There's Thunder in your Arc
I don't own anything except OC's. Rights to RWBY goes to RT, and to OC's creators
With an ear curling squeak, the team CRDL door opened ever so slowly. Followed by a grimace only a multi-colored gremlin could provide, Trivia resolved to make it worse later. Grinning a mischievous grin, grin of schemes! The schemeist of schemes. Sneaking through the dorm like a super slewthy sneaky snake, she expertly opens every drawer, procuring a small container of white powder, no, not THAT white powder, you sick fuck! And shakes it evenly on all their clothes before removing the hinges on their door, carefully closing it in such a way that it won't fall yet on her way out.
With her morning crime against bullies complete, she returned to rejoin the triumvirate of saving the blonde knight. Sliding into a chair next to the red reaper, she looked up at her expectantly. Ruby turned to look at little Trivia's expecting eyes and reached into her bag. She then handed her a single lien sweet roll.
"Here's your payment Trivia for this morning. You'll get another with a juice box for the one planned. Do try to make sure you don't nearly hit Blake this time." Ruby said to Trivia.
Trivia grinned, beaming an innocent, cherub-like grin that wouldn't fool a first year at Signal.
"You're not making me feel any better with that grin, but I'll move on with my life." Ruby said with a sigh.
Trivia just continued to beam innocently; her mischievous little mind already hard at work at her next prank as she adorably noms her sweet roll.
"I take it that now we move onto the next phase?" A voice asked, calling out from the shadows of the room.
"Pyrrha, why are you trying to out ninja Blake?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to one side.
Pyrrha giggled surprisingly sinisterly. "Oh, no reason. I'm just going over a few things for something important. Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Ruby…" The Invincible Girl replied with an unnervingly vicious smirk for her.
"Okay… all of this is not concerning at all…" Ruby said, wondering just what was going on as she turned to look back at Trivia.
Trivia whistles innocently, giving her best 'innocent wittle, naive baby who has no clue what's going on' face. Pyrrha, doing her best to suppress a giggle, simply gave the tiny ice cream girl a subtle two thumbs way up.
"Now then. We need to finish our preparations for training. I'll go to Azura to get some things that would be good for Jaune to know. Pyrrha, you need to get Jaune on board with it. And Trivia…" Ruby said, being cut off by Trivia's sudden 'outburst'.
Innocently, Trivia signed to Pyrrha, 'Say, has my order of Vacuan bed bugs come in yet?'
Pyrrha smirked in an unnerving manner at that. "They just came in the mail this morning. I'll give them to you after we head out." She replied, giggling mischievously.
"Are you sure I shouldn't be concerned? You two have very concerning faces right now." Ruby said nervously, gulping.
Trivia beams an innocent smile that wouldn't fool even Jaune. Innocently, she signs, 'Where's Juan?'
"It's Jaune, Trivia. He's from Mistral, not Vacuo." Pyrrha giggled out.
Trivia shrugged, signing, 'Whatevs, ask him to put in a good word with his friend Jesus, would you?'
Tried to suppress her laughter at that. "I'll ask him after I borrow his Bantam to go over the border." She replied before cackling uncontrollably.
"Need me, I'm going to find Azura." Ruby said, getting up and making a hasty exit from whatever madness was transpiring.
After she escaped her fellow alliance mates, she began to use her beastmen senses to track down the blue-blooded samurai. It didn't take long, picking up the distinct smell of training sweat. Then going solely under her own muscle power, no petal burst required, she arrived at a training spot. Hanging upside down from a tree branch, the blue haired samurai was doing some form of meditation.
"H-Hi Azura… do you have a minute?" Ruby asked, blushing and turning her head away to not get the full view of a less than entirely clothed man crush.
Opening one eye, Azura gave a calm, relaxed smile. "Of course. One moment, please." He replied before swinging himself up onto the branch, then leaping off of the branch in a flip and landing perfectly on his feet.
"I-Impressive…" Ruby said to compliment him.
"Thank you. Now what did you need to discuss with me?" Azura replied, grabbing a dark towel off of a nearby rock and beginning to wipe himself clean of sweat.
"Um… So… Me and some of the others are a bit concerned about Jaune and… Well…" Ruby nervously said, her silver eyes darting around keeping track of the towel. Internally she was cursing her own instincts and their short attention span.
"I take it you need a little advice on how to help him with his issues with Team CRDL?" Azura replied while still toweling off, a small amount of venom being spat from his voice at having to mention the four bullies messing with one of his friends.
"S-Specifically training advice, but any general advice beyond that would be great. It's clear you're quite busy…" Ruby nervously said, tugging at the collar of her uniform, and making her eying him up totally not completely obvious.
"Not at all. I was just about to go hit the showers and get changed for class, but I have a little time to offer some advice." Azura told her, hanging his towel from his shoulders after having wiped away all of his sweat.
"R-Really? W-Well I guess I-I caught you in the nick of time…" Ruby said, a less than pure mental image of Azura entering into her instinct fueled brain.
Azura nodded at that. 'Yes, you did. Unfortunately, I can't offer much advice on this. Seeing results from training in order to build confidence takes time. All we can do is offer Jaune our support and encouragement as we help him with his training. Not only that but, since I've dealt with bullies like those buffoons on Team CRDL multiple times in the past, I know for a fact that they won't leave Jaune alone until he stands up to them and shows them that he's truly not afraid of them." He explained.
"I understand. Thank you regardless, Azura. See you in class…" Ruby said, disappointment clear in her voice.
"Don't worry, Ruby. I know from experience that having support and help while trying to train and build up your confidence goes a long way in helping someone become stronger both physically and mentally. We just need Jaune to know that we're there for him whenever he needs us. It's up to him to decide whether or not he actually does." The azure shogun told her, surprising her by referring to her by her first name with less formality than usual.
"Um… t-thank you Azura… w-well I better get g-going…" Ruby said nervously, before petal bursting away shockingly quickly even for her.
Azura raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, that was quite odd. Even for her…" He replied before gathering up his top and undershirt for his training gi and heading for Team AZRE's room to prepare for his shower.
Meanwhile in Ozpin's office
Ozpin let out a sigh of relief as he leaned back in his chair. It had been a long and very busy morning so far. How Glynda could fit three meetings in a span of less than 2 hours he'll never understand. Didn't help he didn't get his coffee just yet. Grabbing the first fresh up of his day, now long overdue, he was about to take a sip before a knock on the door clearly rang out.
"Come in." Ozpin said with a hint of annoyance, before taking a hearty gulp of coffee.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Headmaster Ozpin." The voice of Shion rang out, their hat entering the room well before the odd-looking pale Hunter did.
"Not at all. Forgive me, it's been a busy morning. How may I help you? Is something wrong with your accommodations?" Ozpin asked, setting down his coffee cup before leaning forward into his listening pose.
"My accommodations have been nothing but exemplary. I have more grave news than that." Shion answered in a humble, yet urgent tone.
"I don't mean to alarm you, for this will only make procedures worse, but there is a Nightmare on the premises." Shion said grimly.
"Here? Vale isn't known for its abundance of that type of Grimm." Ozpin asked, a hint surprised.
"I picked up a faint signature of one this morning. It's a weaker specimen, though the fact I could pick it up indicates that it has found an equally ill-equipped host. If it's not found soon, then there could be grave trouble." Shion explained.
"Very well, I trust your expertise. Begin hunting down this host immediately. The last thing we need is an outbreak of these things. With how many students we have this year, this could quickly get out of control." Ozpin answered sternly, giving the Hunter a seal of approval with a nod.
"Of course, Headmaster. I will be thorough. Have a good day." Shion returned with a bow of their big, hatted head, before slinking out of Ozpin's office as swiftly as they entered.
"Just when the horoscopes said this would be a normal school year. Looks like that fell through in less than a month. Should have stopped listening to those a century ago." Ozpin muttered, laying back in his chair before taking another hearty gulp of coffee.
Later that afternoon: Outsides Glynda's Classroom
"Alright, Arc. Which one of your friends is causing us problems?" Cardin growled, holding Jaune against the wall by his uniform collar.
"I-I don't know! I swear…!" Jaune replied nervously.
"Well, you better start knowing because… what the fuck!?" Cardin roared as he and his team began to itch uncontrollably. Nothing stopping the insistent itching.
"Language out there!" Glynda's voice rang out from inside the classroom.
"Sorry!" Cardin hastily said as he kept itching.
Through the sound of their scratching, the five heard the sound of a juice box being sipped on down to the bottom. Turning, they saw Trivia leaning against Pyrrha with a self-satisfied grin, and the arena fighter's grin was no more pleasant.
"P-Pyrrha…? Trivia…?" Jaune asked in confusion.
Trivia sipped her juice box smugly and innocently.
"It seems like someone has it out for you four, Cardin. Perhaps this is your comeuppance for your bullying ways…" Pyrrha said in a sickeningly sweet tone, a feral grin on her face that did not suit her.
"If you're gonna grin like that, I'd be more than happy to show you what I do to bitches that give those kinds of looks." Cardin snarled.
"I mean no disrespect, but you don't scare me. I've seen better attempts at intimidation from a cocker spaniel." Pyrrha replied flippantly.
Trivia grinned, proud of herself, threateningly signing, 'Don't let the bed bugs bite.' She giggled a knowing giggle.
"Laugh it up, you two. By the time this semester is through I'll tan your hides." Cardin growled, before him and his team left to go try and get rid of the itching.
Pyrrha walked up to her team leader and friend. "Are you alright, Jaune?" She asked in concern.
Jaune nodded, straightening out his uniform. "I'm fine. Thanks, you two." He replied, trying to save face.
Trivia rolled her eyes, signing, 'Get a room, Juan!'
Jaune raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. "It's Jaune. Also, what do you mean by 'get a room'? Why would I need to do that?" He asked, not understanding her reasoning.
"Just roll with it, Jaune. She means no harm." Pyrrha reassured him.
Trivia giggled to herself. This only served to confuse Jaune even more but decided to follow his red headed teammate's advice.
"Alright. Anyway, I'm gonna go on ahead and get dressed and ready for training. I'll see you girls over there." Jaune replied.
Pyrrha nodded at that. "Fair enough, Jaune. We'll meet you there." She said with a smile.
Trivia gives a smug curtsey. With that, Jaune turned on his heels and headed back to his team's dorm room. As he made for it in a bit of a hurry, he wasn't entirely paying attention to where he was going. Well less than usual, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. It was only when he ran into something far more solid than he was that he realized his mistake.
"S-Sorry…" Jaune said nervously.
"No need to worry about it, Jaune. It's quite alright." A familiar voice replied, causing Jaune to look up from the floor and see Azura decked out in his Beacon uniform.
"Oh. Hey, Azura…" Jaune replied, a bit down.
Azura raised an eyebrow at this behavior from his friend and somewhat apprentice. "Is something wrong, Jaune?" He asked.
'It's nothing… I'm fine…" Jaune replied with a sigh.
Azura gave the blonde knight a serious look. "You are not fooling me, Jaune. Now please… tell me what is bothering you." He told him.
Sighing in frustration, Jaune looked at his friend and mentor. "It's just… Pyrrha and the rest of you are always standing up for me. Yet here I am, too weak and afraid tlo stand up for myself. I'm pathetic…" He admitted ashamedly.
To his surprise, Azura just chuckled. 'You crack me up, Jaune." The blue shogun replied, confusing the blonde paladin.
Noticing his friend and disciple's confusion, Azura continued. "Jaune, let me let you in on a little secret that my sensei told me: It's impossible to have courage without fear. Courage is born from having the strength to stand firm and keep pushing forward in spite of fear. Do you know what we call someone who has no fear? A fool." The azure samurai explained.
"Well, I obviously don't have that kind of strength…" Jaune replied depressively.
"Of course, you do. Everyone has that kind of strength inside them somewhere. You just have to find it, grab hold of it, and hang onto it for dear life. The true strength of a person's spirit, the power everyone has inside of them, is to keep moving forward no matter what life has to throw at them. No matter how hard life tries to beat you to your knees, kick you down, and keep you there, you can't let it. You need to get back up and roar out, asking if that's the best it can do. That, Jaune, is what it means to truly live. To fight for your right to be happy." Azura told his friend.
Jaune looked at Azura in awe for a moment before smiling. "Thanks, Azura…' He replied gratefully.
Azura smiled back at that. "Anytime, Jaune. Now I expect you to pick yourself up and be ready for training today. I'm gonna put you through the wringer." The blue haired shogun told his friend.
Jaune simply saluted his friend and mentor with a smile. "Yes, sir!" He replied before heading off, going to get ready and head to their group's usual training spot early to get warmed up.
'Let's hope wringer doesn't mean they put you out the dry. Considering your penchant for failing, I'd say it's more than like.' A voice said to Jaune, coming from behind him.
Jaune grit his teeth at that, his good mood soured. "Quiet, you…!" Jaune snarled out quietly.
Later that day: Outdoor Training Grounds
"That's it, Jaune! Keep it up!" Ruby yelled encouragingly at Jaune as he struggled to do pushups with simple weights on his back.
"I'm… doing the best… I can, Ruby…!" Jaune replied as Pyrrha counted out his number of pushups.
"Keep going, Jaune. You're doing great. You're just eight shy of a hundred this time." Pyrrha told him encouragingly.
"Just eight!? I thought it was less than that…!" Jaune groaned in frustration.
'Shame you failed basic counting in the first grade then.' Jaune heard from a voice coming behind him.
Jaune grit his teeth in frustration at that. 'Shut… up…!" He growled under his breath.
'That's it. Use what little strength you have left to insult me. I'm sure that will go a long way for you standing up to Cardin before he breaks your nose in.' The voice answered, this time getting a hint more familiar.
Letting his anger motivate him, Jaune continued pushing ahead. Doing his utmost best to ignore the voice and remember Azura's words. "No matter how hard… life tries to beat you to your knees… kick you down… and keep you there… you don't let it…!" Jaune repeated to himself as he got up to pushup number ninety-three.
"That's it, Jaune! You're so close!" Ruby yelled excitedly.
'So close to giving up that is.' The voice chipped in, getting ever more familiar.
Getting done with pushup number ninety-five, Jaune continued repeating Azura's words to himself. "You get back up… and you roar out… asking if that's… the best it can do…!" Jaune growled out, getting up to pushup number ninety-eight while pointedly ignoring the voice.
'Oh really? Then how are you going to be when you have to tell your team that this is the best you can do, Jaune?' The voice asked, as it now sounded eerily similar to his own.
Trying to not get distracted, Jaune started going down to start pushup number ninety-nine. "That… is the true strength… of a person's spirit…! What it means… to truly live…!" Jaune repeated to himself in a strained voice, finishing push up number ninety-nine and going down for number one hundred.
'What strength is there in having to lie to everyone you know and love, just in the vein hope of living up to dear old gramps? Where's the strength of spirit in that?' His other voice asked, as Jaune saw a dark figure in the shadows of the tree's shade.
Shocked, Jaune tried to ignore it and focus on his last pushup. "That… is what it means… to fight… for your right… to be happy…!" Jaune strained out as he finally finished pushup number one hundred.
His vision focused on the figure, and Jaune had to take a double take. Shaking his head, a bit, he saw a tall, fairly muscular person with blonde hair. Shaking his head again, he could clearly see himself in that shade, with the burning eyes of a grimm.
'Do you truly believe that? Or just saying that to not make your samurai lord think of you as a waste of his time to try and train?' The red eyed Jaune asked.
At that moment, all of his strength left him. Jaune collapsed under the weight and exhaustion he put his body through with a hard thud. Breathing, it was as if his breath had left him by magic. Vision and hearing blurring, he thought that the girls rushed over to check on him. He couldn't tell how much his head was swimming. In the girls' haste and worry, they failed to see small black spikes on Jaune's back grow ever larger. As if to taunt the mere idea of their efforts right from under them.
Well, that was way overdue, and I'm sorry for that. Normally I would leave an author note, but long and short of it, literally everything from all of us happened. I had a sprained knee, family issues, moving in relatives, and more stuff of that nature. I'll get you Ricky before I continue. Slim Shady doesn't usually do these, hence his absence on this front.
Uzumaki Ricky: Aloha, people! We're finally back! I'll leave it up to MHG to explain why we took so long, but I hope we didn't keep you waiting for too long.
Apologizes, but hopefully this week moving forward we should get back in our grove. This arc ain't over yet people, and we got more thunder to give. Tune in next time as Jaune goes into a battle on two fronts in "Bullies Always Pay, For a Price."
Yang please be proud of me for these titles.