I bet you've all been wondering where I've been. Well to tell you the truth I've actually not been on this site for a little bit because I kinda hit a mental block on what I wanted to write about. I've just haven't felt any motivation to write for awhile now in regards to RWBY content and that's mostle do to the long wait for Vol 9. Now that it's up and going though I can honestly say I am enjoying myself.

I'm sorry but that cat most curious and Weiss are just stealing the show. Anyways enough with my babble and on with the chapter.


3 months seemed like a really long time if you had nothing better to do then watch the clock tick down everyday. But when you spent everyday working hard for one purpose only...well things just tended to fly by even faster then before. That's what it felt like to him now that he stood here in the training room for what would be the last time before his academy days began. Jaune took it all in, from the flat field with no obstructions to the two people with him on this final day. Winter was as calm as could be expected of her and Weiss was making final preparations for the fight ahead.

The young Arc had already done his final checks on his gear and let his eyes wander to the white haired heiress beside him. A lot had happened between them to say the least and overtime she had come to trust her back to him as he did her. Seeing as this was the last few days before her departure to Beacon, they were both determined to end it on a high note. He knew he was asking for a lot especially since their opponent was none other then the strongest specialist in Atlas but the blonde couldn't help but hope for the best at the very least.

Weiss spun Myrtenasters dials to make sure everything was in working order before closing her blade. She closed her eye's soon after and took a deep breath before a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. It was comforting and familiar which was funny since a few months ago she hadn't felt anything close to this when they first met. Just thinking back on how they use to be and how far they had come was enough to bring a smile to her face. A friend. She never expected to find her first real friend this way but she really couldn't imagine it happening any other way.

"Don't get too excited" Jaune warned. Weiss turned to the blonde and smirked, "you don't need to tell me that you know, and besides those words are best suited for yourself". When she looked up at him she saw a very serious expression that no doubt hid the fact that he was anxious and ready to get the fight started. Weiss tapped his chest plate with the back of her free hand, "Take a deep breath and control yourself better, you know what they say about haste don't you"? Jaune met her gaze and smiled "it makes waste I know, I know". Sure, on the outside it looked like he played it off as a joke but in truth he took her words to heart and followed through by taking a deep breath to calm himself.

Winter pulled her saber free catching the duo's attention. "I take it the two of you are ready now? If this was an enemy in the field they'd have long since attacked you both by now".

"No doubt your right about that but luckily this isn't the field" Jaune fired back with a large grin. Weiss nudged his side with her elbow, "remember the plan". The plan. The one thing they both been working on since they decided to win this match. "I haven't forgotten" he assured her before taking hold of Crocea Mors handle. The blades guard locked into place and the shield morphed into a large blade as the handle in Jaunes hand extended. Weiss took a few steps back as Jaune twirled the newly formed weapon around and settled into a new stance. Crocea Mors lance edition was finally about to make it's debut.

There was a slight rise in Winter's eyebrows that didn't go missed by the blonde. Of course he'd caught her by surprise with his weapons new form, he'd made sure never to reveal it to her in the first place for this very reason. "Alright here I come"! Jaune announced before charging straight for his teacher at full speed. Winter wasn't impressed in the slightest, in fact she was a little disappointed that her student would have the gall to announce his head forward assault like that in the first place. With a swing of her sword she created an ice wall that blocked Jaune's path.

The young Arc wasn't deterred in the slightest as he twirled his lance between his fingers before grabbing hold of it with both hands and released an aura slash that shattered the wall with ease. To Jaunes surprise Winter hadn't moved from her spot at all, in fact what surprised him even more was when four summoned beowolves leaped over what remained of the wall to engage him.

Winter was sure her summoned beowolves would grant her a few moments to fight her sister but to her surprise that thought was shot down when all four of her beowolves were literally skewered with blades made of ice. In the distance Weiss had six glyphs at the ready to provide her partner with back up so he wouldn't have to stop his charge. Jaunes grin grew wider as he flew past the dead Grimm and reached his target before they hit the ground. With both hands Jaune swung the lance and smashed his blade against Winter's when she blocked his attack.

The weight behind Jaunes attack was much more then she had anticipated and even when she blocked using both hands on her saber Winter felt her feet slide back. Her heels scraped against the floor as she tried to stop herself but apparently Jaune's upper body strength was more then enough to overpower her's. Winter then leaned her blade to the right and turned the blondes attack away when it was clear she couldn't hold him back any longer.

With only a mere millisecond of reprieve from her students attack Winter moved her left hand under her saber and detached the secondary blade hidden within the first. While the deflection left the blonde off balance Jaune saw Winter aim the shorter blade for his neck and used the extended handle of his lance to block her strike. He then pushed the specialist back before spinning the lance between his fingers to confuse her from his next move. Jumping forward Jaune took his lance and stabbed it into the floor in front of him. A purple pulse from the gravity dust in his lance sent him front flipping into the air above the specialist where he released another aura slash mid flip.

Winter jumped to the right and dodged the attack before creating a glyph under herself that shot her towards the blonde. As she did she looked towards Weiss from the corner of her eye just to be sure she wasn't going to be attacked from behind. Weiss hadn't moved from her spot but instead had her left hand out, lost in whatever it was she was doing. That settled it then. Her sister had decided to go into this as support while Jaune would attack to keep her distracted from attacking the most dangerous of the two.

It was a pleasant change though because normally her little sister had a really bad habit of jumping in even though she knew her close range fighting abilities were not better then most. Weiss's greatest abilities were centered around her long range attacks and ability to use her glyphs to impede her enemies movements. Winter focused back on the blonde and thrusted with both of her weapons for Jaunes chest. Before she could reach him however a white glyph appeared under the blondes feet, with it the young Arc kicked off and dodged Winter's attack.

"Weiss has definitely gotten better at the whole working together aspect of things even more then before. Or maybe you've both been holding back to make me drop my guard? Whatever the case, I am impressed" Winter said as she created a new glyph that shot her in the direction of her sister. Jaune quickly righted himself and landed on the floor before yelling out a warning. It was a kind gesture but Weiss didn't really need it when she could clearly see her sister flying her way. That being said Weiss already planned for such an occurrence and aimed the six glyphs floating around her at her sister.

The glyphs fired out six swords made of ice simultaneously, each aimed to strike at her sister from six different directions. Winter scoffed at the attack because it seemed Weiss had forgotten one important fact, that she too was a Schnee. Six glyphs appeared around Winter as she soared through the air and aimed at the incoming ice blades. The plan was a simple one a) cancel out Weiss's attack and b) engage and defeat her sister before Jaune could provide backup. It was simple...or at least it should have been. Before Winter could fire off her own ice blades a white light pierced through one of her glyphs and shattered it, leaving only five ice blades to shoot down five of her sisters.

The last ice sword found no obstacle in it's way and struck true, stabbing Winters shoulder and causing her to spin wildly in the air. The specialist quickly created a new glyph and used it as a platform to regain her balance. She was definitely surprised at what happened a moment ago. Weiss landing an attack on her was surprising to be sure but what really got her was how quickly Jaunes own attack caught up to her. The release of aura she observed during their tests was nowhere near fast enough to catch up to her with her enhanced speed via glyph. So then how-?

Winter broke out of her thoughts when Weiss flew up behind her and used wind dust to blow the elder Schnee straight through her own glyph and down to the ground. The teamwork they were using was on a whole new level then when they had first started. A part of her still believed that it was only a front to get her approval because she knew just how difficult Weiss could be. But after seeing how well they coordinated their attacks and how well they watched out for each other, there was no questioning how wrong she was. "In the end it was my undoing for assuming the worst in them" she grumble as she looked up to her student who had reached her quickly via her sister's glyphs.

Weiss's ability to use their families semblance had grown exponentially in their time together. In fact Winter couldn't help but smile because in time she knew that Weiss could definitely surpass her in it's use.

Off balance and feeling the pain of Weiss's attacks, Winter blocked with both of her blades for what little good it did. The second Jaune's lance connected with Winters sabers and an aura slash was released at close range, all but blowing open her guard and leaving her wide open. She expected for Jaune to deliver the second blow where she would roll with the attack then retreat to formulate a better strategy to fight back with. Unfortunately she never got the chance. A fist the size of Winters entire body struck her from the side and sent her crashing into the wall with such force that she smashed the wall inwards.

Her aura protected her from most of the damage but even then she felt all the bones in her body creaking from the impact. Winter pushed herself out of the wall and dropped to the floor on one knee, taking a moment to pull herself together. She should have known better. These two were trained by her and the Ace Ops for several months so when they wasted no time in coming up with their next line of attack, she wasn't all that surprised. Winter looked up and saw at least 10 to 15 Arma Gigas's the size of regular foot soldiers bare their blades in her direction.

Looking passed them she noticed Jaune had switched roles with Weiss and stood behind her, offering his semblance as support to fuel her summoning ability. On either side of the heiress two large Arma Gigas's stood as guardians in case their creator came under attack. Winter had never been very childish even as a kid but right now she couldn't help but feel like this was somehow cheating.

Weiss hoisted Myrtenaster up and pointed it at the ceiling before swinging it down to point at her sister. As if given an invisible signal the group of Arma Gigas's charged forth to do their creators bidding. Winter would've loved to create her own servants to fight for her but such a thing was impossible because it would take too much time at the moment. Resolving herself, the specialist strengthened her grip on both her blades and met her sister's summon's head on.

The strength and skill of Atlas's best specialist was on full display as Winter fought and cut her way through the group of summons. Using her semblance, Winter flashed past three Arma Gigas's and left them dissolving as she slid to a stop. Another summon came from behind and slashed at her torso but Winter blocked it easily enough and redirected the attack towards the floor where the blade got stuck in the ground. Right when she was about to counter, another Arma Gigas's attack from her other side. The specialist stepped on the first summons blade and back flipped off of it to dodge the seconds attack.

When in the air she created a glyph under her feet at just the right angle to launch herself forward to cut through both Arma Gigas's at the same time. Weiss gritted her teeth at the sheer skill her sister possessed and wondered how it was even possible for them to win at this point. Earlier on they held their own because Winter had underestimated them, but now that she was taking them seriously it felt like their chances of winning were steadily dropping with each passing second.

Jaune noticed his partners concentration beginning to slip because of how her aura began to shift and the way her Arma Gigas's began to slow in their attacks. He could understand since he too was watching Winter rip through the small army they'd created. Even still he knew just how important it was that they continued. "Weiss don't stop now, continue to create more Arma Gigas's and attack just like before". Weiss looked back and met his eyes. No words were exchanged but when Jaune rested a hand on her shoulder and nodded, Weiss knew that things were going to work out just fine for them.

Focusing back on what she was tasked with the heiress did as she was told and created five knew Arma Gigas's to replace the five her sister destroyed. Normally a feat like this would have already drained her of all of her stamina but luckily Jaune's semblance made such a thing possible. The new summons raced off to continue the fight as before and as time march on the results of their plan were beginning to bare fruit.

Two Arma Gigas's swung their blades with full force, and even when Winter blocked she was thrown back by the summons attack. Sweat dripped down the specialists chin and she found it hard to catch her breath because the next pair of Arma Gigas's were already on her. Winter dodged the first strike but because her movements had started to slow from fighting for so long she couldn't get out of the way quick enough and received a shoulder bash to her chest.

She wasn't about to let a half baked summon take her down so she lunged forward as soon as she could and tried to cut the Arma Gigas that attack her down. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be because the first Arma Gigas of the duo got in between them and locked blades with her. Winter gritted her teeth at the pure absurdity of the situation she found herself in. No matter how many she cut down more would show up to take their place.

Under such circumstances taking out the summoner would have been the most logical choice, but the fact that the summons implemented team tactics was something she never knew was possible. They kept her at bay and forced her to concentrate on them unless she wanted to feel their blades on her aura. The sheer number of summons she was facing was mind boggling as well, even more that Weiss could command them all as easily as she was.

Two other Arma Gigas's circled around the specialist and launched an attack while she was distracted. One slashed at her back while the other went for the calf, causing the elder Schnee to lose out on the sword lock she was in and tumble backwards. Without a wasted moment the Arma Gigas's dog piled on her and restrained the specialist. Even going so far as to disarm her while they held her down. The battle appeared over from the heiress's point of view until a giant glyph appeared under Winter and the summons bodies and sent everything flying into the air.

In the air Winter righted herself with the help of another glyph and launched herself past the floating bodies of Weiss's summons. Along the way she caught her blades that had been caught in her glyphs range and dived down on her little sister. Weiss's eyes widened as she realized that this was her sister's plan. Desperate but ingenious. She couldn't get past all those summons so she bet it all on one final gambit. Creating a glyph that size without Jaune's assistance must have drained her considerably, but if it got her close enough to end the summoners concentration it would be well worth it.

The two giant Arma Gigas's on her sides tried to shield her but couldn't block Winters speedy assault in time. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Weiss crossed her arms and tried to think of a way to somehow stay in control. Her sister was too close to counter and as her mind whirled with different ideas to fight back, none would help in the short amount of time she had before she was struck by her sister's swords. All was lost. All their planning and everything that relied on her keeping her sister occupied with her semblance would fall because she couldn't see what her sister was planning.

Something happened. She didn't know how or why but the second she felt Winter's blade touch her her aura exploded outward and repelled her attacker with enough force to send Winter flying backwards. Weiss couldn't believe it at first but that was until she recognized the sensation she was feeling. Like a breath of fresh air entered her lungs and the way she felt like she could almost fly if she wanted. She turned back in time to see Jaune take a knee as he gasped for air. He'd focused all his aura into his palm and with his semblance, gifted it to her in the brief second before Winters attack.

Jaune's aura crackled and shattered a moment later, putting him out of the fight for good and leaving everything on her shoulders. Weiss turned back to Winter and focused the upsurge of aura into this final gambit of her own. She commanded all of her summons to attack all at once without reserve, as if they were to kill instead of defeat knowing that anything less would see her own sister win the day. It was brutal to watch her summons beat down on Winter when it was clear the specialist was reeling from the the sudden wall of aura she flew into.

She couldn't stop though, not if she wanted to win. The time limit for how long the surge of aura she was feeling came near it's end but by then the deed was done and Weiss had her summons stop their attacks. Winter laid on the ground motionless but breathing. The Arma Gigas's surrounding her held their blades up in front of their faces and slowly started to vanish into dust just as Winters aura shattered. The relief of the battle being over sucked the strength right out of her and Weiss dropped to the floor. She couldn't help but chuckle at their hard earned win and fell back to lay on the ground.

To her surprise she didn't get very far because she ended up hitting something warm and hard. When two hand's rested on her shoulders she quickly realized that she had fallen on her partner. "Great work Weiss". She felt his words reverberate from his chest and his breath atop her head. He was too close but right now she really couldn't have cared less. They won and that was all that mattered.

/

"Why hasn't she woken up yet"?!

"Weiss even with aura, our bodies can only handle so much punishment before it gives out. She'll be okay though, I promise".

Winter cracked one eye open in time to see her little sister starring down at her with a worried expression. "I only did what I thought was necessary you know? Winter is so strong and if I didn't capitalize on that opening I was sure we would have lost".

Jaune chuckled lightly as he adjusted Winter's head so she rested better on his rolled up jacket. "Weiss I wasn't criticizing you or anything, just wanted to make sure you knew who was responsible for this". The heiress turned his way and leveled a glare that could have frightened any young child into submission. Unfortunately it didn't seem to have the same effect on the blonde if his grin was anything to go by. Jaune turned towards the sleeping specialist and raised a brow, "although if it makes you feel any better Weiss, I'm sure your sister won't hold it against you, right Winter"?

Weiss's eyes widened in surprise before her head shot downward towards her sister in time to see Winter let out a sigh. Realizing her attempt to pretend she was still asleep failed, the specialist opened her eyes and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her body wasn't hurting much which meant Jaune probably had enough time to recover his aura and heal her while she was out. "I probably don't need to ask but I will anyways. What gave me away"? Jaune smiled and pointed towards her chest, "you slowed your breathing so you could hear us better" he answered honestly. "Most people don't control their breathing when their asleep, so besides that I probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise".

A glyph appeared under the blonde and before he could react he was sent flying uncontrollably through the air. Winter looked to her side to see Weiss with a red face and her hand outstretched in the blondes direction. "HOW DARE YOU PERV ON MY SISTER"! She roared. Luckily Jaune's aura protected him from the worst of his fall, but afterwards he didn't seem like he was in any hurry to rejoin them. Probably from fear of being thrown again upon his return. Their actions towards each other - though juvenile - spoke of enough trust between them to allow their walls to part. It wasn't something she'd foreseen happening this quickly but it was something the older Schnee was glad for nonetheless.

"Alright you two bring it in. We have much to discuss in regards to your changes in abilities for one, but also the plan you came up with for our fight". Mostly she wanted to know when it was they had the time to develop these new capabilities at all when they were embroiled in training with the Ace Ops daily. Then there was the change in Jaune's weapon as well. She was never informed of a mechashift function that required a change in fighting style. If she had known they could have prepared a course to better train him in how to use this new lance form of his.

Although it would have taken more time it would have also been worth it to get him to a more proficient level. Winters thoughts came to a halt when she remembered that Jaune actually held his own quite well in their fight using said lance. It spoke of practice that she was unaware of. Even more than that it meant he'd deliberately disobeyed her orders and went beyond what any normal person should have been able to handle. The amount of overwork his body must have been under would've dropped anyone else in his position.

His semblance was truly beyond the norm. That fact became more and more apparent with how quickly the young Arc was improving.

The three of them finally got together in the middle of the ring after Weiss promise not to send Jaune flying off of Atlas for his past discussion began once all were seated and the specialist found herself speechless as the two recounted all that they had hidden. Winter cupped her chin and hummed, deep in thought after what Weiss and Jaune just divulged to her. "So I was right in thinking mother had a hand in your recent development" Winter said as she looked to her sister. When Weiss nodded, the specialist looked to their resident blonde for a second before eyeing his weapon.

So much was happening behind the scenes that she didn't know about and that made her defeat a forgone conclusion in her mind. With all that she knew before the fight she'd almost believed for certain that she could defeat them both. Being caught unaware could tip any battle in another's favor, a lesson she should have been prepared for. One she was sure to never make again in the future.

"Still, who was it that taught you to wield your lance properly? I'm almost certain that I haven't seen many people use a weapon like that, especially here in Atlas". Thinking about it clearly, she'd never heard about anyone using a lance as a weapon except in fairy tails and in the old days when kings ran the kingdoms. Jaune hadn't turned his weapon back to it's original state which allowed her to inspect it more clearly. The shield itself had changed to become the blade that almost looked like a giant arrow head resting on a pole.

"Actually Penny was the one who helped me with that. She downloaded various lessons and ways of fighting down into her...her favorite training bot" he said quickly to cover up the fact that Penny wasn't a normal girl. "The bot followed a carefully placed lesson plan that I studied and practiced alone for the past couple of months. Doctor Polendina was against it at first but after I explained myself, he eventually allowed it".

Winter nodded to his word's and made a note to gather all relevant data on Jaune's weapon to turn over to the General by the days end. They then moved on to discussing the fight and what they all could improve on, as well as what they learned from the battle as a whole. By the the end of it they'd spent more than ten minutes in the room together before finally being dismissed to enjoy the rest of the day.

Weiss and Jaune thanked their instructor for all that she'd done for them before making their way outside the training room where they were met by the rest of their team.

Ilia looked between the two before crossing her arms, "so things are finally over then"? Jaune nodded and smiled. "And not a moment too soon if you ask me, now we can move on to today's main event. The celebration". The edges of Weiss's lips curved upwards slightly as she nodded in agreement. "We've all worked our butt's of these past few months, and to see the end of our training finally pay off I'd say we deserve as much". Penny was nearly vibrating in place with a large smile on her face, "then what are we waiting for? Let's go and enjoy an exhilarating day with friends" she said happily.

Honestly the sheer amount of joy the robo girl showed was enough to bring a smile to anyone's face. Which is why the mood took a sudden U-turn when all their scrolls began to ring in unison.

The four pulled out their scrolls and looked at their respective screens. Each caller I.D was different from the last but each of the callers belonged to a group in which they were very familiar with. The Ace Ops. The four answered at the same time allowing Harriet, Marrow, Vine and Clover's faces to appear on their screens. "Should have figured they'd all be together, but if that's the case it's all on you leader" Harriet said before hanging up on them. Marrow and Vine followed Harriet's lead and Hung up, leaving Clover's call on Weiss's scroll the only one active.

The four students exchange confused looks with each other before hurdling around the heiress's scroll.

"Well" Clover started awkwardly "seeing as I have everyone attention already I'd like to request that all of you report to Atlas's fifth docking bay for a meeting with the General. You have an hour before you need to be there so take some time to relax. I know that some of you have been in the training room for a bit so I think I'd be wise to take that into consideration". After passing his words of wisdom, the leader of the Ace Ops said his goodbyes before hanging up the call and leaving them all in silence.

"And there goes our free time" Jaune grumble "but then again I should have expected as much from a military academy". Weiss cupped her chin in thought, "but what do you think their reason is for summoning all of us to the docking bay area? It's a little late to be giving us another mission seeing as I'll be leaving tomorrow. Plus they know we just got done fighting Winter and I doubt it's another team session this late". Jaune nodded along and added his own two cents. "Well they gave us an hour to get ready so whatever it is they want us to show up looking decent".

"It's gotta be a party"! Penny shrieked.

Ilia, Weiss and Jaune shared a look with one another, thought back on all they'd been through with the Ace Ops and finally decided that despite the evidence it was unlikely that Penny's suggestion would happen. "Maybe we're meeting someone important...you know like a member of the council or something" the blonde suggested. They were still pretty famous for the defeat of Adam Taurus so the possibility wasn't exactly as far fetched as it seemed. Though that had been months ago and they hadn't done anything of significance since, there were still people who wanted to talk to them.

"Well I for one wouldn't oppose to a shower" Weiss said to break the silence that started to grow between them. The heiress looked Jaune up and down and nodded to her idea. "Actually it would do us all a world of good to clean up if indeed we are meeting someone noteworthy".

The four agreed in that regards and decided that after a nice shower they'd all meet at the designated location. An hour passed in the blink of an eye and when they all arrived at the entrance to Atlas's fifth docking bay they found themselves speechless. Well all except Penny that is. Confetti that was held up by a glyph from their resident specialist began to pour down on them as the Ace Ops shouted their congratulations. "Called it" the robo girl Cheer as she raced off to hug Elm.

"Hmm, I can tell by the look on your faces that this was the furthest possibility from your mind" Clover said as he handed some canned sodas over. The three couldn't help but feel embarrassed but it was not like they didn't have reasons to think so. Penny returned to their group, having been led back by Elm as they all stood in front of the Ace Ops leader. "We may be officers of the military but we are still people at the end of the day. You've all endured our training and lessons, and although one of you may be heading off to other pastures to continue your training, you are our students".

Weiss felt Jaune's elbow nudge her a little and when she looked to him, she received a small smile. She knew Jaune wouldn't hold it against her and stood a little prouder for having such an understanding friend.

"Even though training with us maybe over, it doesn't mean you all are at the end your journey just yet. Your academy days are about to start and many other trials still await you in the coming days. So let's let this little graduation party be the first of many". Clover turned to his side to reveal the spread of food set behind him and grabbed a can of soda off the table. With a crack he opened it up and held it high, "congratulations".

"CONGRATULATIONS" the rest of the adults cheered.

It had been a long time coming but this was only the beginning.


Don't you just love happy endings? The training chapters are over and now we're on to those wonderful academy days.