White Knight Errant
A RWBY fanfic by Andrew Joshua Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a fan based work of prose. RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth and WB Animation. Please support the official release.
Just a nice interlude between story arcs to help fill out the world...
One of the most unpleasant surprises Weiss Schnee got when she came to Beacon was Jaune Arc. Not only did they have to share the core curriculum classes together, not only did they have to share a common room, but he had to have her favorite class as well!
"What do you even need Dust class for?" Weiss scoffed, walking ahead of Jaune as they headed to the classroom. Jaune shrugged.
"Well, my mom did figure out how to heal people by pushing her Aura through Medical Dust," Jaune said, "So it stands to reason I should know more about it too."
"A Dust she invented," Weiss growled, "You should know all you need to about it!"
"This was better for my schedule, unfortunately," Jaune retorted, "Otherwise I'd be taking it with Nora!"
"You could have adjusted your schedule so you weren't taking it with me!"
"All right," Jaune sighed, rolling his eyes as he came to a stop, "What's up your ass this time?"
Weiss glared death at him right outside the classroom.
"There's nothing up my-You ruffian! You...!"
She sucked in a deep breath.
"Okay, look... Professor Megister teaches this class part-time, right?"
"Right," Jaune nodded. It was hard not to recall the leader of Team SLVR, their professor, who had saved all their asses with how much Weiss gushed about him... His eyebrows went up. He grinned.
"Ohhh! I get it! You're sweet on him! That's adorable! Little Miss Ice Princess has a crush-"
Weiss jabbed him in the chest.
"Shutupshutupshutup I do not!" Weiss hissed, her cheeks bright red, "Even if I did, I-I would never act upon it! Th-That would be against the regulations, even if he is still a student! He'd be fired, lose his whole career! I-I can't do that to a man as brilliant as Professor Megister!"
Jaune rubbed his chest, glaring.
"Sounds like you could conveniently get him to work for you that way-"
"I would never do that!" Weiss whisper shouted. "But-But it's always a good idea to ingratiate yourself to future talent! When I become CEO, I-I want people of integrity to work for me! Professor Megister has revolutionized the use of Dust, and he's only twenty! He's also a brave, kind man, who could have been hired by my father but prefers to work to teach the next generation and protect the innocent!"
Weiss beamed brightly.
"I want to befriend him so that, one day, I can convince him to work with me to revolutionize the Dust industry and make things better! Better for everyone!"
Jaune stared at her.
"And you also have the hots for him."
"No I don't!" Weiss hissed, her face lit up like a stop sign. "J-Just because he's handsome, young, muscular, a genius-!"
"Weiss, I have seven older sisters," Jaune stated flatly, "You're not fooling me."
"Look," Weiss growled, "I happen to like him a lot, I have plans for the future involving him. So don't-Don't mess anything up for me, got it?! You just transferred into the class, after all! Just be quiet, take notes, and don't be a ruffian!"
Jaune sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Fine... Also?"
He punched her in the shoulder.
"OW! You-You brute! You'd hit a woman-?!"
"I believe in gender equality," Jaune said blandly.
The class was actually worth putting up with Weiss. Simin Megister may have only been three years older than him, but the guy knew his stuff.
He entered the classroom, got everyone's attention, and started the lesson. He broke things down like an expert, allowing even someone with only second hand experience with Dust usage to grasp the theory behind it. He was like a kindly wizard, who tried to convey the wonder he held about the subject to his students. He often succeeded, too.
He was also very understanding: If you genuinely didn't get what he was saying, he would work with you until you got it.
Of course, given that the vast majority of the class was female, he had to do this a lot for girls who were clearly plotting to get up close and personal with the handsome young professor.
Plots that Weiss ruthlessly thwarted whenever possible.
"Oh Professor," A red-haired girl named Candy simpered, "I'm having trouble with the Dust equations in the last chapter. Could you please show me where I went wrong?"
"Of course-" Megister said, but Weiss jumped into the empty seat next to Candy with a tight smile.
"Don't worry, Professor! I can handle it," Weiss said with a gracious beam to the Professor. She pointed her perfectly manicured nails down at some text. "See? You just forgot to carry the three for this step. Not a problem!"
"Why, thank you Weiss," Candy smiled tensely back.
"I'm always happy to help resolve problems," Weiss said, her smile just as fake, "For my slower classmates."
"Yes, you always just seem to know how to get in my way," Candy giggled, "I-I mean, help me on my way!"
Megister went back to his lecture, as Candy fumed and Weiss smirked. Jaune shook his head as he focused back on the lesson.
By the end, Megister dismissed the class with some readings for homework. The girls took their time filing out, naturally, so Jaune was stuck in his row until Weiss moved.
"Miss Schnee, a word please?"
"Of course, Professor Megister!" Weiss gushed happily. Her smile grew at the grumbling of the other girls as they filed out. Jaune got up, headed out, but lingered by the door.
Sure, Weiss was... An enemy? A friend? A... Frienemy? But his big brother instincts were telling him to stick around. If only for blackmail material later.
"Thank you for helping in class, Miss Schnee," Megister said, sounding genuinely grateful, "I get inundated with so many requests for help it can be hard to stay on task."
"Not to worry, Professor," Weiss said, as smooth as silk, "I know the struggles of dealing with... So many drains on one's personal time! Honestly, between your own classwork and your duties as a professor, you probably need some kind of assistance!"
Gods, she wasn't even trying to be subtle.
"It would be nice," he sighed. "I am allowed to appoint a student as a classroom assistant. I've gotten a lot of applications but none of them really want to focus on the work."
"Oh?" Weiss said, a touch too loud, "I-I mean, really?"
"Yeah, they're all girls who have the wrong idea about what the role entails, and none of them have the indepth knowledge required," Megister said, "Just... Girls with crushes."
"O-Oh! Yeah, that... That is the worst," Weiss said, probably nodding furiously.
"But you actually know your Dust, Miss Schnee," he said. "And you're meticulously organized. It might cut into some of your free time on the weekends, as I might need a lab assistant too-"
"Nonono! That-That is perfectly acceptable!" Weiss said happily.
A tall, green haired woman walked up, silent as a stalking cat. She smiled warmly at Jaune.
"Hello, Jaune Arc, right?"
"That's me," Jaune said with a smile, "Hello Professor Moisia."
While Jaune didn't have any of her classes, she was always a kind, friendly assistant teacher and knew everyone's names.
The archer/sniper for Team SLVR looked into the classroom.
"I was just waiting for Simin to finish so we could... Get..."
Her eyes narrowed as she saw how Weiss was fawning over Megister. Her hands twitched, as though she wished to reach for her Bladed Compound Sniper Bow she kept folded up on her back at all times.
"Oh!" Megister smiled. "Hey Vella! Miss Schnee here and I were talking about her becoming my assistant."
"Oh? Were you?" Moisia asked, forcing a smile on her face. She walked up to Weiss, her eyes locked onto the Schnee heiress like she was calculating how many arrows she could fit into her all at once
"Ah, um, yes Professor Moisia," Weiss said quickly, "I thought I could help him with his work, since he's also a student like you! And uh, I-I have a great deal of Dust expertise myself-!"
"It... Would mean you'd get more time on the weekends, Vella," Megister said, as though he knew there was a ticking time bomb in front of him but wasn't sure why, "You wouldn't have to help me out in the lab, given your class load."
Moisia... Sagged a bit. Her anger vanished from her eyes, but sadness replaced it.
"Oh yes, that would be nice. How thoughtful," Moisia said quietly.
Jaune mentally sighed. He'd seen that look on his older sister's faces a lot, too. Moisia would be crying in private soon.
Godsdamnit... I am too nice.
"Hey Weiss!" Jaune called out brightly, entering the classroom, "We're running late for lunch!"
"I-Uh-You-" Weiss tried. Jaune strode up alongside her, and wrapped an arm around her small shoulders.
"Sorry, we just started dating and she's so nervous about it all," Jaune confided. Weiss's eyes widened.
"We're what-?!"
"Oh! You... You have a boyfriend already!" Vella said, eyes wide. She smiled brightly to Megister. "That's a relief! After the last assistant-!"
"Yes, I know," Megister said with a quick nod to move along from the subject as quickly as possible, "Miss Schnee, that's wonderful for you two. Consider yourself my assistant. I'll see you here bright and early next class to run through your duties."
"I-You-Really? I-Thank you!" Weiss said, nodding as she tried to figure out the turmoil of emotions inside of her.
"Just uh, keep it on the downlow for us, huh? She's the Schnee heiress, I'm just some guy," Jaune said, but Megister and Moisia just waved it off.
"No, no, we completely understand," Megister said.
"Though, until she's fully trained on her duties," Moisia said with a smile, "I'll still help you out in the lab, Simin. You do have a tendency to over do things, after all. And a student can't really order a teacher to bed, can she?"
Megister smiled back.
"No... No, I suppose she can't," he said.
Jaune quickly guided Weiss out of the classroom. He had to give her credit-She managed to hold off on screaming at him for about three minutes.
"What was that?!" Weiss growled. Jaune shrugged.
"Me getting you what you wanted!"
"But-But saying we're dating-!"
"I'm lying, Weiss! I'd never date you!" Jaune insisted, "But at the very least, you're not a threat to Megister and Moisia's thing!"
"What thing?! They're... They're friends! They always insist upon that!" Weiss shot back.
Jaune rolled his eyes.
"Did she look like she was 'just friends' with him? I was trying to save you from getting 'accidentally' shot in the eyes by her, Princess! Show a little gratitude!"
"I..." Weiss ground her teeth, almost audibly. She sighed. "I... Well... You apparently got me the position so... Thank you. I guess."
She wagged her finger at him.
"But if you think you can take liberties with me just for the sake of my career, you've got another thing coming!"
Professor Moisia rounded the corner... And Weiss immediately grabbed Jaune's arm and put it around her shoulders.
"Hello Professor, how are you?" Weiss asked.
Moisia beamed.
"Just fine! I'm so glad you'll be helping Simin and myself! Though uh... Don't worry about the weekends too much, all right? I can handle his needs."
I'm sure you can, Jaune thought.
"Yes, yes, of course," Weiss said with a nod. Moisia smiled at Weiss kindly.
"And I'll try not to keep you from your boyfriend too often."
"Th... Thank you," Weiss muttered, blushing in anger.
"Yeah, we're just so attached," Jaune chuckled, "Sometimes she just loses control and drags me off! She puts up this front of hating me but she can't get enough-URK!"
Weiss drove her elbow into his gut and her foot onto his.
"Yes, and sometimes he just can't keep his mouth shut," Weiss giggled.
Moisia nodded, beaming.
"Well... Good luck you two," she said, heading off with a skip in her step.
The moment she was gone, Jaune pulled his arm off her and elbowed her back in her ribs.
"OW! You monster! I'll claim you're an abusive boyfriend!"
"Five minutes of listening to you, they'll know why!"
Yang Xiao-Long was surprised, but not unpleasantly, when she saw Jaune standing in the gym early on Tuesday morning. She jogged over to him as she yawned.
"Hey Crybaby!"
"Hey Firecracker," Jaune replied. Like many of the other students, he didn't look like much of a morning person. "Ugh... Close Combat Training Class?"
"You know it," Yang grinned, "He had to cancel the first few at the start of the year, but here we are now! Yo, Ren!"
Ren stood next to Jaune, his typical stoic self. He inclined his head to Yang.
"Hello Yang. It is a pleasure to see you this morning."
"Same," Yang grinned, "I'm pumped about this class, ya know? Goodwitch is pretty cool and all, but I don't feel like I get to really refine my skills, ya know?"
"Indeed," Ren said with a nod, "I have heard that Professor Arcadia is a close combat expert."
"Sounds good, I need all the help I can get," Jaune muttered. Yang bumped him with her shoulder in a friendly way.
"Come on, you're not that bad."
"Nah, but I need to be better," he said.
"That's what we're all here for, Jaune," Ren said.
The rest of the students milled around, before the doors to the gym slammed open. A tall, tanned, blonde wolf Faunus man looked around at them. He was dressed in gym clothes from the school, and had his gauntlets hanging from his belt. He walked up to the front of the gym, where a simple desk and chair had been set up.
"Sit down," he ordered gruffly. The students all complied as the teacher came up to the table. He grabbed the edge of it, and flipped it over with a bang, making most of the students jumped. He grabbed the chair, and dragged it up closer. He sat down, and glared into the crowd.
"So I can look you in the eyes," he stated. "I am Professor Lycan Arcadia. I am your Close Combat Teacher. Now, some of you are going to function as tanks: Taking hits and dishing out damage to protect your teammates or civilians. Some of you are going to deal damage up close and personal. Some of you just suck at close combat and want to get better. I'm here to say... Whatever your reason for being here? It's a good one."
He leaned back a little in his chair.
"You might be a prodigy with your fists. Or you just want to not go down like a bitch to one hit. As long as you know what you can do and work hard, you can become stronger. Because at the end of the day, even without Aura, weapons, or your Semblance, you still have your fists and your brains. So you still have a chance to survive and win."
He narrowed his eyes and growled low in his throat.
"Don't think it won't happen to you, because it will. Professor Port's got endless stories about Hunters who got cocky and died horribly. The world out there is not friendly, and it's not nice. When things go bad, you gotta know how to survive."
Lycan shook his head.
"There are going to be days where you lose. You get to the village too late, and everyone's dead. You find a survivor, and he's bleeding out, and the best you can promise him is a quick, painless death. You're gonna have days where you are outnumbered and have to retreat, or your team falls apart and you have to pull yourselves back together... Or die. My team's been through all that and survived."
He lowered his voice at all the shocked looks.
"It's okay to be scared. Everyone's scared. What matters is if you can control your fear, and push past it to do what needs to be done. Close Combat will be the first choice for many of you. For others, it will be the last choice. So if you're gonna rely on it, you'd better make sure you don't completely suck at it."
Lycan stood up.
"You can't count on some mysterious power erupting out of you like a shitty Mistralian comic at your most desperate hour. And no one can do everything all by themselves. That's why we have teams. So, if you suck at close combat, that's fine. I'll teach you to suck less. If you're amazing, you can always be better. It's okay to be scared. It's not okay to not try."
Yang's eyes were wide. This guy was hardcore.
"Right, with that out of the way," Lycan stated, "Since this is our first class, we're gonna go through some basic demonstrations of close combat fighting techniques." His eyes locked onto her. "Xiao-Long, right?"
"Right, uh, Professor!"
"Get up here," Lycan stated firmly. Yang complied, strutting up to face him. He nodded to her.
"Taught by your father, Taiyang Xiao-Long, right?"
"Yes Professor."
"Northern Valean Kickboxing, right?" Lycan asked. Yang, surprised, nodded quickly.
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
"It's my job," he deadpanned. He nodded. "Hit me."
Yang blinked.
"Uh, Professor-?"
"You hard of hearing, Xiao-Long?" Lycan scoffed. "Hit me!"
Yang blinked. She shrugged.
Well, it has been a long-time fantasy of mine to punch a teacher out...
She swung her fist for Lycan's face... He blurred and put a fist right into her face!
Yang was so shocked she barely got her Aura up to tank the hit. She was still slammed onto her back onto the matted floor, as the class gasped.
"That the best you can do, Party Girl?" Lycan sneered.
She rose, her eyes red and hair glowing like fire.
"All right, you asked for it," she seethed. She was back up in an instant and throwing punches in a furious counter attack. Lycan blocked or dodged through the strikes, and jumped or parried her kicks.
Yang leaped up and delivered two hard, fast kicks he blocked. She landed and dropped down to sweep his legs, but he jumped up. She recovered first as he landed, and lunged!
He again dodged, and then struck back furiously in her style. She parried with some jabs and bobbed and weaved.
Finally, she saw him overextend a punch. She grinned ferally as she lunged.
"GOTCHAAAHHH?!"
He dropped and in a single motion, grabbed her wrist, swept her forward foot, and pushed on her shoulder from behind. She saw floor, students, and then ceiling before she was slammed down with a yelp as he slammed his fist into her stomach and her Aura flared.
"GAH!"
"Yang!" Jaune shouted.
Her Semblance dissipated, as Lycan stood over her. He held out a hand, and she frowned before she took it and let him pull her up.
"Semblances that boost your power, speed, and other physical attributes when you get hit, or get mad, can turn the tide in a fight," Lycan said, "Xiao-Long here could probably punch her way through a herd of Ursa in that state without any issue. But! You gotta be careful about agile enemies, and more importantly? Smart enemies. If you lose your head, they won't. Learn to master the power in all situations, and it'll be a boon, not a weakness."
He nodded.
"Step on down, Xiao-Long."
"Y-yeah, thanks," Yang managed. She walked slowly, as the pain from the final hit was still aching deep in her guts. Jaune frowned.
"You okay?" He muttered.
"Just my pride, Crybaby," Yang managed. "You got more of that-?"
Jaune produced the bottle of ache-soothing lotion. Yang grinned.
"Hahaha... Guess I got... Schooled, huh? Hahaha-Oh it hurts to laugh..."
"Right, Ren? Get up here," Lycan ordered. Ren stood up and walked calmly up in front of the class. Lycan nodded.
"Central Mistralian Kung-Fu, am I right?"
"Yes sir," Ren replied evenly.
"Also, self-taught Aura projection technique?"
"Yes sir."
"All right. Hit me."
Ren didn't even hesitate, throwing an open palm strike at Lycan's face in an attempt to break his nose. Lycan slapped the strike away, as their Auras flared out of their hands. Ren threw another strike, a punch, a feint, advancing on his feet like he was skating. Lycan threw some palm strikes and punches right back, Ren also slapping them away.
With every touch, Aura crackled from their hands-Lycan's a burning gold, Ren's a bright pink.
Ren kept dodging around, throwing hits back at Lycan. They scored some strikes here and there on eachother's extremities, but nothing serious. Jaune rubbed the lotion into Yang's stomach, and she sighed in relief.
"Thanks, that's a lot better..."
Lycan then abruptly changed styles, throwing fierce, reckless strikes with his elbows and knees, along with punches and kicks. Ren, taken off guard, was forced onto the defensive. He tried to change his style a bit, but Lycan switched again-Now he staggered about recklessly, like he was drunk and furious, moving in completely unpredictable ways!
Ren did a flip over Lycan's head to try and grab his shoulders, but Lycan grabbed his hands first and surged his Aura. He slammed Ren down to the mat, the usually stoic boy yelping in surprise.
"All right, all right," Lycan nodded, as Ren lay on the ground, "That was good, Ren. Your style is so refined, so perfected, you could fight like that in your sleep. You keep your Aura tightly controlled." He swung his arms around with a wince before he held his hand out to Ren.
"I am definitely gonna be feeling that," he grunted. "Now... Can anyone tell the class why Ren lost?"
Yang's hand shot up.
"Xiao-Long?"
"Because you kept changing up your styles," Yang explained, "Muay-Thai, Drunken Boxing, and Judo. And Ren's locked into his."
Lycan nodded.
"Ren?"
"I concur," Ren stated calmly, "Your shifting fighting styles caught me off guard, and forced me onto the defensive. I tried to take to the air where I thought I would have the advantage, but you most likely anticipated that."
"I did," Lycan said with a wolfy grin, "Now, not saying you gotta drop your style and start working on others right now. You're well on your way to mastery of your art, and it's damn good. But, you gotta be aware that thinking enemies will change up their tactics and fighting styles to counter yours. Fighting with a team reduces the risk of getting outmatched like that, but never be afraid to have some trump cards. Something unexpected, even as simple as Dust canisters to use as flashbangs. Go sit down."
Ren walked back to Yang and Jaune, and sat down next to them. Yang grinned.
"Wow! You were doing great there, Ren!"
"Yes, it was a useful lesson," Ren said with a nod.
"He means he enjoyed it," Jaune deadpanned.
"I thought I said that?"
Yang and Jaune snickered.
"ARC! Get up here!"
"Oh crap," Jaune groaned. Yang grinned and clapped him on the back.
"Go get 'im, Tiger!"
"Thanks," Jaune sighed. He got up and walked to the front of the class. Lycan looked Jaune up and down.
"You're a sword and board guy, right Arc?"
"Yes sir."
"Got a lot of Aura and stamina?"
"I-I guess?"
"Heard you used pressure points on Winchester."
Jaune shrugged.
"Ah, from my medical training-"
"Hit me."
Jaune sucked in a deep breath, and put up his fists.
"All right!"
He swung... Lycan parried and slammed a fist into Jaune's gut. He coughed but managed to stay on his feet. He spat at Lycan's face, and swung again. Lycan dodged out of the way and landed another hit on Jaune that he barely blocked... Before Lycan swung a kick into his stomach again.
"GACK!"
"Come on, come on!" Lycan growled. Jaune saw red. He swung furiously, his Aura burning from his fists... But Lycan dodged or slapped away every hit and delivered more strikes on Jaune.
His knees hurt, his stomach screamed in pain... He kept going, determined to not look like a loser!
Lycan tried to trap his arm to Judo throw him, but Jaune swung his head at Lycan's. Lycan, grinning, swung his head right back.
WHACK!
Jaune saw stars as his Aura flared. He got his arms back up as Lycan pummeled him. Jaune again tried to swing and threw out kicks, but it all felt like flailing as he hit nothing. Finally, he got a punch right to his stomach, and his knees wouldn't cooperate anymore. He fell down, hard.
His Aura surged to heal him, as he looked up weakly at Lycan. The professor reached down, and Jaune took his hand. He was pulled to his feet, gasping for breath.
"All right... Good determination," Lycan said with a nod, "When you're up against a better opponent, and you can't afford to stay down? You stay on your feet and try whatever you can. You never give up..." He shook his head. "But you need a fuckton of work, Arc. You can throw around a LOT of power, but it won't matter if you can't land a hit."
"R-Right," Jaune managed. Lycan clapped Jaune on the shoulder (which hurt), and nodded.
"Step on down, Arc."
Jaune staggered over to the worried Yang and concerned Ren. Yang helped Jaune as he sat down.
"You okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Jaune managed.
"Don't feel discouraged," Ren said, "You kept going through hits that would probably have taken us down much sooner."
"Good to know you're tough," Yang said with a grin.
"Or too stupid to know when to quit," Jaune groaned, searching for his water bottle in his messenger bag as another student fought Lycan.
"That can be an asset as well," Ren said. Yang beamed brilliantly as Jaune found his water bottle, and unscrewed it.
"Besides, look on the bright side!"
"What?" Jaune asked, tipping back the water bottle.
"You'll get me to massage that pain killing lotion all over your body~."
Jaune spewed his drink.
"Seriously Yang?!"
The blonde cackled... Then held her own stomach.
"Haha... Still hurts to laugh... Worth it...!"
It can be risky to have an OC defeat our heroes in a fight, but I think I provided enough context and set the stage so it doesn't come off as wankery.
Once again, please refer to SVLR on YouTube to learn more about these OCs.