Beacon Academy: Professor Oobleck's Classroom
"Hmm..." Link sits in the middle row of the classroom and attempts to pay attention to the ongoing lecture, but he has to his hand in a fist to prop his head up so he doesn't faceplant and fall asleep
"Hey! Link you have to wake up." Jaune whispers, "Trust me you do not want to get caught and then be made to stay after class, he's going to talk and talk and talk you'll wish you never woke up from your nap. That's what happened to Cardin and I not that long ago."
"I'm trying..." Link yawns, "It's just difficult, I know what he's telling us is important but for some reason I just cannot focus. It's only this class I can easily focus in Professor Port's class and every other class we attend too... not this one however."
"Well there's gotta be a reason for it, at least today. Is it because of this?" Jaune asks and take a piece of paper from Link's possession that was under a textbook, it was a letter given to him a day after he confronted team CRDL for bullying Velvet
"I was just about to open that." Link frowns as Jaune taking the letter from him wakes him up, "I've been holding onto it for a little bit and I really should open it at some point, she deserves a response sooner rather than later."
"She? It's from a girl? Sooooo who is it from?" Jaune laughs and teases as if he is going to open it himself
"It's from Velvet." Link chuckles and swipes it back from his friend, "She gave it to me after I helped-!"
"Velvet?!" Jaune abruptly cuts Link off but it comes out as a shout
"Stay focused Mr. Arc!" This grander shout comes from the professor who's name is Bartholomew Oobleck, a very hyperactive man who has excessive amounts of coffee, to the point where he always has the beverage with him. He quickly dashes over to the two chatting students and the letter from Link's hand just as he takes it back from Jaune. "No more distractions please and thank you!" He hurries back to the front of the class and tosses the letter on his desk as if it were a piece of trash
"Nice one." Link rolls his eyes but doesn't take it too much to heart
"S-sorry, I could have kept my voice down better." Jaune puts his hand on Link and gives him a shoulder pat, "So why did Velvet give you a letter again, you said it was because..."
"Oh right." Link softly exhales and smiles at his good deeds, "You're familiar with our friend Cardin Winchester right?"
"Ugh, yeah." Jaune shakes his head, "He's okay I guess."
"You don't have to keep pretending to stand him, me, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, all of team RWBY, we know he's been bullying you."
"Bullying me?" Jaune raises an eyebrow, "I don't think someone like him can bully m-!"
"Jaune." Link narrows his eyes but his smile remains, "Don't play dumb come on. Anyway, they weren't letting Velvet get back to her dorm and I happened to pass by, this was after classes for the day wee over and we were free to get our weapons. Him, along with his three teammates were picking on Velvet and it was very infuriating... so I did something about it."
"Y-you did?! But how? Did Velvet help you? OOOH! Let me guess her team showed up and backed you up to make the four on one fight a lot more fair right? Otherwise you're about to tell me that..." The leader of team JNPR rubs his chin as he thinks
"I faced all of them alone and got the best of them. I won't lie, I didn't exactly fight all four of them but those I didn't engage with chose to not come at me. I just wanted to protect Velvet in all honesty. If it was only Cardin that ran at me then so be it, same for any of his other weak teammates."
"Weak?" Jaune gulps, "What do you mean by that."
"I mean that I didn't even break a sweat and I don't know if it's because they overestimate themselves, overlooked me or because they are truly weak deep down but I got rid of them with relatively no problem at all. Velvet's team arrived mid fight and offered to help but I stopped them."
"You didn't want their help? Isn't that extremely dangerous?" Jaune turns his head in confusion
"Maybe but I wasn't worried. Don't get me wrong, it's not overconfidence either, I just had nothing to fear when I was protecting someone and going up against four cowards."
"Wow..." Jaune nervously chuckles, "I couldn't even take on Cardin by myself. I guess I do have a lot of work to do if I ever want to catch up to someone like you."
"Don't beat yourself up too much. I know you'll get there one day Jaune. You have a great team and from what I hear and read this is supposed to be the best combat academy in the world. The only place you can from where you are now is up, and you determine how much farther you rise."
"Wow Link thanks, you know that really means a lot especially coming from-!"
"Mr. Arc!" Professor Oobleck races back towards the two huntsmen and eyes them both, "One more time and you are both staying after class. As for you Mr. Link you have left me no choice but to not return you the envelope I confiscated from you and Mr. Arc earlier. It will remain inside of my desk and perhaps next time you come to next class well rest, fully prepared, and not distracted by anything or anyone then you will get it back."
"Y-yes sir." Jaune nods rapidly, proceeding to figuratively and literally stick his nose in his textbook
"Understood Professor." Link hastily agrees, both his response along with Jaune's is good enough to make the wired professor speed and away and proceed with his lecture yet again
"That's not good at all. Now I won't be able to see what Velvet wrote to me. I also won't be able to respond to Velvet either... and if I don't, she may take it the wrong way. But I have no way of knowing what she even wrote. Maybe it was just a thank you and the letter is discardable, but now that I say that it could also be a request to spend time together as a way to show gratitude." Link sighs and for the last time in the class he zones out again, his mind completely on Velvet and what she wrote in her letter
After Class: Inside the school at the classroom wing
"So, how was class from your point of view?" Pyrrha asks her teammates who only looks down and attempts to hide his shame
"It was good, I think. I did not understand any of what he was teaching, so I'll have to get notes from you or unless Weiss wants to give me hers, you two have the neatest handwriting and I would appreciate it so much" Jaune chuckles
"Jaune..." Pyrrha narrows her eyes and sighs in disappoint, "I noticed you and Link talking most of the period and I can assume it was not about the lecture or anything else academic."
"Sorry." Jaune chuckles "I have to stay focused, it's just hard because I'm not an academics guy. Then again I am also not very good at combat so what am I really good at? And yeah I know I know no pity party for me I need to stay focused."
"Good, but please, you must take it more seriously, I understand that you have focusing Jaune I really do get that. But being a good huntsman or huntress is more than simply showing off how much strength you possess as a fighter. I know you can definitely learn a lot from an experienced huntsman like Professor Oobleck."
"Yeah you have to be suuuuuper smart AND super duper strong." Nora giggles
"Not necessarily but it does help a lot on the battlefield or simply in a sparring match." Ren nods, "But that is something we are all going to get better at, our combat abilities should develop quickly and we will all be much stronger by the time we graduate."
"Your teammates, especially Pyrrha are right Jaune. You have to pay way more attention in class next time. You also can't expect us to hold your hand through your entire time at Beacon, eventually we're all going to advance and keep advancing and it will be up to you and you only if you decide to help yourself keep up." Weiss scolds him, but upon hearing Link laugh, she turns to face him too, "You're not off the hook either. Regardless of how stronger or smarter you may already be, the last thing you want to be is overconfident."
"I know, but I don't necessarily have the same problem as Jaune, he was distracted sure but I just could not focus today. Maybe its a sense of security since my grades are good that I know that I can 'goof off' or something. I maybe not be present during the lectures but when the tests and assignments come, I can do them no problem. Then again I'm probably just getting lucky, but hey if my luck continues I can push it as long as I need to since it hasn't stopped yet." Link chuckles confidently, "Call it luck, call me a genius or label it laziness, I'd like to consider it a gift."
"Well..." Weiss raises her finger to counter what was just said, but then lowers her entire hand "That's right... I suppose" She sighs in defeat but then frowns, "HOWEVER, besides talking... you and Jaune were playing around with a note or something, what was all that about? Was Jaune trying to copy your sloppy notes or was it about an unrelated issue."
"It was a note from Velvet that she gave me after I dealt with Cardin and those punks. However, I didn't get to read it so I have no clue what the contents of the letter were... and it could've been important, thanks Jaune." Link crosses his arms and lets out a sigh of annoyance
"S-sorry." Jaune chuckles while scratching his head, "There really no reason to grab it, I didn't think about what I was doing."
"Jaune..." Pyrrha shakes her head and slaps her forehead, "You have to think before you act in the future."
"I understand." Jaune lowers his head, "My mistake."
"It's okay, I think. Well, now I have to go speak to Velvet in person to see what her note said and I will have to tell her what happened that preventing me from opening it. She's already awkward enough when I try to say a couple of words to her, so I imagine this will be even worse. I should get going now I suppose, see you around guys." Link waves at Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha he runs off, not even acknowledging the rest of team RWBY who were right behind Weiss.
"Oooooh." Yang laughs and pokes at Ruby's cheek, "Sis, you just got ignored! Come on Ruby you're gonna let your boyfriend get stolen from you that easily?"
"H-HUH?! He's not my boyfriend!" Ruby stammers, "I already told you Yang, that hug was just an 'in the moment' thing. I was happy he brought back Crescent Rose and I will eternally owe him because if he wasn't there I would have never seen my precious ever again!" The leader of team RWBY begins to walk away before coming to a full stop, she contemplates Yang's words carefully, "But she is right though slightly... how will I ever get to know Link better if this become a recurring theme that he's just running off with team CFVY any and every moment he gets. Wait why am I even considering this right now. Me getting riled up over a boy?! N-nonsense! Link's just a friend, yeah!"
"Okay then, and with that... I-I gotta go." Ruby promptly sprints away
"Wait she actually likes him?" Nora giggles as Weiss' eyes widen with shock
"T-that was not a joke?" Weiss looks around, wanting answers from anybody who knows more than she does
"Eh? Who knows, I was just teasing her and I don't think she did at first but now that I've been really pushing her buttons more and embarrassing her more, now she might believe it." Yang grins and begins to walk away "Let's say she does, very shocking right? My sister having a crush on a stranger, shame the one guy she may show interest in is already getting taken away. Ruby better step it up or sit on down."
"I never thought she'd be into boys, not right now away since those were her own words." Blake sighs, "But we do learn things about each other every day huh? Who knows what else is in store?"
"Hmm..." Weiss rubs her chin, "I guess that's a good way to think about this."
"Mhm." Ren nods, still not saying much as always
"YEP!" Nora nods, "I think it's cute."
"We must not jump to conclusions yet everybody, Ruby didn't confirm anything." Pyrrha smiles warmly
"R-right! Besides I think it's more Yang's teasing that's in her head rather than her actually having a crush on him." Jaune nods in agreement as the two teams walk away together
Sometime Later: Beacon Academy, inside the school
"Alright now where are they?" Link continues to walk around Beacon, passing by dismissed classrooms and other classrooms that are dismissal
He pays no attention to all of the second year students who look at him, a first year student with confusion but with understandable reasons. The validity in their concern comes from Link going out of his way to poke his head in classrooms to look for team CFVY. When having no luck, he moves on to other classrooms to do the same thing
"Right, I am just a first year after all… do I have that 'first year student' look?" Link chuckles and now begins to speed through hallways to accelerate his search
Approximately thirty seconds of running by more classrooms and gliding by more students stunned to see him, he finally runs into team CFVY...'s leader and literally runs into her front first. Both of them experience a sudden crash feeling, with Link stumbling and falling down to one knee while Coco fully crashes to the ground landing backside first
"Ow! H-hey what's your problem kid? Only certain emergencies require you to run that fast indoors. And I doubt you-!" Coco furiously shakes her head but then stops herself from doing any more shouting or potential physical threats once she realizes it was Link in front of her, "Oh it's just you... Why are you in such a hurry? Are you okay?"
"Sorry Coco." Link smiles as he gets up first and offers a hand to the fallen huntress
"I'll let it slide this time." Coco nods and takes his hand
"Lucky me heh." Link nods and pulls her up swiftly with minimal effort
"Wow, you're stronger than I thought. The first time it was you as a huntsman because despite how strong anybody is, a one versus four is never easy. This time you surprise me physically."
"Thank you." Link chuckles maintains eye contact until the leader of team CFVY is well on her feet
"Looking for Velvet I assume?" Coco returns the smile in the form of a grin, lets go of Link's hand and dusts herself off
"Yes."
"Good, I was hoping you wouldn't tear it up or do nothing about it." Coco scoffs, "Velvet is nice but shy so that's her way of trying to effectively communicate with you."
"O-oh... How did you-!""
"Come on now silly boy, her note?" Coco rolls her eyes sarcastically but thinks to herself carefully, "Did he even read her letter? Otherwise why is he acting like this is the first time he's hearing about it?"
"Good point, I should've known the rest of her team knew about the note she wrote for me." Link laughs and shakes his head in disbelief of himself for being dumb, "You are teammates and I can only assume you're all close. Speaking of your team, I wanted to talk to one of you or if I had to run into Velvet then so be it. I didn't get to open her letter and then it got taken by Professor Oobleck before I could read, could you tell me what it sa-!"
"She's somewhere in the courtyard and that's all you get. Can't give you all the answers now can I? Have fun finding her and please, don't hurt her feelings."
"Huh?" Link looks in the direction Coco and points to her, "Why would I be in any position to hurt her feel-!" He turns to face Coco, but she was already walking away "Whatever..." Link shrugs and runs back the way he came from, but instead of going back to a classroom, he heads for the courtyard
"Okay it's not that he didn't read it, he did not get a chance to look at this. But then again why not just open it as soon he got it..." Coco stops and turns back, narrows her eyes, and watching Link run away "He's an interesting one, maybe that's why Velvet wants to get to know him more. If anything develops between them, that jerk better not hurt Velvet though or else." She smiles and walks off "Knowing Velvet, nothing will happen anytime soon and that kid doesn't seem like the type to make a first move either."
Courtyard
(Where could she be? Maybe I should have asked Coco more questions. All she said was 'somewhere in the courtyard' which now I realize isn't very helpful at all, that could be anywhere... never mind the fact that the courtyard is already huge to begin with.)
Link sighs as he walks around the courtyard for a second time after not seeing Velvet's silky brown hair and long ears anywhere in sight. He decides to slow down and take his time after remembering that classes are over, the huntsman has all day; or until Velvet herself leaves. After some time, Link notices something different about a tree and with further investigation, it turns out to be two rabbit ears slanted sideways poking out from behind said tree
"There she is." Link sighs in relief and walks towards Velvet. He reaches out to her and notices the rabbit faunus sat down on the grass, leaning back against a tree. Almost like she is on the verge of sleeping but more so dozing off, clearly not expecting anybody, "Hey Velvet!"
"H-huh?" Velvet's eyes nearly shut, "L-link!" She jumps up and suddenly her eyes shoot open with shock, that alone with immediate panic as she hurries to fix her slightly messy hair, "H-hi! H-how are you today?"
"I'm doing great, it's nice being outside, fresh air, beautiful trees, and your bright brown eyes as an added bonus to top it all off." Link chuckles and smiles warmly at her
"Oh no, not again. Why must he always compliment me? I'm not even pretty, but why am I getting these feelings, we barely know each other? I'm sure it's just the compliments since nobody ever says anything nice about my appearance" Velvet refers to her face, which lit up with a faint red "Thank you." She whispers softly after letting out a sigh
"Anyway, I came to talk to you about that note you gave me before our classes started, but now that I'm here, I'll enjoy the nice day out with you first instead." Link smiles, sits beside Velvet, and lightly nudges her shoulder
"Oh um, y-yes it is nice out here." Velvet turns to face Link, trembling with nervousness as she shows off a smile
"You ever just looked up and examine the clouds? Call me weird but it's something I do when I just want to clear my mind and relax, and I don't really do it often so this is a rarity." Link lies back on the grass, his head on the tree trunk, with his eyes focused on the sky. He chuckles and points at the sky, "That's a baby rabbit right there! Oh look, that's a carrot, and hey look at that one... actually, it's like a whole sequence." Link points to the sky
"Where?" Velvet looks up with genuine interest, even she lies back and is right next to Link, trying to follow his hand, exactly to where he points "I um, y-yes I see it... I think?"
"No you don't. Here let me help." Link grabs Velvet's wrist and guides her hand to the clouds that are shaped like the baby rabbit chasing after a child
"W-why is he almost holding my hand..." Velvet's face completely lights up, "O-oh no. W-what do I do now?"
"Hey look at those, don't they look cool?" Link directs Velvet's hand to clouds shaped a bundle of roses
"Yes. They do look really nice." Velvet smiles, frees her forearm from Link's grip, and instead proceeds to wrap her hand completely around Link's hand, an awkward hand hold but it is certainly genuine
(Whoa...) Link's eyes shoot wide open now and instinctively he turns over his hand to allow Velvet to fully hold his hand, (Her hands are so soft and warm. Inside the school is usually freezing cold, so she must have been out here for a while already.)
"...Link." Velvet mumbles as she turns to look at him, but Link's immediate instinct to turn and face her leave their faces inches apart, which makes her even more nervous, "T-the letter, it was… I um… I… wanted to…"
"Yeah?" Link nods, following along but not exactly piecing together the question as Velvet struggles to even begin her sentence
"Whoa whoa whoa now, what is this?" Coco laughs as she approaches the pair, takes her sunglasses off, and narrows her eyes to make sure she knows what she's seeing. The CFVY leader sighs in relief when she realizes she is not interrupting a special moment. Upon seeing that Velvet is getting nowhere, she smirks and clears her throat, "Lovefest number two has commenced and is now being shut down by the fun police."
"Coco..." Velvet hesitates but slowly lets go of Link's hand
"Yes?" Coco asks, "Link I know you're not off the hook and your friends told me you got into more trouble with Professor Oobleck than you told me. He expect to see you soon and you know how he gets... I would know anyway. Not sure why you told me he only took away Velvet's letter but her a white lie won't hurt anybody as long as it isn't that big of a lie. Anyway yeah, get going kid. Now come on Velvet, lets give him a minute to himself before he eventually takes a nap in Oobleck's class and gets in trouble yet again." Coco does not look at Velvet, who visibly shakes her head. But because the leader ignores her no's, the rabbit faunus concedes and lets out a sigh
"I guess she's right, can't have you getting into any further trouble." Velvet lowers her head
"Hey don't be sad, we'll watch clouds together another right, right?" Link grabs the girl's chin and raises her head back up, then flashes a smile at her
"Y-you want to?" Velvet weakly smiles
"Absolutely!" Link nods and stands up and extends his hand to her, "Sometime soon this week too, this was fun for the short amount of time we had, catch ya around Velvet."
"O-okay, I can't wait..." Velvet takes his hand and just as easily as he lifts Coco, the boy lifts Velvet even quicker, "Bye."
Link says his goodbyes to Coco as well as they walk away without saying anymore words, a slight frown appears on his face since Coco did not say goodbye to him. But nevertheless, the frown soon fades, with a smile quickly replacing it, and a sense of warmth going all the way down to his core. The boy closes his eyes and enjoys the outdoor weather some more. He dreads having to go back inside the school, completely unaware that he actually got into more trouble with Professor Oobleck
(I wonder what the letter said and I never got to ask Velvet about it because I'm an idiot.) Link sighs and opens his eyes, (Now that is going to be in my head all week, what did it say? Or what was it even about? I wish Coco gave her a little more time to say what she needed to say. It was probably really important too, damn...)
"The letter..." Velvet sighs, "I did not get to ask him to the dance... I was too focused… on other things."
"See you around Velvet" Link waves at both her and Coco, who depart without saying any more words, he sighs and looks up at the sky again, "To hell with meeting Oobleck for my punishment later, I should just stay here. The day is still nice out" He speaks loudly and sits back down, this time in the exact Velvet was and closes his eyes
"Sure is!" Ruby's loud and vibrant voice blasts in the general direction of the lounging huntsman
"W-what-!" Link jumps up as Ruby was right in front of him, clearly mot expecting anyone to be nearby
"Hiiiiiii!" Ruby smiles and waves her hand right in his face. Then after a few seconds, she turns her hand into a fist
"Hey there you." Link waves back, smiles, and sits up, "How's my favorite red head doing?" He nods in acknowledgement of her and gives her a fist bump
"I'm doing great thank you, and how's my favorite blonde doing?" Ruby sits beside Link and punches his arm playfully
"Hmm... aside from getting in trouble today with Professor Oobleck, I'm doing fine myself." Link nods again and quickly raises an eyebrow "Wait a second, favorite blonde? Jaune's going to take that to heart." Link says as both he and Ruby laugh right at the same time "What's up?"
"We did just have Professor Oobleck's class together silly. I was wondering where you ran off to and I saw you out here. Sooo, I figured I would come by and say hi, maybe hang out a bit before you have to go get bored to death."
"Oh great! So everyone knows about it except me huh? Worst listener of the year goes to..." Link chuckles and is quick to get up
"Dummy. How about I walk you there, can't say I will subject myself to willingly being in Professor Oobleck's presence after class is over but I'll be waiting for you when he's done." Ruby shakes her head playfully
"Sure I would love the company. Hell while you're waiting for me, you can just say you're there for Jaune too and be crowned friend of the day for your dedication. Shall we go now? Or have I rubbed off on you to be a bad influence like me and show up at the very last second. Or worse, show up late."
"Nah nothing like that, I just wanted to ask... wanna race there?" The girl in the red hood says as her expression quickly changes to an evil smile
"No semblance?" Link asks and one of his eyebrows immediately raises
"Ugh! Fiiine!" Ruby rolls her eyes as she and Link get into position
"Ready?"
"Set!" Ruby narrows her eyes while a devilish smile presents itself
"Oh hey Blake!" Link shouts and waves towards his left, "What are you doing out here?"
"B-blake?" Ruby looks around crazily and in the process takes the bait presented by her friend
"GO!" Link takes off and doesn't look back, knowing what's going to happen next
"Why you-! Grrr!" Ruby growls and takes off as well, she uses her semblance to keep up and nearly get in front of Link instantly
Both of the early first year students have absolutely no regard for who was in their path. Link strategically goes in side to side motions to get in front of other students in their way, thus putting a body in front of Ruby's way. And Ruby responds by narrowly avoiding and even pushing through some students, the two's only concern isto best each other in their impromptu race
That'll wrap up chapter 3, what do you think so far, and are you guys more LinkXVelvet fans or LinkXRuby, personally, it's a tough one but it'll be fun writing about their developing friendships/potential relationships in the future, maybe it won't just be those two ships either... stay tunned xD
...
(6/11/15) Edited. Removed Sun's part as he has not been introduced yet.
(9/12/17) Re-edited: How would the entirety of team CFVY be in the same class as Link when they're both 2nd year students? Lol