Side-note, I finally figured out the ship name which is to be Armored Knightslayer. Catchy right? xD Anyways, this is a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but I hope you'll enjoy the chapter all the same. Thank you so much for your patience with this one guys. It's the worst part of headache season so updates will be extremely few and far between for a little while.
I appreciate you all and thank you for your support.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, I definitely love sandboxes though.
Chapter Thirteen: Thawed Weiss
"Not bad, go again."
Jaune heard this command from Yang and swung his leg up, only for her to rise her shin into blocking the incoming strike. Jaune's eyes widened, he wasn't even bothered by the fact that Yang had landed the block so easily, he was mystified that he was still standing after the force of the block she used. Yang nodded once then bounced back off from the block she made, there's a blitz of wind as she soars back and after barely tapping her back foot against the flooring of the training room, she lunges in again, taking another swing, this time with her fist. Jaune's eyes widen in horror as he sees the speed at which Yang is approaching and he's about to clench his eyes shut but something stops him from doing so.
He hates this part, his body seems to work itself up in expectation of something that never comes. As if there was something that was supposed to happen in situations like this one, but he was just too weak to pull it off. They'd only been training together for a few days, so that's what Jaune had taken to assuming it was. Mostly because he figured it was something similar to how Crocea Mors' hidden abilities worked. He'd only ever been able to access those powers once and even then it'd been completely heat of the moment and not because he'd earned the strength to possess that power.
'Hell, even my sword felt sorry for me back then,' Jaune thought bitterly.
His moment of distraction would only further prove to dig the nail into Jaune's proverbial coffin, Yang blitzed across the sky, and her fist slammed into the side of his head. There's the sound of a horrible crunch and Jaune is sent flying transversely across the training room floor and down off the platform in a single blow.
"Jaune!"
"Acheron hates me," he muttered darkly, he was already pushing himself back to his feet when Pyrrha and Yang rushed over to help him back up, Yang was shaking her head as Pyrrha tried to brush off the front of Jaune's hoodie with her hand. As if quickly realizing what she'd done, the yelped and jumped back from her leader, pointedly ignoring the smirk that Yang was shooting at her.
"What happened?" Blake asked from the side.
"I got distracted," Jaune admitted, though, after the many conversations that he and his team-mates had exchanged on the topic, Jaune wasn't about to divulge that his reasoning for his being distracted related back to his own inadequacy during batlle.
"I know I'm drop-dead-gorgeous," Yang put in, "But you can't let it take your attention during battle, Lady-killer or we're all going to end up in a bad place, okay?"
"Very funny," Jaune snorted, shaking his head.
"I thought so too," she returned fire, a smirk on the Brawler's lips through the entire exchange. After saying this, she playfully thumped Jaune on the shoulder, "Though, I must say I'm impressed. We've only been doing this for a little while and you've jumped leaps and bounds in this time. I reckon if someone had taken the time to train you earlier you'd have really been something when you arrived."
"Thanks, Yang."
"Anytime, Ladykiller. For now though, let's take a break. We've been at it for most of the morning," Yang's gaze shifted to stern the moment Jaune's mouth went to open, almost knowing what his response was going to be and decided to add on something for good measure, "Rest is just as important as training Jaune, how are you going to improve if you're too tired to carry out proper training sessions with us, you'll never get to our pace if you can't manage to get the rest you need as well as performing in the sessions, y'know?"
Jaune gives his answer in the form of a reluctant sigh, but ultimately concedes that, yes, Yang is correct in that matter. He wouldn't be able to keep up with them during training if his body was tired and that would mean and even larger delay in his training reaching the next level.
"Don't worry about it too much," Blake advised, her tone quiet, "While you're this early, change an improvement will be noticeable. Once you reach a level of being highly trained, improvement won't be as noticeable and you'll start missing these days."
"Lots of work with very little reward," Pyrrha agreed.
"Well, what do you say P-Money, wanna go a round or two?"
"I'd love to, Yang! Just let me grab my scroll!"
"...I meant in the ring, not on Ninja Madness..."
"...I knew that! I'm sorry!"
Jaune hopped over the barricade to take a seat beside Blake and pulled a small notepad out of his backpack and opened it up, laying it down on his lap.
"Taking notes?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, but not just for my benefit. If we're going to work on everyone's improvement, then it only makes sense to have a comprehensive understanding on how everyone fights, right? If I can give Yang and Pyrrha's weaknesses notice then we can have them seal those off as well. Sure, I've got the most to work on by a mile, but-"
"Everyone has things to work on," she confirmed.
Jaune flipped his pages past a few things he'd already written down, they seemed to be the beginning of combination attacks between the various members of Team ABYN, one of the more completed ones bearing a crouching stick figure holding a shield up, while pushing another stick figure, this one holding a far smaller shield into the air. Once at a blank page, Jaune took a pen from the inside of the pad's binding and turned his gaze back to the fight.
"Ready, P-Money?"
Pyrrha dropped into the stance, a confident ease placed over her features that reflected in the bright smile sent Yang's way, "Ready," she confirmed. Yang pushed her back foot out slightly then forced herself off the ground, lunging at Pyrrha as hard and fast as she felt she could. Pyrrha leaned to the side slightly and intercepted the punch with the center of her shield, though she notably slid across the floor of the platform a little bit. Pyrrha followed up by pushing back with the shield, this effectively threw Yang backward and the Spartan was able to advance, coming in with her solid counter-attack. She slashed Milo in Yang's direction several times, but using Ember Celica, Yang was barely able to block the incoming strikes...yet..something seemed entirely off to the Brawler. It was very subtle...but were her Gauntlets moving against her strikes?
She tried to follow up with another block, but sure enough she was only able to barely block the incoming strike, as if some invisible force of gravity was pushing her a smidgen away from the point she wanted her gauntlets to hit. How was this even possible? Yang fell back for a second and attempted another blow, this time in the form of a kick which...Pyrrha seemingly blocked with ease.
"You really are something, invincible girl," Yang said teasingly.
"You are rather impressive yourself, Yang."
All through the clash, Jaune continued adding notes to his pad, taking down various aspects of the fight he felt could work with for the basis of another team attack for either the two girls in the ring, or with the other two members of Team ABYN. He'd barely finished his latest bullet point when he was forced to look up, thanks to the loud sound that had emitted from the ring. Yang had bellowed out a rather impressive battle-cry and launched herself skyward. The Brawler somersaulted in mid-air and descended into a powerful kick that moved so quickly Jaune could've sworn it was surrounded by flame. Pyrrha adjusted her stance, hauling Akuo above her head, with an impressive amount of skill, she pushed all her strength behind the shield and threw Yang right back up into the air.
"That's it! That's what I was missing," Jaune muttered, then quickly flipped back to the shield-jumping page and added a couple of other elements to it, and finally, he finished by scrawling the words 'ABYN Pinball' beneath the finished diagram. He knew they'd be unlikely to use all of these ideas he'd written down, but it was better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them in his opinion. Yang managed to regain her footing when she landed, then nodded toward Pyrrha. The Spartan advance, flipping Milo from its Javelin form into rifle-mode so as to unload a few shots in Yang's direction, but Jaune could tell that Yang was purposefully not dodging...he would guess that her aura was going down slightly too...and...oh no.
The once violet eyes of Yang Xiao Long were now a vibrant crimson. It was a color change that Jaune hadn't seen very often and it usually meant one of two things. The first was that Yang was unbelievably pissed and you need to run before you die or that she was taking a fight seriously. Neither posed good results in Jaune's opinion but Pyrrha would be able to handle it better than he did. Pyrrha steadied herself as Yang roared out a heated cry for battle and at speeds even Jaune had to admit he struggled to follow, the two warriors clashed all over the ring. They were all over the place, but to Jaune's knowledge it didn't seem like either of them had been able to land a blow just yet. He did wonder if he'd be able to fight at that speed some-day, the way those two did it...they made it look easy even if he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was one of the most difficult things he was ever going to have to learn.
Jaune's head turned slightly, noting that Blake also had her head stuck in a book. Hers was more of a novel than the type of work he was doing and she seemed relaxed enough so he wasn't about to bother her. There's an exasperated sigh from the ring next and Jaune's cerulean pools shoot back toward the ring to see Yang on the ground, back against the flooring with the point of Milo aimed at her throat.
"Yield," she said.
"That whole vibe you got going on right now is kinda cute," Yang said teasingly, her crimson eyes having shifted back to violet, "But, I'm not ready for this fight to end, Princess." She adjusted her body and in a strange spinning motion, Yang was able to leg-sweep Pyrrha in order to create some distance between the two of them. The Brawler spun back to her feet and took her stance again, locking eyes with the Spartan once more.
"Charge!" Yang roared, her flame-like aura erupting around her once more as her eyes morphed into the violent hue of crimson. Immediately, she launched herself at Pyrrha and Jaune could've sworn it happened so quickly that he almost missed it. With barely any movement, Pyrrha was able to avoid the blow entirely and use a quick kick to throw Yang out of the ring and onto the floor below. To her credit though, Pyrrha immediately folded down Milo and Akuo then hopped down off the platform to help Yang back to her feet.
"Are you alright? I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," Yang assured her, "That was a good bout, but I'll definitely be winning the rematch, Princess."
"It's Princess now?" Pyrrha asked her amusedly.
"Yup," Yang said without missing a beat. The effects of her semblance had seemed to have worn off and Jaune was grateful that there'd not been any issues thanks to a loss. Yang was extremely volatile sometimes and the last thing he needed as Leader of Team ABYN was another discussion with Goodwitch about his team-mates. He closed the notepad and returned it to his backpack before rising to his feet once more.
"Think we've got enough time for a little more sword work before we call it a day?"
"Should do, there's not really a time limit, just as long as we're out of here and at the cafeteria by the time dinner comes then I doubt we'll run into any problems," Yang confirmed as Jaune hopped the barricade and collected Crocea Mors from its place against the wall. He clipped it to his belt as he ascended the training platform once again and finally, he finally unsheathed the blade from the scabbard. Blake hopped the barricade and all three girls moved back onto the platform.
"Stance," Pyrrha commanded, falling into the role of instructor almost naturally. She moved over to Jaune and adjusted his stance a little bit, then patted his shoulder and nodded happily, "Much better."
"Alright, Blakey," Yang said, "Same drill as before."
Blake nodded and readied Gambol Shroud, within a moment's notice she swung her sword and without having to be told this time, Jaune moved the blade to meet her own, blocking the incoming strike. Unlike the previous training session though, neither Jaune nor Blake exchanged words, the only sound for several moments was the sounds of metal clanging as the two exchanged various blows from several angles. It seemed that the two were content entirely to let their blades do the talking. Of course Jaune's movements with the blade was far less refined than what Blake's was and he was barely managing to keep himself from taking any of the quick shots Blake was throwing at him. Without thinking too much, he dropped back onto his other foot and advanced in on Blake again, this time going on the offensive. Sure, Blake was able to block every single attacking slash with ease but the increase of speed was visible in the very least.
Yang and Pyrrha were forced to drop out of the ring, because of the wide berth that Jaune and Blake were now...essentially sparring in. The Brawler chuckled to herself, then whispered to Pyrrha, "Jaune's getting the hang of things quite quickly, isn't he?"
"I think it's delightful," Pyrrha hissed back, "It's still a tiny bit messy but Blake seems to be bringing out Jaune's confidence to try more difficult manueveres while also meeting him at his level without even noticing it, almost as if she's using her own bladework to fix his mistakes as much as she can. I wonder if she's taught swordplay before."
"Dunno," Yang agreed, "But hopefully it's enough to steer Jaune's movements in the right direction. Most people wouldn't pick up on a training method like that. We only noticed cause we are trained and can see things like that."
Back in the ring, Blake and Jaune continued to exchange blows, and whilst the battle was nowhere near the pace of the spar that had been going on between Yang and Pyrrha earlier, the fact that Jaune was able to keep such a pace after only a few training sessions was something to be admired. Ultimately though, the battle would end with Blake using Gambol Shroud's bow to sweep at Jaune's feet and throw him to the ground. Blake then followed up by pointing the blade at Jaune's throat.
"Not bad, you've still got a ways to go but not bad," Blake nodded quietly, she folded down Gambol Shroud then helped pull the Arc back to his feet. Jaune gratefully accepted her hand and moved back to standing as Yang and Pyrrha hopped back onto the platform.
"Some of the sword-work was still pretty sloppy," Yang put in, "But that'll come with time, the fact that you were able to hold that pace for so long without taking a blow speaks volumes about how much you're improving."
"So, does that mean we shall call it a day then?" Pyrrha questioned.
"I think now's as good a time as any," Jaune shrugged, "Everyone happy to do that?"
Two nods of agreement followed Blake and Yang, who were already headed in the direction of the locker room, Pyrrha following closely behind. Jaune, on the other hand, remained in the training area. His eyes glimpsing down at the sword still gripped in his hand. The strange burst of energy had come exactly when he needed it and he began to wonder if the sword was responsible. That was going to make things difficult going forward. How was he supposed to know what improvements were his and what 'improvements' were just Crocea Mors deciding it needs to intervene on a whim? Yet, how could the sword have intervened? It'd not responded since the incident in the Emerald Forest...This entire situation was just confusing beyond belief.
Whilst he hadn't felt any changes during the spar, the very real possibility of interference was there, especially given how naturally he seemed to be taking to the extra training the girls were giving him.
'You need to find the pieces...find the pieces...'
The voice was so sudden that Jaune yelped out in surprise and quite literally yanked his hand away from Crocea Mors, allowing it to fall to the ground with a large clatter. He stepped back from it, his hand still trembling some. Was that...Acheron's voice?
'You must be the one to find the pieces...'
Jaune sighed, okay, now he was just hearing things. The last thing he really needed to deal with right now was an imagination like this. He'd dreamed about Acheron and he was probably feeling a little sluggish after training. Pushing the idle thoughts from his mind, Jaune picked Crocea Mors back up off the floor and returned it to its scabbard. He politely waited for the rest of his team to finish in the locker room then headed inside himself. He had changed from his fighting gear back into something more casual in the form of dark denim jeans and a black shirt beneath a deep grey hoodie. Jaune finished the process by returning Crocea Mors to his locker.
"Done," he confirmed, having returned back to the training room a moment later.
"Let's head back then," Pyrrha stated happily.
"You guys didn't have to wait up, you know that right?" Jaune asked them.
"Yeah, we know," Yang said and just like that the conversation was dropped. Team ABYN all exchanged a smile, then the four of them departed the training room. The walk back to their dorm was quiet for the most part. Sure, they'd run into a couple of students they knew and stopped to talk with some of them but other than that the journey had passed in a blur and before they knew it they were approaching the door to their room, the smiles still on their faces.
"Shower time," Yang said brightly, pushing the door open, "Anyone mind if I go first?"
"Not at all," Pyrrha said happily.
"Do what you want," Blake said.
"Go for it," Jaune agreed.
Yang nodded, then departed for the bathroom. Jaune, on the other hand, moved toward the end of the room where his bed was and pulled his guitar out from under it, he'd barely laid his hand on the wooden structure when a sigh left his lips and he smiled, returning the guitar back to where it was.
"Worried it wasn't going to be there?" Pyrrha asked him curiously.
"Not really," Jaune said, "It's sort of a comfort thing, I guess."
"I really enjoyed the sound of your voice, maybe you could sing for us again sometime?"
"Maybe," Jaune agreed. His voice sounded a little distant from reality, though this was not down to disappointment at being asked to sing again, he'd been side-tracked for most of the journey back as well. As much as he'd tried to gloss over it, the voice that had come earlier still echoed within his mind.
"You okay?" Pyrrha asked, cutting through the silence.
"Yeah," Jaune said absently.
"There's no need to look so down, you did incredibly during the training session. You should be ecstatic!"
He should be happy that he was doing well with his training, it made him realize t some extent that he had some kind of talent when it came to fighting and maybe if someone had taken the time to train him when he was younger then perhaps he'd have been in a position to be at the same level his classmates were right now. However, he simply couldn't pass off his own talent being the only reason he was succeeding, nor could the girls be entirely credited with his improvement either. For some reason, Jaune's mind kept being drawn back to the possibility that it was all thanks to Crocea Mors and its strange abilities.
It just seemed to be one puzzle after another lately and that didn't sit well with him.
"Heeey Jauneee?"
The Arc turned his head towards the source of the sound and discovered Pyrrha looking at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes she could manage and although he almost knew what was coming Jaune still dreaded what she was about to say.
"Ninja Madness?"
"We've arrived, Councilman."
The Limousine had just come to a halt outside a large building emblazoned with a symbol. The man acknowledged the driver's voice with a nod and he slowly rose to his feet on the pavement outside of the vehicle. Once the door had been closed behind him, he advanced across the pavement in the direction of the building's main entrance. Aside from an expansive car park, the main front part of the building didn't hold much, but this didn't seem to be of any interest to the man who approached the doors to the building with purpose.
"The Doctor is down in the lab, Councilman."
Another nod came from the bulky man, but still no word passed from his lips, despite how rapidly his gaze seemed to be sweeping across the room. The Councilman finally reached the elevator and then stepped inside. A small beeping sound filled his ears after a few moments, then his giant metallic boot stepped out onto the flooring of the laboratory.
"Good evening, Doctor Merlot."
"Ah, so good of you to join me, Councilman Arc. I trust you have brought with you the item we discussed at length a short while ago?"
"I'm afraid I must disappoint you my friend."
"Oh?"
"My worthless no good son stole the family sword, meaning that-"
"He has the piece of Excalibur that we have so desperately been searching for all these years. I confess myself disappointed Ray. This will limit our progress a considerable amount. Are you sure you did not gift the sword foolishly?"
"I would never have given that no-hoper the family sword, believe me on that. He stole it and part of an old armor set of mine. Believe me, if I ever see that boy again, it's not going to end well for him."
There was a snort that sounded and Ray's head turned to the left, his brow shooting upward as he did so, "Think something's funny?"
"Not really," the figure said casually, "Just that you let the son you constantly insult steal your weapon and armor right under your nose. It's almost like we're dealing with amateur hour."
"Malach," Merlot said sharply, "That's enough. The Councilman has traveled a long way and does not need to deal with your foolery. Go and make yourself useful, Yuri seems to have located another piece of Excalibur but needs assistance, you are to provide this."
Malach rose from his leaned spot against the wall and offered a bow, "Of course, Doctor. I'll leave immediately." Once the words had been spoken, Malach turned on heel and left the room. Merlot refocused his attention on Ray, his narrowed eyes fiercely directed at the other man.
"For the time being I would not worry about your son's possession of the sword. He is keeping it safe for us and I'm willing to bet he doesn't understand the weapon's significance. We can merely go and claim it when it comes time to utilize it."
"Of course."
"For now, I would like you to go to Vacuo."
"Vacuo?"
"It is rumored that a great treasure there and I would like you to confirm that this treasure is not one of the pieces."
Ray bowed his head, "Of course, my friend. I'll find out what I can."
"Good, that's all."
"I'll be on my way then, I'll need to attend the council meeting before departing for Vacuo."
"As you wish, but do not take too long, I do not wish to miss our lead if this does turn out to be another piece of excalibur."
Ray redirected his stance and slowly returned to the upper levels of the building. A fresh wave of frustration hitting his veins, damn that boy. Why did he have to go running off like that. He liked to think he'd beaten the need to act in such a manner out of the little brat by now. The boy had always been stubborn, perhaps he got from his mother's- scratch that, it's probably something from the Arc line far removed. Acheron and the like never knew when to stop meddling in others' affairs either.
Fortunately Merlot had been right in saying that Jaune having the weapon right now was a matter of convenience. They could go and take it whenever they felt the need and because Jaune had no idea what it was, that would give reason to believe that it would deter others who may be on the hunt for the pieces. That issue could wait for another day, right now he needed to focus on attending this meeting so that he could move on to Vacuo.
"We're leaving," he told his driver simply as he re-entered the limousine, "Also make preparations for my airship to come around once the meeting's done with, I have an appointment to keep in Vacuo."
"Of course, Councilman."
Finally, Jaune had finished pulling on his armor and re-entered the dorm room. He was thankful that there'd been some hot water left, cause, in his opinion, there was nothing better than a hot shower after a rather intense training session. The sight he came across when re-entering the room was almost as amusing though. Yang and Pyrrha were both currently hunched over their scrolls, madly tapping at the screens and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. He offered a soft chuckle then stepped silently over to his bed so that he could sit down on the end of it.
"You in next round?" Yang asked without looking up from her screen.
"I think I'll leave you two to it," Jaune shook his head, "I want to go over my notes."
"Suit yourself," Pyrrha managed to get out, being even more reluctant than Yang was to turn her attention away from the game for even a moment. Jaune shook his head again, this time in a bemused fashin and took the notepad from his backpack and opened it up to one of the pages with the beginnings of various team moves scrawled down already.
"Oh, that also reminds me," Blake spoke up suddenly, "When are you going to share those ideas with us since it's team stuff?"
"Not until they're ready, half-finished ideas can't be practiced."
Blake seemed to accept this for she nodded and then returned to reading her book in silence. The rest of the night was exchanged in a mostly companionable silence save for a few exclamations of horror thanks to Pyrrha's spectacular losing record. The next morning Jaune awoke to a quiet room, something that he'd been shocked to discover because out of the entire team, the only one who was usually awake after him was Yang. What was more surprising was that this also meant that he was awake before the shouting across the hall started. Sure, the walls were mostly sound-proofed, but that didn't stop the odd sound from coming through here and there. He slowly moved out of bed so as to not wake anyone and gently moved over to the door of the room so that he could slip out onto the balcony.
Jaune crossed the roof then sat down with his legs dangling over the edge of the rooftop. His thoughts drifted to things outside the walls of Beacon and his mind was suddenly wondering how his family was doing. He'd not even told most of them he was doing this. His father would know exactly where he went thanks to the huge argument they'd had about it and by extension his mom and other sisters, but Saphron and Aurora who'd both left home would have no idea. Maybe he should look at trying to get in contact with either or both of them at some point. Despite the friction between him and his father, Jaune had always gotten along with his sisters, particularly his older ones and wanted to know how they'd been doing since they'd left home. He knew that they'd ceased contact with the family when they left because of their father, which was something he could not begrudge them for, but now that he was out from under his thumb perhaps it was the perfect opportunity for them to reconnect.
The minutes rolled by into hours, but yet Jaune heard no argument from Team LVWR's room, sure it was a Sunday so they could be sleeping in, but it just felt completely abnormal to the days gone past. Thinking he was reading a little too much into it, Jaune just shrugged and went back to his silent vigil over the skyline. His thoughts inevitably drifted back to Crocea Mors and the strange voice he'd heard, had it been Acheron? Or had it just been a figment of his imagination? It shouldn't really surprise him, him of all people find the pieces of Excalibur? What a joke. Jaune went deeper and deeper into his thoughts on the matter and he quite literally jolted when he felt a hand against his shoulder.
"Here, you seemed to need it."
Pyrrha was standing a little behind Jaune holding a takeaway cup of coffee out to him which Jaune gratefully accepted. Once she'd handed it over, Pyrrha took this opportunity to sit down on the ledge beside him. Jaune sipped at the coffee whilst the two of them sat in comfortable silence for a moment until Pyrrha abruptly broke it by asking, "Trouble sleeping?"
"Not so much, maybe a little though. Yourself?"
"I slept okay, thanks. Whatcha thinking about?"
"This, that and the other thing. Mostly surprised at how quickly life changed. I never expected so much would shift in such a short space of time. I'm happy to be where I am don't get me wrong but it all feels a little strange y'know? Like...someone else should be in my position or something like that."
"Well," Pyrrha said, effectively cutting Jaune off, "I think that even if Crocea Mors isn't responding to you right now, that it still chose you for a reason and one day, when you're ready, you'll finall understand the true depth of the choice the sword made."
"What makes you say that?"
"No reason," Pyrrha's facial expression said something different though, her emerald pools locked on the rising sun on the horizon and a smile met her pale features. The two of them sat there in silence for a little longer, then again, it was Pyrrha who broke the silence, "Hey, Jaune?"
"Yes, Pyrrha?"
"Thank you."
"Thank you? For what?"
"For being my friend, I, er-it means a lot to me. Most people just see me as-"
"You never have to thank me for that, " Jaune promised her, "You're my friend." Though Pyrrha didn't fully understand the notion, she nodded, if Jaune was content with her not thanking him for such a thing, then she would adhere to those wishes. The subject was soon dropped as they both finished watching the sun rise. Eventually the morning rolled around to the time that Blake and Yang were also awake.
"Hey guys," the brawler managed through a yawn, "breakfast?"
"Yeah," Jaune said, "And coffee."
"Yes, we already knew about your unhealthy obsession," Yang groaned fighting off another large yawn, "Give me a few and then I'll be ready." After saying this, she grabbed some clothes from her wardrobe then popped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Pyrrha stretched out, releasing a yawn of her own and started to prepare to go down to breakfast. Blake was sitting in her bed, awake but her eyes were buried into the novel gripped in her clutches and Jaune offered a smile.
"Blake, you coming with or do you just want us to bring you something back?"
There's a sigh from her lips, which Jaune takes to mean that she'll come along with them. Or at least that's what he interpreted it as anyways. Once Yang and Blake were ready, the four of them could then descend from their dorms into the cafeteria and eat Breakfast. It was a weekend day so it wouldn't matter how long it took for them to sort through everything. It still amused Jaune how early they were all awake given that they had no classes today. Must be the fact of living in a routine forms your sleep patterns and all of that. ABYN finally arrived in the cafeteria, which unsurprisingly for a weekend was still pretty empty. There was a few teams dotted around though and this also included Team LVWR who were sitting in their usual spot. After collecting breakfast Jaune, Yang, Blake and Pyrrha joined them at the table and immediately conversations started up.
"How are things going?" Jaune asked Ren quietly.
"Improving slowly," Ren spoke up, "Thanks for your advice the other day, I think it's really helped."
"Ah, not a problem. I've no doubt you'd do the same for me if the roles were reversed. There's still a little edge when it comes to Ruby but I think all in all we're on the way to forging a strong bond as a team."
"I'm really glad to hear it."
"Any closer to solving the mysteries of the sword?"
The subject change from Team LVWR to his weapon was slightly unexpected but Jaune could only sigh in the face of the truth of his weapon problems, "I wish. I'm getting more proficient with it in terms of a fight, but there's no telling about any more of the secrets that thing is holding. What's worse is I don't think there's anyone I trust enough to go to about it."
"Are you absolutely sure that you cannot simply ask your father? I know you said your relationship with him isn't the greatest, but if it's for the sake of information..."
"It's probably for the best that I don't."
"Of course, that is your choice to make after all. Could the blade shift be related to Aura?"
"It's...possible?"
"Hmmm...let me think on it and I'll come back to you if I figure something out."
"Thanks, Ren."
There's a small smile curved up on the Lotus' lips and he nods, then turns back to his breakfast. Jaune lifted the mug of coffee to his lips and took a long sip as he pondered over Ren's words, could Crocea Mors' power up be as simple as him pushing his aura into it? It just seemed too straight-forward and he didn't know the first thing about aura manipulation. He could ask Ren to teach him...but he wasn't sure he knew Ren well enough to let him in on that particular secret just yet.
Through the meal, Ren's eyes were on the move, Jaune noted that they seemed to dart between all three of the members of Team LVWR at certain intervals. Yet he also noticed something else, Nora was subtely slipping pancakes onto Ren's plate when she thought he wasn't looking and it took all of the Arc's effort not to chuckle. He was initially worried that Ren and Nora might have a strange one-sided dynamic but it didn't seem like that was the case. He also picked up on the fact that she was also sliding a different style of pancake onto Ruby's plate that seemed to be chocolate chip flavor. Yang had already told him of Ruby's cookie obsession so the fact Nora was able to get to her eat a somewhat balanced breakfast without so much of a word was another surprise. He was just glad that ABYN's sister team seemed to be on the way to functioning properly in the very least.
The morning had been full of surprises for sure, but the biggest one came in the form of Sky Lark accidentlally' bumping Ruby on his way past. Okay, maybe that wasn't so surprising but, what was surprising was that before Yang could twitch, a blast of ice had thrown Cardin's lackey halfway across the room.
"Touch her again and you'll regret it you oaf."
End Chapter
Yes, that might seem like a quick turn around for Weiss, but really it was a long time coming and I kinda see her relationship with Ruby as very much a 'I can mess with her, but if anyone else does they're dead' type deal.
Anyways, thanks for reading my friends, hope you enjoyed. Later!
Oh, I also forgot to mention that this chapter is the first of two parts. Mostly because I was worried the previous one was going to end up being around 12-13,000 words and I really didn't want to put anyone through a slog like that. This is also why there's very little Weiss in this chapter despite the name of it. The second part will be uploaded as soon as I've finished editing and added a couple more scenes here and there.
Peace!