definitely stating." He enthusiastically nodded.
This made her make a noncommittal grunt.
"Just focus? Nothing else? I cannot just believe that it is all there is to it. I myself have studied Dust basically all my life since I could barely walk, and in all my years I've never witnessed such… Propensity with Dust manipulations such as what you displayed at the Initiation or in Combat Class. They are almost on par with mine, and I am the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." She finished with an almost- scratch that, with a definite amount of preening.
"I can almost see her head doubling in size…" Yang stage whispered to her sister and her partner who respectively let out a nervous giggle and could only shake her head with a sigh at their common white haired teammates' inflated ego.
In the meantime Jaune was left literally scratching his head at Weiss's questions.
"Erm… I don't know what you want me to say… I just visualise what I want the Dust to do with my Aura and it happens." He shrugged.
This made her frown and cross her arms under her bust while bringing a hand to her chin.
"Do you mean that you use your imagination on the Dust? That is highly unconventional. On my part I focus my willpower through my Aura on the Dust as it is widely and generally taught and it responds accordingly. Albeit the effect are less practical and more utilitarian in nature…" Her eyes then focused on him with lazer-like intensity. "Could it be a Semblance?" Jaune shook his head negatively earning him another noncommittal grunt from her. However she was fast to move on. "Well anyways… If you ever find yourself willing to exchange notes do not hesitate to do so."
"Sure." He trailed off, with what he hoped was a convincing smile. 'Not that I'm about to up and tell you I'm basically using magic to control the elements-' But anything else he was going to think about was dropped when he heard a cry of pain from behind him.
As he turned alerted by the characteristic sound of pain and anguish, what he saw made his blood freeze from the sight before him before almost instantly turning into burning anger, he could feel the various swords he had inherited aligned with righteous justice and vengeance almost begging to be unsheathed to right the wrong happening before him. Cardin Winchester was manhandling a Faunus student by pulling on their Faunus characteristics, precisely their rabbit ears, or in other words Jaune was the witness of a blatant act of bullying compounded with racism. And he wasn't about to let that happen before him.
He wasn't the only one who saw the ugly spectacle, for the rest of his team and RWBY had their own reactions to the blatant bullying.
"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him…" Pyrrha said.
"You're not the only one…" Blake added as she stared at the bully with daggers in her eyes.
Yang looked on the disheartening spectacle with sad eyes, her head leaning on her hand.
"It must be hard to be a Faunus." She said
But for Jaune what they said barely reached him for he had almost unconsciously already stood up, his legs carrying him to the Faunus student and the ginger haired bully.
"Eh one sec, where's Jaune going?" Asked Ruby the only one who noticed his movements.
This startled the group and especially Pyrrha who realized where he was walking towards.
"Jaune..?" She called out, and only the worry clearly present in her voice managed to reach him through the haze of his wrath.
"Don't worry Pyr, I won't be long…" He ominously answered without looking back at her.
"Scary…" Nora and Yang said together.
Deciding to no longer pay any attention to his friends and just focus on what unfolded before him, Jaune power walked toward Cardin and took hold of the wrist that pulled on the bunny Faunus ears, and while making sure to Reinforce his grip with a discreet spell along with a dash of Aura, he twisted the arm behind the bully's back in an armlock. This of course got a reaction out of the bully.
"Aaargh..! Fucking hell Arc that hurts! Let go of me!" Cardin cried as he reflexively loosed his grip on the Faunus' ears, his own Aura quick at work in shielding him from the damages caused by Jaune's steel-like hold.
"Not so pleasant when it happens to you now is it…"
"Let go of me that was just for fun!" This only made Jaune increase the pressure on his grip, and if one were to pay attention they'd heard the characteristic sound of strained bones groaning, nearing their breaking limit.
"By all that's good it takes me all I have to not throttle you right now…" Jaune growled, his mouth in a thunderous scowl.
"What do you want from me?!"
"For starters that you apologize to the girl right there…"
"What!? C'mon Arc that-" But he quickly changed tone when a stretching pain in his shoulder appeared. "Alright! Alright! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
At this Jaune let go of him, Cardin being quick to cradle his lancinating arm backdashed with an ugly snarl on his face.
"The hell is wrong with you!"
"What's wrong with me? You're joking right? You were bullying the girl you know that, right?"
"I ain't bullying anyone I was just taming an animal…" He said back with a sneer, this made a majority number of people in the Dining Hall gasp at the blatantly racist sentence, while the Faunus girl behind him drew a shaky breath.
This made Jaune even madder and it took all his self control to not send a hail of Gandr at the sorry exemple of a human being before him.
"Get lost Cardin…" Growled Jaune as he stood protectively before the Faunus student.
"You think you're hot stuff, eh Arc?" The bully growled back. "You've been a torn in my side since the beginning of the year! No more!" He shouted as he cocked his intact arm back, a fist tightly formed ready to fly.
Jaune saw the hit and readied his Aura, while preparing to strike back, but before the fist could even impact on Jaune's face Cardin was stopped short by a characteristically authoritarian voice with a dash of supernatural.
"Children!"
As Cardin flinched at the sound with his fist stopped mere inches from his target, surrounded by a purple glow, he instinctively turned toward the source his heart missing a beat.
"M-miss Goodwitch?"
"What do you think are you doing Mister Winchester!? Mister Arc!?" She asked as she took in the scene before her, her eyes narrowing when they landed on the Faunus girl nursing her ears who winced as she did so.
"W-w-"
But before Cardin could even begin Jaune interrupted him.
"Merely stopping a blatant act of bullying compounded with outright racism." He truthfully answered as he eased his body in a relaxed position.
"He twisted my arm!" He exclaimed.
"After you pulled on this girl's cute rabbit ears!" Shouted back Nora.
As he looked back Jaune could see that the rest of his team, as well as their sister team of RWBY, had left their table to join him.
Professor Goodwitch narrowed her eyes even more at that and looked around the Dining Room at the other students gathered inside the building.
"Is this true students?"
At that she had various versions of confirmations and looked back at Cardin with a deeper frown and eyes filled with a cold fury.
"You will follow me to the Headmaster's office Mister Winchester." Which made the bully flinch as he knew he was in deep troubles if the Headmaster of Beacon Academy himself was going to be involved. Then she turned to Jaune. "As with you Mister Arc, while I cannot condone a student taking such matters in his own hands without contacting a member of the faculty," this made Jaune set his face into a neutral expression to attempt to hide his disappointment, while the rest of his team and RWBY where ready to support his case, but they where stopped by the raised finger she aimed at them, "I can however acknowledge that you wouldn't have much to time to do so with the situation as it was." This made him and the rest of JNPR and RWBY relax. "However please attempt to contact a member of the faculty before doing anything else am I clear?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Crystal clear ma'am." Jaune answered with a sharp nod of his head.
Goodwitch gave a curt nod in return and turned back toward her wayward student would could only look at the scene gobsmacked.
"That's all!?" He exclaimed. "He only get a slap on the wrist and I-"
"Enough Mister Winchester!" She interrupted him with a glare. "Do not make this any worse for you… Follow me, in silence."
She ordered him with a clipped voice as she indicated the exit with a tilt of her head, releasing him from the vice of her Semblance, waiting for him to move on before stepping after him.
A few moments later they were both gone and everybody let out a breath they didn't know they held in relief.
"It's high time he gets punished for his more than distasteful behavior." Said Weiss.
"If he only gets punished that is…" Responded Blake with contempt.
"What do you mean Blakey?" Asked Yang concerned about her partner's grimier than usual mood. "He'll obviously get his hide handed over to him if the Headmaster is involved."
"He's a Winchester…" She barely snarled. "He could get away with it…"
"Are you talking about corruption?" Asked Weiss. "I do not believe that Headmaster Ozpin would debase himself doing something like that."
"No, not Ozpin." Blake was quick to rectify. "But his family would…"
"You are talking about the patriarch of the Winchester family aren't you?" Pyrrha asked out of the blue with spite.
This caught Jaune's attention and made him worried.
"Pyr?" He asked searching her eyes with his.
"He made a few offers to my father at a party, when I was touring Vale a few years ago for a partnership with some company, a Valean company, which meant that I had to make the trip myself. Turns out that Mister Winchester senior was one major shareholders and was thus amongst the invited. He… Made a few unsavory comments about me, to my father's face at that! But honestly compared to what you can find back in Mistral he wasn't by far the worst."
"So that's why you weren't opposed to take him and his team alone!" Exclaimed Nora. "I knew I saw you smiling when Miss Goodwitch proposed the fight! See Renny?! I totally was right!"
"Yes Nora, I shouldn't have doubted you…" Said Ren with that smile he reserved only to her.
"But then," began Ruby as she stood by while fidgeting with her hands, "how do you guys think he could have any influence on the Headmaster?"
"The Winchesters are an old Valean family, they have contacts with the Council…" Answered a soft accented voice.
Surprising everyone involved in the conversation so far, the answer didn't came from anyone in the group of friends, but rather the Faunus girl that was the bullying target who was stood by them since the beginning of the discussion.
Her input had Weiss raising an eyebrow at her.
"Do you mean that he could pull on his contacts within the Council to put pressure on the Headmaster? Huh, that wouldn't terribly be outside the realm of possibilities. After all Ozpin does answer to them, quite devious all things considered."
"Now you see why I'm doubtful he'll get more besides a detention…"
"If it's a detention with Miss G he'll at least be in a world of hurt." Smirked Yang while crossing her arms behind her head.
"That's not enough." Snapped Blake with heat surprising Yang enough to make her uncross her arms.
Jaune seeing how the situation could degenerate decided to intervene.
"We'll have to trust the Headmaster to do the right thing, or at the very least to make the most of it." This seemed to diffuse the situation, even though it was obvious that Blake wasn't happy with it. Turning to the Faunus girl he offered his hand to her with a friendly smile. "By the way, hi, I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc."
"Velvet Scarlatina…" She answered with a shy smile while shaking his hand. The others followed suite. "Hum… Thank you… You- You didn't have to so- So thank you."
"No, please, don't thank me, it's just that I couldn't let it happen." He began as he put his hands in his trousers pockets. "…It just wasn't right. I only did what I felt I should be doing…" He finished by looking at the ground.
This left her and those around them, as much as the sister teams than those seated all over the Dining Room, speechless as they couldn't help but to reflect on their lack of action.
She merely reached out to hold his right arm, to catch his attention, and once he looked at her again…
"All the same, thank you." She said with a bright smile.
The two teams and the girl then spent a few moments talking with each other about various things, one of those being whose team she belonged to, to which the sister teams learned that she was actually a second year in a team known as CVFY. Yes, she would answer a few curious eyes, it was named just like the beverage.
Weiss, being one to always be knowledgeable about school related matters, already knew about the rather (in)famous second year team, or more exactly their reputation of being one of the strongest teams at Beacon, and asked her why she put up with being so savagely manhandled like that.
"Human and Faunus tensions are already tense at they are," she began to answer with a forlorn voice, "I didn't want to feed more Dust to this fire…" She admitted while looking at the ground in sadness.
However what she would hear afterwards will have made her instantly rose her head in surprise.
"I refuse to accept that." Curtly said Jaune with steel in his voice, rocking a few around away from him. "I don't care if someone is a human or Faunus, people stays people, and if someone hurts another they have to be held accountable to it."
"I couldn't have said it better hot stuff!" Exclaimed a voice which caught everyone off guard.
They all turned toward the voice and saw who might be the most fashionable Huntress, in-training or not, this side of Sanus approaching the group, her steps solely aimed at Velvet.
"Coco…" She said softly.
"Hi Bun-Bun…" Began the other girl as she gathered the Faunus into a tight hug. "I heard what happened there, I regret that I wasn't there to kick his ass all the way back to the Grimmlands where that douche belongs."
"It's okay Coco, I had help." Velvet tried to reassure her.
"So I heard too!" The fashionista exclaimed as she untangled herself from the Faunus and turned her attention toward the blonde hero, while still keeping a protective arm around her teammate. "Thanks for the rescue heroboy, I only regret that I didn't see your hot ass kick his."
This got a slight flush out of the Magecraft user.
"I only did what I felt was right," he said as he crossed his arms, "and something tells me now that she would have been able to handle it if I hadn't intervened anyways…"
"Oh no doubts about that," she sharply nodded, "she could and should have wiped the floor with that bastard, if she weren't so self-conscious about her cute features…"
"You know I don't like garnering attention to myself. Especially like that."
"And I don't care, if any bastard tries to hurt any members of my team they'll have to answer to me and Gianduja…" She said with a dreadful smile full of teeth.
"Coco…"
"Nope, don't want to hear about it." She curtly said with quick shake of her head. Then she turned back to Jaune and the sister teams. "Anyhow, thanks again for the help hotstuff, I'll now see that this lil' bunny gets back to her burrow safely. Ciao!" She said as she walked the both of them away.
"Coco I can take care of myself!" They could hear from the Faunus as they drew away.
"Then next time kick that lowlife's ass!"
They seemed to say more but were now too much far to make anything out.
A few beats passed until someone burst the bubble.
"Who was that?" Said a student seated at a nearby table.
"That's the force of nature known as Coco Adel for you." Said another student at another neighboring table who looked old enough to maybe be a second year of even a third year.
"She's awesome!" Exclaimed Nora, clearly she had a new role model.
"She sure knows her stuff, I dig her style." Began Yang, then she blinked. "Wait a sec." She turned toward the older looking guy. "Hey man, how you said she's called again?"
"Coco Adel." He answered.
"Thanks!" She told him to which he sent a nod back. The then turned back to the group. "I know I've heard that name before!"
"No big surprises there," began Weiss, "the name Adel is a huge label in the fashion industry, she must be related to them."
"You mean the Adels of that place!?" Then Yang looked at Jaune like a hound who smelled blood, not that he'd tell her of that comparison to her face, he thought, he valued his physical integrity thank you very much. "Jaune you need to introduce us! Maybe we'd get some discounts!"
This left Jaune chuckling awkwardly at the attention, which made some the group of friends laugh at the situation.
And after a few moments they all left the Dining Room to go to their next class with Professor Harold Mulberry who directed Beacon's Weapon Crafting and Upkeep class.
In Professor Mulberry's class…
Professor Harold Mulberry would be the textbook definition of a Dwarven blacksmith with his stout form yet heavy musculature, but one would do well to not underestimate the man, for Professor Mulberry not only definitely knew his craft but he also was a fearsome sight on the battlefield with his warhammer currently hung on the wall, the weapon, which according to the Unlimited Blade Works was titled Brimstone, was as its name implied a warhammer with Fire Dust inlaid within it that delivered a burning punishment to anything that had the misfortune of getting intimate with its end.
Suffice to say that when Ruby first laid her eyes on it she was over the broken moon.
"It's so cool!" She had once exclaimed to the mortification of her partner and the snickers of her sister.
Professor Mulberry however seemed to have gained a few inches so much he stood with pride by the fact that his pride and joy was recognized for its true worth. The two professor and student became fast friends as they bonded over their love and passion for weapon smiting.
Today Jaune took advantage of the many tools at his disposal to do some maintenance on Crocea Mors.
Shirou's work on the blade and its shield was so much high quality that it didn't need much in the ways of maintenance, Crocea's blade for instance never lost its deadly razor-sharp edge, and it really couldn't with the amount of work put into it's forging, enhanced by the countless runes inlaid within it. However, the mecha-shift mechanism still needed some calibrations now and then. And while Jaune could easily take care of the whole process in the field with a few Traced tools if the need ever arised, there was no reason not to make use of Beacon's advanced top-of-the-line tools when he had access to them.
Though he had to be honest with himself, Ruby's presence proved to be quite a distraction. Her strawberry-scented shampoo was a definite bonus, and he wouldn't mind having her around under normal circumstances. However, her eagerness to learn about the Mystic Code inner-workings manifested in her literally hanging on his back, making it quite difficult to focus.
"Ruby…" He began with a barely suppressed sigh. "Not that I mind your presence but I'm busy…" He tried to reason.
However the Little Red Reaper had no care for reason and pulled all the stops by giving him the dirtiest puppy eyes he had ever seen, fortunately he already had developed a resistance to the fearsome weapon courtesy of his sisters. Though it was a close thing.
"But Jaune..!" She definitely not whined no matter how much her sister will later insist. "I just don't get how you can manage the amount of output you get from the Dust with this design! The Dust channels aren't even properly adjusted for it!"
"Trade secrets, I'm afraid." He evenly answered as he oiled the spring release mechanism.
"But- Considering the outputs your beautiful sword manages it's mind-boggling!" She got into his face, her eyes almost unearthly glowing. "You told me your brother helped you in reforging Crocea Mors, right? How come he's not a more famous weaponsmith!? I've got to meet him."
"Firstly, yep, my big brother Shirou did almost all the work, I just offered some inputs here and there. Secondly you wouldn't have heard of him, he's really secretive, you see, so yeah it's normal you haven't ever heard of him. Thirdly I'm afraid that's not gonna happen, at least for a long while, he kind of left civilization as a whole to perfect his craft."
"He went out into the Grimmlands!? On his own!?" She exclaimed which drew the attention of everyone in the room by the announcement.
"Oh don't worry, he can take care of himself, after all he taught me everything I know and he's way more skillful so…" He shrugged off. "Plus he's not alone he's got his girlfriend Rin with him, and trust me she can be very scary in her own right, I'm feeling more sorry for the poor Grimm that would have the misfortune of crossing path with her." He off-handly answered as he thought back on all the stories his big brother told him about his redoutable Jewelcraft Magus girlfriend, Rin Tohsaka can be scary when she wants it, a thought he'll very much keep for himself, he heard how she can throw a mean Finn Shot and he definitely didn't want to have first hand experiences, thank you very much.
Eventually Ruby conceded this battle to him and went back to her own work station, though she most certainly didn't gave up the war to know every secrets of Jaune's weapons she swore to herself.
A/N:
So yeah, I had this idea running in my head for a few days by now. That plot bunny was running rampant you have no idea…
By the way, it's not sure if I'll actually continue to write more of this. It's more of an experiment to test the waters, so to speak.
Your thoughts?