Author's Notes: To the Guest who left the question last chapter, I was going to answer it here but it got a little unexpectedly long so I put it at the bottom.
Team RWBY's dorm was a complete mess, the desks, drawers, the bunk beds had all been moved to the side while the chairs were moved to the center of the room and were being used by both Yang and Weiss who were waiting for the team meeting to start, they had much to talk about just to make sure that everyone was on the same page and afterward they would try to plan out their next move accordingly. It was a sensible course of action that had been Ruby's suggestion and in Weiss's humble opinion, a sign of just how much that girl had grown into her leadership role, And to think that I underestimated her so much at the start.
The door opened and Ruby walked in "Attention! It's time for stage one of Operation Beat the Bad Guys!" she happily announced to Yang who was reaching for her scroll and to Weiss who suddenly felt rather conflicted.
On the one hand, she still very much appreciated how Ruby had the sense of mind to understand the importance of a strategy meeting but on the other hand, the young team leader's gleeful and somewhat childish attitude made it a bit difficult to take seriously but beyond that was the fact that Ruby for some reason was currently wearing what appeared to be some sort of military-themed costume. Though what kind of military made their officers wear thigh-high boots and a miniskirt was a question she didn't want an answer to, That outfit would give Winter a heart attack! Where did Ruby even find this thing? It's too big to be hers, too small to be Yang's, wait a second ... where on earth is Blake?
Meanwhile, Yang was surprisingly okay with how her younger sister was dressed and in fact was busy using her scroll to take pictures of the outfit to send to both their dad and uncle, "Hey, Rubes! Try pointing at something and shouting, You're Under Arrest!" she called out while moving to yet another spot in the room to get a good angle for the picture while wondering about the origin of the costume, That isn't one of mine and I'd know if Ruby had something like this, does it belong to Weiss? No, it's too big… hold on a moment, where's Blake?
"C'mon Yang take this seriously," Ruby fake pouted a little before a tiny smile formed on her face when she suddenly spun around, struck a pose while pointing right at Weiss, and shouting, "You're Under Arrest!" She held the pose for a few seconds so that Yang could take the pictures before finally relaxing and bursting out into giggles with her older sister.
The door to the dorm opened up and inside walked Blake who was dragging behind her the last thing they needed for the War council and it was a Whiteboard covered with a bit of cloth, "Sorry for being a bit late, I was busy trying to get this-" she froze when she saw the uniform that Ruby was wearing and immediately became pale, "W-Where did you get that?"
Ruby turned to face her, "Well I found it hidden behind the drawer and decided to try it, is it yours? If so, I'm sorry for not asking."
Without any hesitation, Yang moved in like a predator, and with the biggest shit-eating grin the former White Fang Agent had ever seen asked her the dreaded question, "Soooo, Blake, why do you have this costume? Is it a hobby of yours? Or maybe it is something you like to do for your lovers?"
Blake didn't say anything she didn't have to, ironically her attempts to hide her embarrassment and blushing face only served to emphasize both, and the meaning was not lost on anyone and even Ruby understood the words that had been left unsaid but was doing her best not to think about it despite how she was slowly becoming more and more uncomfortable in the uniform. The poor girl tried her best not to imagine the kinds of Drepraventes that Blake had probably used this uniform for and in an act of desperation, she asked her friend and teammate a question she already knew the answer for, "This is just a costume, right? You… you didn't do anything while wearing this, right?" She stared at Blake, looking for anything that would grant her any relief, and found nothing.
"Ruby… I'm so sorry but-,"
The young reaper's screams filled the room and it was followed by a flash of crimson, a shower of petals, the slamming of a door, and a voice echoing through the halls of Beacon, "GEt it Off! Get It off! Get this GodDamn thing off of me!" It would take around 30 minutes for Yang to stop laughing, another 10 minutes for Ruby to get the outfit off of herself, five minutes to start a fire through the use of some Flame Dust graciously donated by Weiss without her permission, 11 minutes to burn the uniform to oblivion, 20 minutes after that before Weiss became willing to start speaking with any of them again and finally one complete hour to drag Blake back inside the room after she had fled while no one was looking. Thankfully the members of Team RWBY had the foresight to clear their schedule for the day allowing them to continue once everyone had finally settled down, however, there was still the elephant in the room that had to be addressed before they could start.
"Sooooo, Blake. Why do you have that costume? Was it for yourself? Or maybe for someone else?" Yang asked with a smirk.
Narrowly resisting the urge to throw herself out of the window for the second time today, Blake ignored her partner's question and pulled the cover off of the whiteboard revealing charts and several lists of names. She then pulled out a ruler and pointed towards the board, "This is a list of common tactics that the Vale Branch of White Fang likes to employ," Ruby's hand shot up to ask a question, "Yes Ruby?"
"Why did you say Branch? Everyone else refers to them as just the White Fang."
"Good question with a very important answer," Blake replied while taking out a marker and adding another section to the board, "It is because most people don't know how the White Fang really works." She directed their attention to the section, "The White Fang is a much bigger organization than most people realize that has members in every kingdom including Menagerie, those members are organized into Branches that can function under the leadership of the High Chief who right now is Sienna Khan who's stationed in Mistral and leads all the Branches from there or at least she does in theory."
"What do you mean in theory?" Weiss asked.
With a sigh, Blake pointed to a section listing the various upper echelons of White Fang that she was aware of, "As I said, the White Fang is bigger than you'd think and one person, not even someone like Sienna cannot possibly manage everyone at every time, the organization is too far widespread and unnecessary communication would lead to vital information being leaked. Because of this, every Branch has to operate independently which leads to things like the Branch in Vacuo remaining mostly unchanged while the Atlas Branch was until certainly, the most militaristic." Then both Weiss and Yang raised their hands at the same time to ask a question, for a moment Blake was worried that the two would fall into a pointless argument only to be pleasantly surprised when Yang motioned to Weiss to ask her question first before walking over to the whiteboard and silently studying it.
"What do you mean when you say that the Vacuo Branch was unchanged?" the Heiress asked.
"Huh, I expected you to be far more interested in the Atlas or Vale Branch," Blake admitted.
Weiss gave a little shrug, "I thought of it, but all my life I was told and believed that the White Fang was completely evil. Then you happened and now I'm being told that at some point they changed, it's a lot to take in but I cannot afford to remain ignorant anymore."
Blake was taken aback, Dad always believed that our enemies were just ignorant, that if we reached out to them they would eventually reach back to us. That together we'd realize that in the end Humans and Faunus were just people. Dad was wrong… but maybe he wasn't completely wrong. "Professor Oobleck is probably going to mention this soon but, originally the White Fang was a humanitarian organization dedicated to providing aid to Faunus communities and improving Faunus and Human Relations, The cells in Vacuo for the most part continues this work and has reported a fair bit of success though it is important to remember that Vacuo has always been the odd sheep of the kingdoms," she then turned to her partner who was still at the board, " Yang, I believe you had a question?"
"Yeah, but I might have another question depending on your answer to this one, is that okay?" the brawler then went silent waiting for her partner's response.
"Go right ahead."
Yang was silent a bit before scratching her head," I can't think of a soft way to say this so I'll be blunt," She looked her partner straight in the eyes and said, "you were a part of the Vale Branch." It wasn't a question but rather a statement and she was completely right.
"Um, Yang why does it matter which branch she was a part of?" Ruby asked, confused by her older sister's question.
Yang in response walked back over to her little sister and sat down next to her before flashing a kind smile for both Ruby and Blake, "Relax Rubes, I'm not mad at her or anything, I just wanted to be sure I understood what was on the board before asking the actual questions: Was it the Vale branch that Militarized and if so what happened?"
Before Blake could answer Ruby's hand shot up, "Shouldn't we get Pyrrha and her team here? They did help us back at the docks, oh! We should also get Penny and that guy who helped Weiss!"
"His name is Sun and you're right Ruby, we shouldn't be keeping this to ourselves especially since we really don't know what's going on or what their end goals are. Sun in particular would be an excellent addition to the team so we should try to recruit him as soon as possible," Weiss agreed to the surprise, or in Yang's case amusement, of the rest of the team.
Seeing her chance, Yang gave the Heiress a wink before opening her mouth, "So Princess, you seem rather eager to 'Recruit,' Sun, and I don't blame you. He does seem to be rather skilled at entering hard to reach places."
"Yang Xiao Long! Please keep your perversions to yourself!" Weiss nearly shouted as her face turned red, "Look, Sun is training to be a detective, and as we all saw he is a capable fighter not to mention since he is a Faunus with no prior ties to the White Fang he would be able to gather information without rousing any suspicion! So as you can see I am not being led by my carnal lusts."
Yang gave a smile that said she still had plenty of things to say but Blake rightfully decided that they were getting off track and cut her partner off to get the conversation back on topic, "Guys please focus! We don't have any idea what we are going to do and already you're planning on dragging others into it?" she asked. "After we form a plan, then we can talk about who we should ask for help. Deal?"
"Deal," they all spoke in unison.
Blake then turned her attention over the whiteboard and the information written on it, "Now back to Yang's questions, yes I was a member of the Vale Branch and it was also the Vale Branch that underwent radical militarization the cause for that is…," she paused for a moment as her finger hovered over a certain name, Adam Taurus. What are you waiting for, just say it! It was his fault, I know it was his fault but… she snapped herself out of those unwanted thoughts and pointed at a certain name on the board, "This man, Major Adam Taurus, he was placed in command of the Vale branch, he was the one who transformed it and he is someone that we must avoid fighting at all costs."
Weiss then cut in,"Well that's just natural, we are after all just students. Quite frankly we shouldn't be fighting any of them if we can avoid it and before you bring it up!" She glared at Yang for a moment before continuing, "I acknowledge my participation with the Docks but I don't regret what I or any of us did there! My only regret is that the circumstances which brought us all together, in the end, were also nearly responsible for forever splitting us apart," as she said that both Ruby and Yang moved closer to let her know that it was all okay and after a little bit, even Blake joined in.
After a bit they broke off and continued the meeting with Blake addressing an important point, "Look, what we need right now is information and to find that information we need to find the White Fang and to do that, we need to know where they are operating. Fortunately thanks to the ongoing Dust robberies and in particular the Docks incident we know that for now and the immediate future that storage is amongst the top of their concerns, we find the Dust and we find them!" She stated.
"Well, in that case, leave it to me," said Weiss. "No one knows more about Dust than I do and my Father is doubtlessly awaiting a report from me, I'm really not looking forward to it but if I get find anything out then it'll be worth it, and at least this way something helpful can come from one of those damned sessions," she spat out that last part with such open disgust that surprised the others.
Yang was the next to volunteer, "Well, in that case, I'll start asking around the student body. There is no way that we're the only ones who've had a run-in with these guys and we can't be the only team trying to figure out what's going on, I'll have a few words with them and they'll tell us everything they know!"
Finally, Ruby got up and ran over to Blake, "In that case, you're coming with me! I want you to tell me everything about them, their tactics, their weapons, their armor, and their weapons!"
"You said weapons twice…"
"I know! Now come on and give me what you got! I got weapons to tune! Team attacks to plan, oh maybe we can even make some costumes!" with that Ruby pulled her teammate over to the whiteboard, "Now what kind of weapon does Adam use? How does he use it? What are its features? What is it made of? Tell me everything because the more you tell me the better I can plan!"
"Well, I guess I'll get started too," Yang got up and made her way to the door, "Team CFVY is preparing for a long-term mission but I think I can grab 'em before they leave."
"I suppose there is no reason for me to delay any further," spoke Weiss as she got up to walk to the door with Yang, "Since I'll be outside, I think I'll also try and get some police reports."
"Sorry, princess but only citizens of Vale can request those," Yang said to Wiess as the two made their way to the door. "That said my dad and uncle are both Huntsmen which means your idea can still work, I'll ask them both to submit an expedited request for the reports and I can guarantee you'll get an uncensored version of the reports!"
"Thank you, Yang, I'll compile a list for you when I'm done with my dad."
With that, both Yang and Weiss left the room to get started on their parts while Blake and Ruby got started on what would be the first of many strategy sessions and for the first time in a very long time Blake allowed herself to relax, Humans will only ever let you down. You're wrong Adam, you're wrong about them. We'll see darling. Don't you dare call me that! And why would I stop when deep down you still wish to stand by my side… I still own a part of your heart.
"Blake? Are you okay?" Ruby innocently asked when she saw a moment of conflict race across her teammate's face.
"I'm alright, Ruby you don't have to worry about me," Blake lied.
Standing in front of the office of Beacon's newest resident Psychologist Dr. Thomas Riviera made Jaune understandably a little nervous, which in turn made him feel just a little silly since he was no stranger to psychologists though that was something which applied to most people. After all, when you lived in a world where actual monsters were drawn in by your own negative emotions it was only common sense that mental health would be considered a national priority, especially since it was often the deciding factor of whether a new settlement lived or died. So important was the subject that most historians agree that Emotional and Mental health was at the very center of the Great War but that was history and Jaune's concerns lied in the present. On an instinctual level, he knew that he was being ridiculous with just how paranoid he was about all the way this introductory session might go, Get a grip! If they were going to expel or even arrest me they would have done so days ago. Besides this is just a first session, the only thing Riviera is going to do is ask a few basic questions to get an idea of what he's dealing with and how well we gel together. So with that thought lingering on his mind and with a calming breath, Jaune summoned up his courage, opened the door, and stepped through into the office.
To his surprise, he found that there was nothing really special about the office itself other than just how plain and empty it was save for a desk with three chairs, one in the back and two on the front. However that alone meant nothing as even actually vacant offices had that much and in some cases more which unsurprisingly was beginning to make him think that a mistake had been made. For example, Jaune could have either misread the room number which meant that somewhere in Beacon the psychologist was scratching their head wondering what was taking their newest patient so long to arrive, or maybe he had misread the date and Dr. Riviera hadn't even arrived at the Academy. No matter which one it was, it would be an easy task to discover the mistake, so he pulled out his scroll and went over to his calendar to check the date only to find that both the time and place were correct, there was no error! This can't be right.
Suddenly he heard a voice but could not see who was speaking, "Are you Jaune?" following the voice he soon realized that it was coming from the other side of a door that was located behind the desk.
"Yes! Are you Dr. Riviera?" Jaune answered back while noting that he had seen similar doors right behind the desks of every single other office he had ever entered here in Beacon but had no idea what was behind any of them and neither did his friends, Ruby is going to be so jealous if I find out before she does!
"That I am! Please make yourself comfortable, would you like some tea? I've got a nice pot all ready to go," Dr. Riviera said with a very welcoming tone.
"I would love some!" Jaune looked around the office for a seat and soon decided just to sit on one of the chairs that were already directly in front of the desk. Shortly afterward, the door opened up and from behind it emerged a bald bright-eyed man with an impressively large stylized beard carrying two beer mugs filled with reddish tea. Then the man who Jaune naturally assumed was Dr. Rivera walked over to the desk and instead of sitting behind it took a seat next to Jaune and offered him one of the mugs which were graciously accepted
"So, as you probably guessed I am Dr. Thomas Rivera, please just call me whatever you'd like but, I do hope you choose Riviera."
"Um, okay but why though?"
"Well let me ask you, between Tom and Riviera which name sounds sexier?"
"Point taken," Jaune admitted with a chuckle.
Riviera then gave him a rather serious look, "Now before we begin let me get this out of the way, my boyfriend Gris filled me in on your unique situation, I want to assure you that we are looking for the one who did this to you and I can guarantee that the only thing waiting for them is an unmarked grave."
"That's… rather morbid, but I'd be lying if I said that the thought of it wasn't just a little bit appealing," he admitted, Does wishing for his death make me a bad person? There's no denying that what they did to me was simply evil and if I wasn't the only victim… is there a point when revenge becomes justice?
"The desire for revenge is perfectly normal and given your circumstances I'd say it would even be healthy to want him or her or possibly even them dead," the doctor's response to the unspoken questions surprised Jaune. Fortunately, the man saw the confusion he caused and clarified, "I'd be a poor psychologist if I couldn't read basic facial expressions, now back to the topic at hand, there is no such thing as an unhealthy emotion."
Jaune just looked incredulously at the psychologist, "Negative emotions attract Grimm."
"Tell me then, when you were growing up did you ever feel angry or sad?"
"Of course I did! Everyone's felt that way before."
"And were you attacked by a Grimm every single time?"
"No… I wasn't… Come to think of it, even my condition doesn't react every single time I feel angry." Jaune began to look over his hands as he mentally reconstructed very single incident where his condition worked up and reared its ugly self, I was panicking when I woke up in the forest, Initiation was a rollercoaster of stress, and every episode I had since coming to Beacon only ever happened when I was either incredibly worried or stressed! It all made far too much sense for him to just brush it aside as mere coincidence.
"Looks like you figured it out, though I'll admit that is just a theory of mine that should not be considered a fact until proven but for now, all of that is a problem for later and only if you decide to see me again. So for now let's begin with some basic questions but first, would like some more tea or perhaps a snack? I haven't exactly settled in just yet as you can see," he motioned towards the nearly empty office that they were occupying.
Well, that's one mystery solved.
"But I do still have some oranges and an unopened bag of peanuts, do you want some?"
"I'll take the peanuts and some more tea please!" Jaune replied only now realizing just how hungry he was.
Dr. Riviera then got up from his seat and began to make his way back to the door that he first emerged from, "While I'm doing this, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Don't worry about the door, I have really good hearing."
Jaune nodded to Riviera and started his story while the man got up to get the refreshments, "Well to start with I grew up in the town of Ansel with my mom, dad, and believe it or not seven sisters. Naturally, with a family that big, things were a little chaotic and the budget was tight but overall I don't have much to complain about, apart from both my dad and mom not wanting me to be a huntsman."
"I most certainly understand that sentiment, after all, it is only natural for most parents to want to keep their children away from literal monsters. That being said, I'm still a little surprised to hear that your parents were against the idea of you coming here," Rivira answered from behind the door that had been left open. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought your family came from a long line of warriors, most people would think that they would be happy to see their son carry on the tradition," The Doctor emerged from the door carrying a bowl with a bag of peanuts inside said bowl in one hand and the other he carried a pitcher containing what Jaune assumed to be the tea.
He quickly got up to help Rivera who graciously accepted the assistance and within moments the two men were once again sipping hot tea from their beer mugs while cracking open peanuts and discarding the shells into the bowl, "Well to answer your question about my family, yes we were warriors but my dad decided not to follow in his mother's footsteps and became an accountant instead, funny enough grandma was quite happy with his career choice. I even remember her saying that it was about time someone learned their lesson."
Riviera gave a little laugh, "She sounds like my own grandmother though maybe that shouldn't be such a surprise, after all, no one wants to think about their kids fighting for their lives. Though I guess that's just part of what makes a Huntsman a Huntsman, the willingness to constantly put their lives on the line for others even though it's against an enemy that never seems to end. And yet, it's even worse when you're fighting other people instead of monsters..."
And there it was, the reason for Rivera's presence in Beacon, the reason for Jaune's visit, and the reason why his team has been spending their time reading up on mental health. The Docks, the deaths, and his utter lack of an emotional response towards the lives he had taken. On an intellectual level, he knew that he was in no trouble at all, after all that night he merely performed the duties that were expected of all Huntsmen even though he was still one in training. Furthermore, the investigation into the incident revealed that what had happened and security footage made the incident unquestionably one of self-defense and as a result, there were no problems either physically or legally.
However mentally Jaune was far from okay and it was draining him… he didn't want to be here but he was far too tired of being afraid of his own mind, "When I killed them… I wasn't really thinking about it. Honestly, I'm not sure I ever intended for them to die… no, I'm certain of it. I didn't want to kill anyone, I just found myself in a bad position and I just wanted out," he stopped to take one final long sip of tea finding himself appreciating the calming effect it was having on him. I'm going to need to ask Riviera what kind of tea this is though maybe I shouldn't tell Ren about the Beer Mugs. "When it was all over, I was trying to process everything that had happened. Trying to figure out how it came to this, how I could have done better, how I could've avoided the situation entirely. Even now I sometimes replay the whole thing in my head looking for something I could have done differently knowing what I knew back then."
If only Glynda could hear you now, she'd probably give you some extra credit, Rivera thought to himself not wanting to distract the boy while he was pouring his heart out.
Jaune took a moment to sigh before continuing, "But above all of that, I was waiting for it to finally hit me… I was waiting for a reaction that never came and honestly, I'm not even sure what kind of reaction I was looking for."
"As long as you felt anything at all?"
"Yes… anything would have been better than feeling nothing at all because I would have… I would have felt… human," Jaune admitted.
"Given your special circumstances, I don't blame you for looking for some form of confirmation... I don't think anyone could possibly hold that against you. I'd go so far as to say that it would be rather alarming if you weren't looking so keen on seeking confirmation. Though I have to ask, does this one experience invalidate everything else?"
Everything else… Jaune was now in deep thought, Ever since I came here my emotions have been all over the place. I've been pissed, scared, sad, and even so happy that I started crying which is something I never thought I'd never experience. Have I become even more emotional since the incident? I must have, the me before the incident would have also reacted similarly to the same situations but to get angry enough that I'd beat a Grimm to death with a rock? I'd never been that angry before in my life.
There were two major reasons why psychologists who specialize in the treatment of Huntsmen were rare despite how important both were to society, the first reason was that huntsmen simply had a different mental state compared to most people. To willingly dedicate yourself to constant training so you could fight actual soulless monsters born from fear in a literal never-ending war against an inhuman enemy who wanted you dead just because you exist and choosing that kind of life instead of simply living a normal life behind the walls wasn't something that most people could even imagine themselves doing. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the second reason was that catering to such clientele was a rather depressing affair, especially if you considered the very real possibility that every session could be the last. Despite their larger than life personas and flat out superhuman abilities huntsmen were still at the end of the day very much people and people get hurt, sometimes physically and sometimes emotionally. An all too common problem Riviera had seen in the past included the inability to connect with regular people which often resulted in Huntsmen seeking companionship in each other but, with the job being as dangerous as it was... survivor's guilt was another common problem. Riviera would be the first to confess that the thought of retiring wasn't a foreign one however, there were also moments like this, moments when your client was on the verge of a breakthrough or in Jaune's case about to take that important first step and the knowledge that you were the one who helped them reach this point... That is what kept him going.
"Um. Rivera, I have a question."
"Ask me anything."
"So looking back at my time here at Beacon, I think that instead of losing some control I've instead become more sensitive to my own emotions," Jaune spoke slowly, not completely sure if he was explaining himself well.
Deciding to give the young man a push the doctor spoke up, "Well it's too early to assume anything right now, but your record here does suggest that. However, it could also just be the result of stress but that's why I'm here. To help you any way I can."
"But then that would mean that my reaction or lack of reaction… was me. It wasn't my… condition because it doesn't give me emotions, it just heightens the ones that are already there… it can't do anything if there was no emotion to heighten… I killed those men and I just didn't care."
Dr. Rivera was becoming worried as he dutifully listened to the boy, Whether he is right or not doesn't matter, rather how he handles this will make everything either easier or so much harder. I need to make him understand that what he experienced was natural, it doesn't make him a psycho!
"My condition had nothing to do with it... I felt nothing because that's just the kind of person I am, someone who can take lives and not feel a fucking thing… how, did I become so broken?" Jaune had reached the conclusion that Riviera feared but he wasn't ready to give up just yet!
"So what does that make people like Qrow?" Riviera asked.
"You know him?"
"I met him through Gris and let me tell you right now that if he was in your position, Qrow would not be bothered at all with killing those two. In fact, I can guarantee you that he would be cracking jokes about how the third one was killed by friendly fire! And yet, this is the same man who found you lost in the woods and gave you food, shelter, and even trained you in the basics. He went as far as to vouch for you and he has been the most active in trying to track down the one who did this to you. So, let me ask you; What does that make him?"
"Qrow's a drunk," the boy pointed out.
"And he is still a good man who believed and trusted you enough to help you get into Beacon despite his precious nieces also attending, I believe you have been acquainted with them: Yang Xiao Long and her little sister Ruby Rose?"
"He's their uncle?"
"And he's a good man and if I can be frank for a moment, so are you."
Jaune didn't know what to say to that, truth be told he never once considered himself to be a bad person, just a potentially inhuman monster but most certainly not a bad person, Who are you kidding? You don't think you're good, you sometimes believe that you're a danger to everyone around you. What happened at the Docks only cemented what you've been afraid of; Yourself. There it was, the absolute undeniable truth, Jaune Arc was afraid of himself and he always has been. He was so afraid that he wasn't good enough, that he would never earn a spot in Beacon that he convinced himself that a Fake Transcript would be the only way he could get in. Then he got that acceptance letter and he was afraid that it was all some kind of dream, that he'd soon wake up from and discover that nothing really changed. He was so afraid of waking up that he went drinking and convinced himself that it was to celebrate, now… Jaune was tired of being scared, so he took the first step.
Describing the feelings that Jaune was having as he walked towards Beacon's spacious dining hall would be difficult this was mostly due to just how many of these feelings he had and how so many of them seem to contradict each other. The realization that he was his own source of fear worried him but, at the same time, it brought him a degree of comfort. How is that even possible? Perhaps he was just overthinking it, It is possible to be excited and a little shy at the same time, like when you're about to go on stage and you feel butterflies in your stomach. Yeah, that kinda what I'm feeling, butterflies.
"Hey! Dude! Dude Wait Up!"
He turned around to see who was trying to get his attention and found that two guys were approaching him, one was a Faunus whose tan skin, blond hair, and exposed abs reminded him of surfers, I remember him, he was at the Docks but I don't think I ever caught his name. The other guy was someone that Jaune didn't know, but the man just oozed cool with a stylish blue haircut, goggles, and Red Jacket.
"Um, can I help you?" Jaune asked.
"Nah, man I just wanted to properly introduce myself since I didn't get a chance back at the Docks! The name is Sun Wukong!" he then offered Jaune a fist bump which was quickly returned.
"And I'm Neptune Vasilias and Sun told me all about both team RWBY and PRAN. You guys sound almost as crazy as us!" he also offered Jaune a fist bump which was graciously returned.
"Well, then my name is Jaune Arc! Thanks for the assist back at the Docks Sun, I think I speak for everyone when I say that you're a lifesaver. And Neptune, how are you enjoying Vale?"
"Hey man, I was just doing what any good huntsman would do," Sun replied with such earnest that there could be no doubt that he truly believed in what he just said.
Meanwhile, Neptune gave what could only be described as an award-winning smile, "Well, I just got here so I haven't seen anything yet but, with guys like you around I think I'll have my hands full just trying to keep up with everything. In fact, if you're not busy now, how about you join me and Sun for lunch, maybe we can swap stories?"
"I was actually heading to the cafeteria myself to rejoin the rest of my team, come and I'll introduce you!" Jaune happily agreed.
"Alright time to find out how Team PRAN stacks up against SSSN!" Wukong declared as the trio made their way toward the cafeteria.
"Wait, your team is called SSSN?"
"Yeah, it's… a little confusing and frustrating at times, especially when we get in trouble. The Professor will be like: Will Sun stay after class and then get even more pissed when we misunderstand and the whole team stays or they were actually asking for the whole team but only Sun shows up." Neptune shyly admitted.
"Well the leader of team RWBY is named Ruby."
Neptune just started at Jaune for a few seconds before they burst into laughter and soon after Sun joined in the laughter as well, "Really!? I always thought Lionheart was the only one who did that!"
*CRASH* *SPLAT* *SMASH* *CRUNCH*
The three of them were brought back to reality by the sounds of fighting taking place behind the large double doors which separated the dining hall from the hallway. With just a brief stint of hesitation, the trio walked up the doors and pushed them open, and saw before them a food fight, no, it was far more than a mere fight. Tables were flipped over creating barricades and even in one case a fortress, plates, cutlery, and food were used as projectiles that would have been dangerous for anyone who wasn't a huntsman, trays became shields and the students were all now soldiers fighting for their self-appointed ruler vying for power. The most bizarre thing however was the complete lack of any faculty in the dining hall, Did they all run away?
After surveying the battlefield the three men gathered their wits and sought out the tools necessary for survival: A Baguette Sword and a Tray Shield for Jaune, A Pair of Sausage Nunchucks for Sun, and a Mighty Salmon for Neptune. With their preparations made the three brothers in arms made a silent vow to survive together and with a powerful cry they charged in.
Author's Notes: So I just wanted to take a moment to answer a question left by "Guest," the last chapter on Dr. Riviera, and the answer goes back to the reason I started writing Fan Fiction and it was to improve my overall storytelling ability by writing genres and scenarios I normally wouldn't while also experimenting with characters. This is also why I'm writing, for now, RWBY Fics since the setting is rather flexible and the characters are fun and easy to play around with while keeping in character.
Till now, I have never tried writing an openly homosexual couple and I felt that it was time to fix that. Dr. Gris was always meant to be homosexual but he wasn't always a doctor, in the original draft of the story he was the huntsman who found Jaune in the woods instead of Qrow. In that version Gris mentions that he had a boyfriend but said lover would have never made an appearance and soon after Gris would fade into the background after Jaune joined Beacon.
That was unacceptable in terms of representation (and a waste of Gris since he is fun to write) and so I decided to make the changes that resulted in their roles now and I'm glad that I did.
TL;DR
Yes, but actually No.