Cardin watched Jaune leave the breakfast table with team RWBY and JNPR. His face stretched into a grinch like smile. Perhaps it was time to get some leverage over the blonde knight. Cardin leaned in towards his team, whispering loudly and conspiratorially. "You guys heard that Jaune faked his way in?"

He noticed the whisper picked up by the next table. Good, something like that would spread like freaking gasoline doused wildfire.

Blake's ears twitched as the wave of hushed whispers reached their table. Ruby leaned over to her teammate. "What are they talking about, blake?"

Blake frowned, hearing the reason behind the whisper. "They're talking about Jaune." She said, omitting the other half of the rumor. While it did make sense, considering his general lack of huntsman qualities, how in the world did he manage to pass initiation then? The whole point of it was to weed out those not skilled enough to be at beacon. If Jaune wasn't supposed to be here, he wouldn't be here. Wiess leaned back, covertly listening in on the gossip.

Her eyes widened as she heard the hushed words. "He did WHAT?!" she yelled out loud, startling everyone within a several meter radius.

Ruby recovered first, blinking and cleaning out her ear with a pinkie. "I'm sorry, but what did Jaune do?"

"That rapscallion forged his way into Beacon!" Wiess shrieked, scandalized at the blonde boy.

Yang blinked. "Woah woah woah woah, Ice Queen, what? Where did you get that"

Wiess gestured to the murmuring crowd. "From them!"

Yang and Nora gave her a flat disappointed look. "Really? You choose to listen and give credit to a random rumor?"

"But it makes so much sense! I mean, when was the last time jaune showed any skill, in anything?" Wiess posed. The seven of them made faces at the question. Pyrrha didn't even jump to defend her partner, like normal.

Nora instead came to her leader's defence. "He's been getting better, and besides, when was the last time you won against him?"

"I've never fought him!" Wiess countered.

"Exactly! Pick your battles, that whole shebang." Nora explained.

Ren sighed. "Jaune doesn't pick fights, nora."

"That's still a pretty bold accusation to make, Wiess." Ruby said, scolding her partner.

"IT MAKES SENSE THOUGH!" Wiess countered, throwing her hands into the air. "Pyrrha, you should be able to answer this question! Is Jaune a legitimate student at Beacon?"

Pyrrha started to sweat, looking away. "Ah, Uh,, erm, n-yes?" She said, utterly unconvincingly. RWBY gave her a blank look. Nora just asked. "Pyrrha, you know you're awful at lying."

Then the realization struck them. "Wait, that means that Vomit Boy Did fake his transcript! Holy shit, Vomit Boy faked his Transcript!" Yang exclaimed

The cafeteria went silent at the confirmation, before exploding once more into whispers and growls. There were a couple moments before Jaune entered the cafeteria hall. The hall went completely silent at his entrance. Jaune was pretty sure he could hear a pin drop as he took his steps forward.

Clack, clack, clack. He could hear his footsteps echo down the hallway. He wanted to shrink into his worn out shoes. He sat down at the table, as team RWBY gave him a bit of birth.

Jaune looked around at his friends. "Is something on my face? Everyone's looking at me…"

It was, of course, Wiess that answered him.

"WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID, YOU VILLAINOUS OAF!" She said, slamming her hands on the table as she stood.

Jaune's brain had a brief moment of actual functioning. Ok, so assuming that this is not about my plans to serenade her again, it is probably that Pyrrha told them in confidence and Wiess freaked out. So, does that mean that everyone else knows about it? That would explain the whole "death glare." Things. Ehh. engage anti-mom tactic number seven: Deflect and deny.

"I had a muffin?" Jaune asked, tilting his head like some kind of confused golden retriever. RWBY gave him a dumbfounded look.

"You're kidding right?" Yang asked.

Jaune sat down, still putting on a confused face. "I mean, I woke up? I might have helped Nora with history homework a couple days ago despite Ren telling me not to?" Jaune started to list off.

"No, you ignormatic dolt! Your false transcripts!" Wiess yelled. Jaune opted to just lean back. "...okay then?" He said, squinting in confusion. "On another unrelated note, if you had to transfer to another academy, which one would you choose?"

Nora's head turned to her leader. "What do you mean? Why do you want to know?"

"Me and headmaster Ozpin had an interesting conversation over a game of chess. We talked about the global interaction of huntsmen and their respective nations."

Nora's eyes went wide as jaune prepared to dive into another dialogue. "Stop! STOP HIM! I can't stand another long winded talk!" She wailed as Ren automatically prepared to tackle his leader.

Blake looked confused. "Wait, what? Why are we stopping jaune from talking?"

Ren sighed. "He has a tendency to ramble about anything that strikes his interest for literal hours. One of those interests is political theory. He once actually outspoke professor Oobleck during his additional classes on the Vytal treaty."

Wiess scoffed."as if that buffoon could ever be involved in politics. I don't think-" Jaune stood up, cutting her off. "I'm going elsewhere."

Jaune left the table. Wiess looked at him go. "What's got him in a knot?"

Everyone just stared at her. Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry, she's a work in progress."

Yang raised her hand. "Why are we letting this let us ignore the fact that Jaune's transcripts were fake?"

That revitalized a whole new series of whispers.

Jaune sat at his favorite spot in a tucked away garden in Beacon, laying under the shade of a tree. His hands behind his head as he pondered his decision. It was closing in on the end of the day, and everyone had decided that he was a leper, including his team. He frowned. It hurt more than he expected it to. He had hoped that at least his team would have his back more than they did. He could understand RWBY not understand, he could understand

"Mr. Arc? I thought I could find you here." A familiar voice shook Jaune out of his solemn brooding. Jaune stretched his neck to look over at the speaker.

``Dr. Oobleck, what brings you to my hidden neck of the garden?" Jaune asked with a smile, relaxing back into the tree. Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck was his favorite professor. He loved having long theoretical conversations with the green haired man. They had an excellent one on the Vytal treaty and what it's flaws and strengths were. Jaune didn't know it, but Oobleck recorded that conversation to listen to later. It was going to be his pride and joy for the political debate club for years to come.

"I heard about your… ah, predicament. It's very unfortunate that you will be leaving us." The good doctor said, Jaune sighed, readjusting on the tree.

"Yeah me too. At least I'm only transferring. So who knows? I might even be back next year." jaune tried to joke, but the tone fell flat.

There was a serene moment of silence between them.

"Hey, Doc."

"Yes, Mr. Arc?"

"Where do you think I should go?"

Oobleck hummed. "That… that is a difficult question. But for you? Let me see…" Dr. Oobleck was uncharacteristically quiet for a couple moments. "I think Haven would be the best choice for you, Mr. Arc."

Jaune sat up. "You think so?"

Oobleck nodded. "It is either that or Atlas. I personally like Minstral more. I find Atlas to be too cold."

Jaune actually laughed at that. "Thanks Doc." Jaune ended, before resting back down.

Oobleck looked at the setting sun. "You should get back to your dorm soon, Mr. Arc."

Jaune sighed, standing up. "Yeah." he lamented. "It's strange, not sleeping in the same room as my team."

Oobleck winced at how offhanded the statement was. "I am sorry for what our students have done to you, Mr Arc."

Jaune shrugged. 'I get it. I really do. I would be insulted as well if a cheat was able to pass off as a huntsman. Besides, They'll be out of sight sooner or later."

Oobleck sighed, watching his favorite student stroll out into the building. He will be leaving soon. Bart would miss him.

Jaune scrolled through his contacts, hovering over Ozpin's number. He pressed it as he climbed the stairs up to his commandeered room. He had taken the room of a fourth year team that wasn't there at the moment, being off on a longer term mission.

Riing, Riing, Reign- hellp? Mr. Arc?

Jaune smiled as he heard the headmaster's voice.

"Hey Headmaster Ozpin. I've come to a decision." Jaune said. Ozpin on screen raised his eyebrows. "Oh? So soon? It's only been a couple days-"

"I've thought long and hard about this decision, Headmaster. I think if I think about it any more, my brain is going to explode."

Ozpin chuckled at that. "Very well. And your choice of school?"

"Haven, on Dr. Oobleck's recommendation mostly." Jaune said as he turned a corner. He pulled out his scroll

"Very well, Mr. Arc. I will send your transcript over tomorrow then." Jaune smiled as he gave Ozpin his thanks. Swiping his scroll over the lock, it pinged green as the door clicked open

Jaune opened the door, surprised to see that someone was in his room. "Nora? What are you doing here?" Jaune asked the ginger bomber. She perked up at his voice, dropping her magazine on his bunk.

"Fearless leader!" She cried out, running and glomping onto Jaune with a hug.

"Oof! Good to see you too, Nora. What are you doing here?"

"Are you leaving?! I heard your chat with Ozzy, about Haven! Please don't go, was it something I did?! If it is, I'm sorry!" Nora started to cry, gripping Jaune tighter, as though he would turn to dust when she let go.

Not entirely inaccurate.

"What?- no, no Nora, It's not because of you." Jaune said, returning a gentle hold. Nora sniffed as she looked up.

"Really?" She said in a way that just wrenched Jaune's heart. He could have sworn that he could see his sisters in her face.

"Yes Nora." Jaune said calmingly, patting her head. "Now, it's been a while since we talked. Why don't we take a seat?" Jaune said as he sat down on his bunk. Nora sat next to him. She looked at the packed duffle bag and round shield.

"I forgot you don't have your sword any more." Nora said softly. Jaune looked at the round shield. It was a plain wood shield with a thin sheet of metal on the front of it. The sword behind it was equally plain, both given to him by Ozpin when his family- the Arc family. Jaune reminded himself. His father took the sword back once his family was contacted about his upcoming transfer. His father, furious at Jaune's disobedience when Jaune refused to come back home, disowned him as a way to force him into submission.

Jaune told him to "Suck a lemon. It would improve your expression."

The call ended soon after that. Jaune decided to not dwell on it since.

"Yeah. It was really nice of Ozpin to give me some weapons until I can get my own." Jaune said, thinking about how getting some proper mechashift weapons would cost him an arm and a leg, funds that the beacon couldn't give him on account of his 'Civilian' status, and funds that he didn't have on account of no longer having access to the Arc Family funds. Jaune really hoped that Simon Arc was going to sleep on the couch for a long, long time for that stunt.

Nora leaned back. "Sooo, You're going to Haven, huh?" She said eventually. Jaune nodded.

'Yeah, I hope I am, anyway." Jaune fell back next to his old teammate. They were still technically on the same team, but Jaune hadn't spoken to Pyrrha and Ren in two days. Not really anyway. There was that huge argument that had happened. Jaune was hurt, he really was. He felt so betrayed by Pyrrha, who for all the faith she said she had in him, crumbled the moment it was put to question. She had turned on him faster than team RWBY did, and they turned fast. Once they had discovered his false transcript, Wiess and Yang did their best to make sure their team avoided him at all costs. Jaune knew what it was doing to Ruby, and he knew that Blake probably pitied him but didn't act upon it.

Jaune had learned many things that some would use useless skills. Cooking, cleaning, sowing, household chores, singing and chess were among them.

But he did pride himself in his ability to read people. He wasn't perfect at it, but he could tell that Ruby was torn. Probably between pleasing her team and maintaining team dynamics or supporting her friend. Blake was more puzzled. Perhaps she also didn't get in quite as legitimately as everyone else did, and didn't want to risk being revealed?

Jaune be damned if he knew.

"Fearless leader, you've got that look on your face."

Jaune turned to the ginger, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Nora shrugged. "It's that face you have whenever you're working on one of Oobleck's homework or something. It's your thinking face." She didn't mention that he looked sad as well.

Jaune laughed at that. "I have a thinking face, do I?"

Nora nodded. "Yup!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "So, if my thinking face is on, what am I thinking about?"

"Hrmmm." Nora's brow furrowed in concentration. "Pyrrha. You're thinking about Pyrrha."

"Nope." Jaune said, turning to look at the bunk above him. "I was thinking about Ruby."

"Awww," Nora whined. "I was close."

Jaune laughed before turning to her again. "You want to play a game?"

Nora brightened at the proposal. "Pfft, do I like pancakes?"

Jaune smiled, bending to look under the bed. "Don't tell team Whostershire, but I found this and I think I'm taking it with me." He smirked, pulling out a game of Marrakech, it's small box being just about the size of half of Jaune's forearm.

Jaune had very quickly become a fan of the game, even if pronouncing the title of it was damn near impossible for the blonde. Nora asked for instructions on how to play once Jaune had slid the wood slab box open.

"Oh, it's really simple. So, first you choose a color." Jaune said, pulling out rectangles of rough weave. They felt like Vaulco style carpets, and came in sets of ten. Nora picked the closest to pink, a light beige pink color. "Great, now, each of us get's ten coins." Jaune delt out a collection of tiny wooden disks, buttons, tiny pebbles and other bits of permanent round matter. "Now, we each take turns playing with our carpets like this." Jaune said, putting down one of his blue carpets, and taking a yellow one from the pile and playing it perpendicular, forming a right angle. "Until all the carpets are played. You can also play straight angles." the yellow carpet went back. Jaune fished out the Merchant piece and a simple wooden die. "This is the merchant piece." jaune held it up. It looked like an oversized pawn. "We take turns controlling this piece with the die. We roll, move him forward, and pay whoever's carpet we land on. Got all that?"

Nora nodded. "Sounds simple enough." She said as they started to build the board.

Ren looked at the clock. Nora really should have been back to the dorm by now. He checked the clock again. Nora was uncharacteristically late.

"Nora should be back by now." Ren said, leaning back from his desk. Pyrrha looked up from her book.

"That is odd. She's normally back by now." The redhead said, her brow furrowing.

"We should go look for her." Ren said as he walked towards the door. Pyrrha smiled. "Who knows what trouble she's gotten into." Pyrrha jokes. Ren gave a short huffing laugh.

"Yes indeed." Pyrrha smiled.

Clack clack clack thud. That was the sound that the simple wood die made as it rolled across the top of the box.

"Noooooooo!" Nora cried out as the die turned up four. The merchant moved forward four spaces, landing on one of two possible blue spaces. She looked down at her last coin, then looked to her leader. Jaune smiled, holding his hand out. "Come on Nora. Rules are rules. Give it to me." Jaune smiled triumphantly.

"Nuuuuuu." Nora whined, holding the pebble to her breast.

"Nora. Give it." jaune said, as if he were talking to a dog. Nora huddled away from her leader, leaning against the back end of the bed. "Do I have too?"

Jaune gave her a level look. "Yes you do nora." Jaune said, putting down his collection of coins and rugs into the box. "Don't make me take it from you."

"I don't think you could if you wanted to, fearless leader." Nora stuck out her tongue. Jaune tensed like a cat, eyes zeroing in on the small pebble.

Jaune pounced at his friend. Nora screeched as the two collided, rolling onto the floor. "Fearless leader! How could you!" She cried out as they fell to the ground, clutching her precious currency. The wrestled for the stone, Jaune seeing that he was losing the battle, decided to change tactics. He grabbed Nora by the sides. Her eyes widened as he moved his fingers. "Jaune! No! Jau-Jaune! Jaahahahahaha!" She cried out as Jaune tickled her. Her grip on the stone loosened as she fell to the ground, laughing. Jaune quickly grabbed the stone and raised it like it was some ancient golden idol and he was Monty Brown, from Montana Brown.

Nora groaned in defeat. "I should have known better than to play a game against you, Fearless leader."

Jaune chuckled, sitting down on the bed once more, putting the last piece of the game away.

"Hey, fearless leader?" Nora asked.

"Yeah?"

"You're a hacker man, right?"

Jaune snorted. "You could say that. I did hack myself into Beacon basically. Why? You want to get past a paywall or something?"

"You can do that?!"

"Yeah, of course. I pirated stuff all the time back home. Screw the mega-corporations anyway. So, what do you want to watch? Deus Ex? Road Roller? Or that new horror series you were raving about earlier?"

Nora shook her head. "Nope, Fearless leader. But you hacked your way into Beacon, right? Like, you just airdropped your transcript in there?"

"Not exactly the words I would use, but sure. Why?"

"If I asked you to." Nora started, touching her fingers together. "Could you look at other students' files?"

Jaune's head tilted back, eyes widening with the idea as he stared at the wall for a moment. "Shouldn't be too hard, why?"