Well this is nice, I'd actually wanted to post this before the newest episode came out but some things happened that prevented that. Like my phone burning out before I could upload my finished chapter and having to start over from scratch. Good times. Anyways have you guys seen the latest episode? Not gonna lie I was hoping there'd be a fight seen where I could see by boy showing off his skills. I wasn't disappointed in the least and the emotional stuff that happened after was just the icing on the cake. Even that moment when he said he won't let them down before taking off on his rabbit...deer? thing was pretty cool

This whole volume has been the best I've seen in a long time and I know those bumble bee shippers are going wild out there since their ship has finally sailed. I will say this though I'll never agree with those people out there who want to kill off our favorite blonde knight. Everyone's lost so much already and Jaune's suffered just as much as or even more then Ruby. To end his story by killing him off after everything he's gone through and still going through would be like what they did to Penny in volume 8...bullshit.

The man needs his own story after RWBY's story finally ends. Where he goes off on his own adventure in remnant and finds his own happy ending, with either Weiss, Ruby or some random woman in a village. Anything better than him being killed or left in the ever after to rot. Miles Luna please don't let your character end like that.

Well I ranted enough so here's the latest chapter.


"Mmhh".

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Jaune reached out and took the annoying thing making that god awful noise and hurled it across the room. The loud crash should have been the end of it but apparently the damn machine was determined to annoy him until he got up and put it out of it's misery. He tried to ignore it but the damn alarm was just too loud. Eventually his patients snapped and the blonde threw away the covers and stalked over to the alarm. The alarm was made in Atlas and thus used superior metals to keep huntsmen and huntresses from downright smashing them by accident.

Which meant that destroying the damn thing was going to take more effort than he wanted first thing in the morning. Instead of going the extra mile to destroy it he reached down and picked up the alarm and switched it off before releasing a sigh. It took all of a minute for him to realize how bright it was outside and eventually decided to get dressed for the day. He opened up his closest and went for his regular huntsmen clothing when he noticed a grey and white uniform hanging just beside it. "That's right, training is over now".

Today was the day. The day where all those moments of harsh training, bruises and lessons had led to. Today was the first day of his new life as a student of the Atlas military Academy. The thought brought a smile to his face as he reached over and grabbed the schools uniform to slip on. Form fitting as he expected, though when the tailor took his measurements the old man could have given him a size a little larger around the waist. Felt like if he moved around enough the pants were going to find there way up his crack.

Jaune stepped in front of the full body mirror hanging from the door and looked himself over. Over the past few months his hair had grown back but luckily for him, Elm got right on top of it like and older sister looking out for her younger brother. Jaune pushed his hair back and used a blue hair tie to hold his hair together. The rest of his hair wasn't even a problem since Elm had shaved it off leaving just the top part. It was fine though cause he looked good and it gave him that warriors wolf tail he always wanted.

Finishing his uniform off he put the black beret on top of his head and turned from side to side to see how it looked. "Yeah" he said as he snapped his fingers and pointed at his reflection. So he was still a nerd at heart, sue him. Turning back to the his room the blonde smiled warmly, "better get this cleaned up before I head out". This was going to be the last time he ever came back to this room after all. With his team already formed, he was going to be moving into the dorms right after the other first years went of for their entrance exam.

He fixed the bed and put the alarm back where it belonged before packing his belongings away. His suitcase was left in front of the bed since General Ironwood said people would be by later to take his bags to his assigned dorm. With all that out of the way Jaune headed for the door and froze with his hand on the doorknob. Things were going to be different now but that didn't meant it had to be for the worst.

"Your a good leader Jaune. Even if I didn't want to admit it at first".

A small smile spread across his face as he remembered Weiss's parting words. With renewed confidence he opened the door and headed out to meet with the rest of his team. While the new first years were going to be out doing their entrance exam, he and the rest of his team were going to be focusing on building new bonds with each other. Ilia and Penny weren't really a problem there but Ciel definitely was if her attitude at the celebration party was of any indication.

/

"CONGRATULATIONS" the adults cheered at once before they all downed their drinks together. The sound of clapping came from a little ways down the hanger gaining everyone attention to the three new arrivals. Ironwood, Winter and Ciel joined them and offered their own words of congratulations on the completion of their training. Well actually it was just Ironwood and Winter while Ciel stood on the sidelines and hadn't bothered to say a word.

"I know that you all are ready to get started on the food but please let me take a moment of your time" Ironwood said as he motioned for Ciel. Ciel stood on his left and kept a neutral expression plastered on her face as the General spoke. "Thank you. As you all are aware miss Schnee will be departing for Beacon academy to continue her education. That is why in light of the sudden change of people in this group we've brought in someone who will act as miss Schnee's replacement. Some of you have not met yet so allow me to introduce Ciel Soleil".

Ciel stepped forward and gave a slight bow before stepping back to her original place. "Also I know this is ahead of schedule but the name chosen for your team has been decided. Team AASP, or Aspire if you would. Since all of you are aspiring huntsmen and huntresses in training we felt it would be appropriate to name yourself as such". Jaune quickly raised a hand and waited for the General to call on him. "Who's WE"?

Ironwood motioned to his right and Winter stepped forward. "The WE the General is referring to would be he and myself since I was the overseer of your training and by extension your team training". The edges of Winter's lips curved upwards as she looked at him. "We felt this name appropriate for another reason as well. You've all made a name for yourself before you joined the Academy. The council, along with the military wishes to see you all become a beacon of a new future for our kingdom. That is why starting this year you will be given missions like many of the second year students".

"Yay more missions" Penny cheered happily.

The reaction from the others were less than ecstatic and probably more dramatic. Weiss looked over to Jaune and watched him drop to his knees in despair. Ilia actually passed out and fell backwards but was caught at the last minute by Penny before she could hit the ground. "You do remember we got attacked by terrorists right? You nearly died"! the blonde said. "What do you thinks going to happen if you send us out on missions this early and we're attack by the White Fang without a proper huntsmen with us"?

"You won't be" Winter said cutting through his rant. "We aren't that foolish Jaune. On each mission your sent on there will be a trained huntsmen or huntress accompanying you all at all times to ensure your safety. Also the mission we'll assign you will also be less dangerous to get your feet wet...so to speak". Jaune really didn't feel like pointing out that the guard mission wasn't supposed to be that dangerous but they ended up fighting the worst of the worst terrorists there were anyways. The young Arc turned to his partner and smiled weakly, "at least you get to skip out on this, huh"?

Weiss actually felt sorry for him and his team, but also a little jealous cause she'd have to wait for almost half the school year before she got to do her own.

"Live up to your name" Ironwood said with his hands behind his back "and Aspire those around you to follow your example".

Jaune knew this was not negotiable by any means, so instead of wallowing in self pity he got to his feet and approach their newest teammate. He held a hand out to the dark haired girl and smiled, "seeing as you'll be dragged into this with us I hope we'll be good friends". Ciel looked down at his hand before meeting his gaze with her own. She mimicked the General and placed her hands behind her back, all but ignoring Jaunes attempt at a handshake. "I will do what is expected of me but I should warn you ahead of time that I don't plan on being friends with any of you. This is strictly a professional alliance and nothing more".

The word 'Awkward' barely managed to cover how the situation felt at that moment.

/

Jaune pushed their first real interaction aside as he turned the corner. Today was a new day which meant a new chance to change things between them. A thought entered his mind and he reach into his pocket and fished out the one thing he forgot to put on. A four leaf clover. Or at least a metal badge that looked like one rested in his hand. It was a gift from the Ace Ops and proof of all the hard work he'd been through. 'It also never hurt to have a little extra luck on my side' he thought before pining the badge over his left breast.

They all agreed to meet up just outside the auditorium so they could enter as a team. Now if only he knew how to get there. Jaune fished out his scroll and pulled up the map of the school, following the fastest way to his destination. It was while he was busy looking down at his scroll that he ended up tripping over something and ended up dropping his device in the process. As he straightened himself up and looked behind himself, it was to see four individuals grouped up together with the person in the middle slowly retracting his foot with a smile on his face.

Three men and one woman, clearly no accident then judging by their reaction. Jaune chose to ignore it and picked his scroll up off the ground. Luckily huntsmen scrolls were a little harder to break then normal civilian ones, much like the alarm clock he had in his old room. As he started walking again he didn't notice the guy in the middle within the group break off to follow him. The guy snuck up and threw a arm over the blondes shoulder and pulled him into his side. "Woah there mister hero what's the rush? Too good to talk with use common folk are ya"?

Jaune didn't even get a chance to speak before the guy spun them around and started pulling him towards the group he was with. Upon closer look the guy dragging him away had dreads with red dyed tips, light brown skin and dark brown eyes. Kinda handsome if he said so himself but seriously lacking in the personality department if this was how he treated people. His eye's then scanned over the other three in the guys group and made note of each one.

The guy on the left had green hair, brown eyes and a scar over his left eyebrow. The guy on the right had a buzz cut and looked like your typical thug with a black bandanna tied around his head with dark piercing black eyes. And finally the girl in the middle had blonde hair, hazel eyes and just a touch of black eyeliner to make her eye's more recognizable. They all made slight modifications to their uniform to make them look somewhat stylish but not enough to break the dress code.

"Here let me introduce you to the guys" the guy with the dreads said as he started from the left. "First off we got my boy Desmond Bell, and next to him is my girlfriend Annabelle Red, and finally her older half brother Zack Stein". The guy with the dreads jabbed his thumb at his chest and smirked, "and this hunk of premium grade man would be Isaac Quinn". Jaune made sure to remember the names just in case they became relevant to him later. Even if the guy holding him was weird and talking about himself in third person.

"So yeah" Isaac started when the blonde didn't respond "we heard from a little bird that your not from around these parts. It would really help to have some friends you can count on, ya get me"?

Though he offered their friendship so easily the look on all their faces said that a predator had found their prey. He'd seen those looks before when he went to a regular school for civilians back in Ansel. The look a bully made when they found a new and more entertaining punching bag to beat on. He remembered his sister's coming to his rescue time and time again because of how much of a coward he'd been at the time. But times had changed and so had he, "I get it...more or less".

Isaac's face split with a wide and cruel grin. "That's good, but you know what would be even better? If you introduced your team to us too. I'm sure the guys could be real close friends with them if you were to put in a good word for us".

So that was their aim. His teammates were mostly woman - unique but still women all the same - and this guy thought they would be easy target's with his help. Jaune let out a sigh and decided that now was the best time to get out of there. The guy Isaac had a loose hold on him but he moved quick, ducking out of the guys hold before Isaac could stop him and took off running. The others in Isaac's group were left dumbfounded for a split second before they made to give chase but stopped when Isaac cut off their pursuit with his right hand.

"Let him go".

Annabelle looked to her man and asked the question on all their minds. "Why"?!

Isaac retracted his hand a placed them in his pocket. "I just don't see the need to rush things yet. There's plenty of time before the deadline and the boss still has things for us to do even before then. Plus we still need to see if he's even worth bringing in to begin with. His team has a direct line to the General so that makes how we approach him just as important. We tried to force him just now but it turns out he had more guts then we gave him credit for. Push anymore this way and we could lose our chance to recruit him to our side later on".

"So then what's the game plan now"? Desmond asked

Isaac smirked and turned away from his team, "we ask a teacher for help".

/

Tick, tick, tick

"He's late".

Ilia raised a brow at the dark haired girls comment before rolling her eyes. "We never decided on a time, so he can't exactly be late when there's no schedule time to be late for". Ceil ignored the faunus and continued to stare down at her wrist watch, counting the seconds that past and wondering how much longer she had to wait there for their careless leader.

"Sorry guys" Jaune said as he jogged up to the three "hope you didn't wait to long, finding the way here was a bit more troubling then I thought it would be". Ilia was about to dissuade his worries by telling him it was fine when Ciel cut ahead and confronted the blonde. "The morning announcement starts in 10 minutes and we've already been here for five minutes prior to that. You represent our team as it's face yet your the last to arrive. Such action is unbecoming of your station and I find my faith in you dwindling by the second".

The look of shock on his face said it all. "But we still got 10 minutes left right? It seems like your kinda making a big deal out of nothing". Ciel's expression said she wasn't at all impressed with his counter argument. She lifted her left hand and stared down at her wristwatch. "We now have 8 minutes because of you" she said as she looked up at him. "Time waits for no one mister Arc and each second you waste is time I will never get back, so if you don't mind let's move on to the auditorium before we actually become late".

Ciel spun on her heel and walked off leaving them all behind.

"And here I thought the hardest people to deal with were going to be the Schnee's. Hell I'd prefer Weiss when we first met to this bitch".

Jaune elbowed Ilia lightly, "no need to be rude you, but I can't help but agree with you a little. Although my first interaction with Weiss was a little like this I suppose I'm a little used to it by now". Ilia raised a brow as she looked up at him. "So what? She road your ass for every little thing that you did that didn't match up with her idea of perfection"? The blonde chuckled, "and more. Try taking wind blasts to the back or randomly being thrown aside by glyphs. Trust me Weiss was a nightmare at first but at least Ceil hasn't gotten be to draw my blade on her yet".

Ilia looked surprised at first but broke into laughter shortly after they started walking. As they walked Jaune noticed Penny silently staring up at the sky with an emotionless expression on her face. She seem to not be mentally present which explained why she didn't greet him upon his arrival. The blonde reached out and took her hand into his and pulled her along. The second she felt him pull, Penny snapped back to reality and followed along. "Salutation Jaune, when did you get here"?

Jaune chuckled and released her hand when Penny started following after on her own. "I got here just a little while ago but what about you? It seemed like you were off in your own little world". Jaune leaned in a little and whispered, "I didn't know you could do that". Penny nodded and whispered back, "I disconnected myself from the things around me to check our schedule for tomorrow. The only thing I left connected was my sense of touch in case someone moved me".

Penny leaned back and smiled. "Before your arrival there was a growing argument between Ilia and Ciel that I thought was best I didn't get involved in". Jaune turned to Ilia and the faunus wore a flat expression as she answered. "Our fourth annoying teammate kept commenting on the seconds we were waiting for you. Honestly what she threw at you when you got here was pretty much what she kept harping on about while we waited".

The three entered the auditorium shortly after Ciel did and found a spot amongst the other students to wait for the announcement. Two minutes before the teachers arrived Jaune noticed the group of four he met in the hallway showed up and took a spot a little ways away from him. The young Arc turned away when he caught the eye of the groups leader. Isaac stared his way and smirked while the blondes attention was on the stage. Around that time the teachers of the academy walked up on stage and stood in a rested military position with their hands behind their back.

The last to arrive was Ironwood and he took center stage in front of a microphone that was set up in advanced. He tapped on the mic with his mechanical finger just to make sure it was on and smiled when the thump could be heard over the speakers.

"Welcome everyone to the first day of your new lives here at Atlas academy. I am your new headmaster General James Ironwood". The General looked over the crowd and pulled the mic off it's stand as he continued. "Or at least I will be for those of you who manage to get through today's entrance exam". The crowd of students started whispering amongst themselves but the General carried on. "I'm sure many of you are skeptical of this test because your previous school hadn't disclosed this to you, but I can and will assure you that it is necessary for those aiming to be huntsmen and huntresses in our kingdom".

Ironwood pulled out his scroll and clicked on the screen. Before he continued the scroll of every student in the auditorium began to chime with a notification. "What you've just received were instructions on how to complete your exam, but for everyone's benefit allow me to summarize it. You will be transferred by bullhead to different sections of the same mountain, and from there you must make your way down to the extraction zone at the bottom. I won't lie and tell you this test will be easy, but with the training you received prior to today you should be able to make it if your willing to work together".

The General slipped his scroll away and stepped away from the center stage to join the students on the ground floor. "The mountain is going to be teaming with Grimm and I have teams waiting in the wings to step in if necessary. But take heed, should one of our teams deem its necessary to get involved it means they do not believe your at a level to join the academy. Should that be decided you will be on the next flight to wherever it is you came from. I hope you take my words to heart and I wish you all the best".

The General met the eyes of everyone who would meet his, "you have twenty minutes to prepare and then you will make your way to the docks". With those last words the General walk through the crowd of students, handed the microphone to his deputy and left the auditorium.

No one knew what to do at first and stood in silence for the first few minutes until the deputy pulled the microphone up to his lips and said "you might want to get moving". Chaos engulfed the crowd of students and people started running around like chickens without their heads. Jaune and the rest of his team had to navigate that mess as best they could and finally found their way out the door they first came through. "Well that was something" the blonde joked. Penny giggled and Ilia cracked a smile but Ciel only looked at him with narrowed eyes as if what they went through was all his fault.

Jaunes scroll began to chime along with the rest of theirs and when they checked it out they received the number and destination of their dorm room. "Perfect timing" the blonde said with a sigh "how about we go check out our room and get settled in for the day? It might also help if we got to know one another a little better to you know...break the tension we're all feeling. Just a little bit". Ciel stood up straight and walked off without giving him a response. Ilia, Jaune and Penny exchanged glances with one another, shrugged and followed after the dark haired girl.

The day definitely didn't go the way he hoped since Ciel's only words to him for their duration of the day were that she was going to only be working from a professional stand point and nothing else. Those words killed any hope of having a pleasant day among friends and brought the mood down for everyone. As team leader, enough had come and gone which was when the young Arc called the dark haired girl out into the academies garden. The garden was not too big but at night it provided the privacy he was looking for. The garden was built inside the building with a glass dome as the ceiling to provide both sunlight and moonlight for all the plants within.

Honestly speaking it should have been a place popular with the couple's in the academy. Unfortunately it seemed Atlas's strict no fraternizing rules weren't making that a possibility. "So much for bringing a girlfriend here" he grumbled as he touched one of the plants close to him. Ciel joined him a moment later and raised a brow at his comment. "I hope that's not the reason you called me here" she said with a tone that hinted how awful she felt about the idea was.

Jaune turned her way with a frown and took a second to collect himself. "Is there a problem you have with our team"? The question caught Ciel of guard but she hid it well behind a mask of calm. "I'm not sure what you mean" she answered back.

Jaune crossed his arms and looked unimpressed with her deflection. "I'm talking about your attitude towards me and the rest of our team. How your constantly arguing with Ilia or how you belittle me for the smallest things imaginable. Even worse how it seems that your not even trying to be a part of this team. We all chose this an-"

"Well I didn't"!

Those words cut through Jaunes train of thought and brought him around to asking, "what did you say"? Ciel met his gaze with narrowed eyes, "I said I didn't" she repeated. Jaune didn't know what to think or say in that moment so Ciel continued. "The General knew of miss Schnee's departure and knew how your team was going to be a person down because of it. Your team had to be rewarded thanks to his words during your reward ceremony or he'd look like a liar to the whole kingdom. So in order to keep his word a few people were chosen from the militaries enrollment to conduct a test to see who could be a potential candidate for the heiress's replacement".

Ciel's eyes moved down to the ground and she gritted her teeth. "Of all the candidates chosen I was the best, something I should have been proud of until I was told that I'd be joining your team. They needed a replacement and with my training I fit the bill perfectly. That was their plan but mine was to join the military and rise up the ranks through my own hard work". Ciel sighed and looked up at him again, "but how do you say no to the General of the Atlas military"?

Jaune had nothing to say in response and just stood there quietly.

Ciel chuckled half-heartedly. "I know I can join after I graduate from the academy but that will be in 4 years time. Time I won't get back. If you had to put your dream on hold for another 4 years wouldn't you be angry at the people responsible for it"? When Jaune couldn't respond Ciel sighed and turned away. "I know it's not your fault this happened and I know I'm being unfair, but I don't know how else to deal with it".

Jaune stepped towards her quietly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Your right, there's nothing I can do to make this right and I'm sorry this was pushed on you when you had other things you wanted to do". Ciel half turned towards him and nodded in understanding, then when the blondes hand tighten a little more she looked up at him and received a warm smile. "I can't change anything but all I ask is for a chance, and who knows maybe you'll find that this way of life won't as bad as you think". Ciel for the first time smiled a little as she crossed her arms. "Even when you don't know much about it yourself"?

Jaune shrugged and let her go, "it'll be a first for us both".

This day was one full of firsts for everyone, so what was one more in the grand scheme of things? Ciel rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow her out of the garden. "first we'll get some sleep and maybe we'll see what tomorrow brings". It was the best he was going to get so the blonde nodded and decided to leave the problem for tomorrow. This was going to take time to figure out but hey he had 4 years to figure it out.


Everyones got their own reasons for behaving the way they do and even these made up characters are no exemption to that rule. That and I wanted to give a little something more to our dark haired replacement. It also makes a little sense I mean she was taught by the General himself. The man of the military. So it kinda made sense she'd want to be like the man she trained under and admired.