Chapter 5: Winter Enters the Fray
Ruby sat frowning down into her bowl of cereal. The weekend had already arrived, and normally, she would be sleeping in, but she had resolved to herself she would be the best leader she could be.
She didn't feel prepared for any of this whatsoever. More than that, she was unsure how to connect with her team best. How to make them see her as a leader.
Blake remained rather disconnected and often wouldn't say a single word during the day, instead focusing simply on her books.
Yang chatted and japed, but it was hard to shake that as her older sister, the position previously was that she listened to Yang, not the other way around. The only one who could really make Yang listen was Summer, and even then, the girl often still did her own thing.
Weiss, well actually Weiss, seemed to be the most reasonable member of her team. She had acted a little oddly the first day but had come to her that night and laid out that while she was disappointed to have not been made team leader, she wanted to work with Ruby so that they could have the best team they possibly could.
Still, none of that particularly made Ruby feel an overwhelming amount of control. None of that really helped with the yawning, lonely feeling in her stomach.
She hadn't thought she would feel this way after accepting Headmistress Ozma's offer; it was just like back at Signal.
Ruby shook her head and slapped her cheeks lightly; these kinds of thoughts weren't going to help her improve.
"All right there, Ruby?" a warm voice disturbed Ruby from her thoughts, and she spun to see one Jaune Arc standing behind her with a tray in hand. He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt embroidered with the VFL logo on the left pectoral, the dual crossed axes of Vale in front of a kite shield, and dark blue jeans. He was looking down at her with a soft, concerned look in his eyes.
A look that did things to her.
Ruby squirmed slightly in her seat as Jaune settled next to her, attempting to ignore the feelings in her chest and lower as she looked at Jaune, attempting as best she could to be casual.
"Ruby?" Jaune questioned again, and Ruby was startled as she realized she hadn't responded.
"Ah!" she gasped, "I'm okay, Jaune; how are you?" she asked, looking at the boy.
Jaune cocked his head at her, but then he shrugged and gave her a half smile, "Can't complain; I thought I would let my team sleep in considering how early it was; I'm glad to see I won't be eating breakfast on my own," he gave her a warm if somewhat awkward smile.
Ruby suppressed a flush at his look; she needed to get a hold of herself; if she was going to be a team leader, acting like an infatuated schoolgirl wasn't going to help her case, regardless of the fact that a boy had never made her feel like this. Not that she had really met many boys, to be fair.
"Great!" she exclaimed, showing none of her inner turmoil, "I'm glad not to be eating breakfast on my own," wait, did that sound desperate? "I mean," Ruby hastily continued, "We're both here, so it's good we have company," that didn't sound much better; Ruby's cheeks rapidly began to redden for an entirely different reason than earlier.
Jaune smiled at her, but he didn't laugh at her like she had expected him to, "It is good to have company," he said, then laughed, a surprisingly sheepish sound, "I admit before I came to Beacon, I usually ate in the mess hall with the other Legionaries but I never really ate with them you know," he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Ruby cocked her head at him, her lips twisting into a small frown, "Was it because you were a man?" she asked cocking her head at him.
Jaune looked surprised for a moment before he shook his head, "There were a couple of other men who served in the VFL, though I admit it's not common; I think it had more to do with who my grandfather is."
"Why should that matter?" Ruby asked, confused.
"Ah," Jaune hesitated for perhaps the first time Ruby had seen, "Well, he's the commander of the VFL."
Ruby blinked once processing the information, "That," Ruby said, slowly piecing things together, "Actually explains some things," she said contemplatively. Of course, Jaune would kick some serious butt if his grandfather was the head of the premier military organization in Vale. That, of course, didn't mean Jaune was any less impressive; from the way she had seen him move so far, she wondered if even her dad or her uncle would be able to best him in a fight.
It wasn't just his raw physicality; every move he made in a fight seemed to have the weight of experience from being performed thousands of times before.
A part of it made Ruby unsure of herself; back at her combat school on Patch, she had been the best in her year at combat by a wide margin; here at Beacon, from what she had seen, she thought she could hold her own, but Jaune was on another level.
Not to mention, his entire team seemed to listen to him instantly. Even Nora, the most rambunctious member of his team, would instantly look at him when Jaune spoke. Perhaps it was from learning from his grandfather, maybe it was for other reasons, but Ruby realized Jaune might actually be able to help her.
"Jaune," Ruby said hesitantly, "Are there any pieces of advice your grandfather gave you about leading your team?"
Jaune blinked and then chuckled uncharacteristically, "I actually wrote to him asking for advice on the same topic, not but a couple of days ago," he said.
Ruby's cheeks flushed before she registered Jaune's words were not of censure, "Oh?" she asked, a strange feeling of relief flowing through her, that perhaps she was not the only one feeling in over her head.
Jaune reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Ruby; Ruby looked at it.
Lieutenant Jaune Arc,
There are some born to be leaders, but in my experience, they are a rare breed. Furthermore, they often will tend not to listen to their subordinates even when they should. The best qualities of a leader are humility, knowing what they don't know, knowing when to delegate, and having a vision.
All of these can be taught except the last bit, vision is inherent. It is something I don't believe you lack in the slightest. You have always strove to be a Hunter, strove to make your dream a reality.
Apply this to your leadership. Envision the leader you want to be.
Then, achieve it.
With Full Confidence,
Commander Aurelius Arc
Ruby's gut twisted in conflict as she read the letter; on one hand, she was glad for more advice, gladder still that Jaune shared her worries, but…
"Jaune, does your grandfather always write like this to you?" Ruby asked carefully, looking at the boy.
Jaune cocked his head, looking adorably confused at her, "Like what?" he questioned.
"Uh," Ruby bit her lip, nervous despite herself, "Formal like, I guess he doesn't really come across as your grandfather in this letter."
Jaune shrugged, "That's just how he is; I've never really thought much about it."
Jaune's lips had quirked downward for the smallest of instances, but Ruby had seen it, Ruby looked at Jaune, thoughts flitting through her mind; she wanted to say more, ask more questions, but they didn't really know each other all that well yet, it would probably be rude to do so.
Instead, she switched topics, "What are you doing for the rest of the day, Jaune?" Ruby asked.
Jaune frowned thoughtfully, "I suppose, I'm not sure," he admitted, "I figured I might train a bit, I suppose…"
Ruby stared blankly at him, "And?" she asked when she realized he wasn't going to continue.
Jaune winced, "I guess I'm not really used to having this much free time," he admitted.
"You can't train all the time?" Ruby said incredulously, looking at Jaune in disbelief.
Jaune frowned and Ruby saw something approaching uncertainty in the boys eyes, "I- Well no, I also take missions for the VFL."
Ruby kept staring at Jaune, waiting for his next sentence; a long moment of silence passed as they stared at each other.
Finally, Ruby blew out a breath from between her teeth, "All right, okay, let's do something about that," Ruby bit her lip as a thought occurred to her, "Jaune, have you ever played Grimm Souls?" she asked.
Jaune cocked his head, "What's that?"
Complete and utter defeat.
'You Died' was emblazoned in red across the screen; Jaune's scroll, which had been used as a controller, rested loosely between his fingers.
He turned to look at Ruby, his brow furrowed, "I don't understand; why did my character die?"
Ruby cocked her head at him looking confused, "Jaune, you got hit by like a million arrows."
Jaune nodded agreeably, "I mean, yeah, but I don't see why that would have done much. Shouldn't my character aura have tanked it?"
"Jaune," Ruby said slowly, "Your character doesn't have an aura."
"Ahhh," Jaune hummed, looking thoughtfully at the screen, "This game isn't very realistic."
"You think you should have survived?" Ruby questioned.
Jaune nodded firmly, "If it was me, I definitely could have tanked that."
Ruby blinked, then giggled a light, airy sound splaying backward on one of the beanbags in the dorm common area, her small, lithe body splayed out like a starfish jutting two small but well-proportioned parts of her anatomy into the air with a bounce as she gazed at him with a strange look in her eyes, "I bet you could have," she said.
Jaune nodded firmly, a small blush on his cheeks as he looked away, "Though perhaps I need to… What was it again?"
"Git gud?" Ruby questioned cheekily.
"Yeah," Jaune sighed, "That."
Jaune's scroll chimed, and he frowned as he looked down at a new message.
Priority Alert: Grimm Surge to the Southeast of Vale
Mission Rank: B
"Sorry, Ruby," he said, his stomach twisting slightly as he turned to look at the girl, "Got to go."
"Oh?" Ruby's lips twisted into a small frown, "Everything all right?"
"Yeah," Jaune gave Ruby a smile and a shrug, "Just some stuff I have to take care of, hopefully, won't be too long; I imagine I'll be back by mid-afternoon."
"Oh, gotcha," Ruby nodded her head, "I guess I'll see you later?" her tone lilted questioningly at the end as she looked at him with wide, pretty silver eyes.
"Oh, for sure," Jaune nodded, "See ya, Rubes."
Ruby blinked, and her cheeks tinted red for some reason, but she smiled warmly back, "See ya, Jaune!"
The fights against the Grimm always seemed to start the same way.
A roiling black mass moved across the ground underneath Jaune's bullhead as he looked out across the swarm.
"Drop now, Lieutenant."
Jaune leaped, soaring through the air as a flushed aura to his feet and then amplified its bright yellow flashing across the sky as he fell towards the ground.
The ground shuddered and then erupted as he made contact, sending Grimm flying in every direction, even as the other attempted to charge at him.
Jaune flipped his blade about in his hands, idly mumbling an old poem his Grandfather had read to him once about the Rusted Knight, "He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought,"
Two Grimm launched themselves at him, only to find themselves bisected in an instant as Jaune's aura roared in a golden flame around him.
"One, two! One, two! And through and through, The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!"
Jaune cleaved through a dozen Grimm in seconds, their limbs flying about him in a storm as he charged forward.
The ground ripped up beneath his feet as he swung his sword in a storm of steel and soul.
It was sometime later that Jaune looked through a haze of dark smoke rising from the slain Grimm, their bodies strewn in heaps, some still smoking from the burning aura blades that had lanced through them, surveying the landscape for any stragglers.
The surge had broken rather quickly, though he supposed that was only to be expected from a mere B rank.
Still, though, something was bothering him, and he didn't quite know what it was.
A voice crackled over his earpiece, "Lieutenant Arc, do you copy?"
"Yeah," Jaune said into the air, only filled with the slight hiss of dissolving Grimm, "I'm here, I think I got the last of them. What do the sensors say."
A small pause, then, "Our sensors say the Grimm have been dispersed, we're sending a bullhead out to retrieve you, so sit tight for now."
"Copy that, over and out," Jaune sighed before he looked across the plateau the Grimm had been forging their way across.
"I was really kind of enjoying just talking with someone around my age," he murmured to himself, despite being laughably bad at Grimm Souls it had been nice hanging out with Ruby, just chatting with the girl was fun.
This whole week really had been a different experience for him. Having a team, having people around that were… well friends.
This had been a return to reality. He wasn't really sure how he felt about it. The solo missions against the Grimm he had long grown used to, but now that he had a team, this felt, well, lonely.
Jaune chuckled and tapped Crocea Mors hilt idly, what was he thinking? He was on a team for a week, and now that he was on his own, he was feeling down?
He heard the scream of the bullhead before he saw it coming down with a blast of displaced air, the back opening to allow him in. He hopped in and was surprised to see a white-haired woman who reminded him of Weiss dressed in a pure white outfit with a saber at her side.
He settled down in his seat as the bullhead rose to take off, eyeing the woman confused, "Ma'am?" he asked questioningly.
The woman eyed him with a hard look on her face, "Lieutenant Arc, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," she said simply.
Jaune nodded slowly, "Pleasure to meet you as well…"
"Specialist Schnee," the woman finished her cold blue eyes examining him, "You guarded my sister some time ago, I believe."
Ah, so that was the familiarity, "Your Weiss's sister?" Jaune said thoughtfully; Weiss had always spoken highly of her sister, though Jaune hadn't actually met her, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."
Specialist Schnee cocked an eyebrow, "Polite one aren't you,' she said in a strangely considering manner, "You did well against the Grimm. I must confess myself impressed."
"Thank you," Jaune said, aware the woman was just being polite, "I'm just glad the Grimm seemed to have thinned out compared to the numbers I saw recently."
"I see," Specialist Schnee nodded slowly, "The Research Base out some kilometers from the east of Vale, you mean?" Specialist Schnee said.
"Yes, Ma'am," Jaune said simply raising an eyebrow at the woman, "I didn't think you'd be aware of it."
Specialist Schnee looked at him for a long moment her lips curled into a frown that Jaune would have called cute on a face less currently stern.
"I'm aware of many things Lieutenant," Specialist Schnee said
"Such as?"
"Your Grandfather is the Commander of the Valean Foreign Legion, for one thing, and your family has a legacy of Hunters and Huntresses, for another," she said, still giving him a strange look.
That didn't seem like much to Jaune, in fact, it was so little it was startling.
Specialist Schnee kept looking at him for a long moment, "It must be nice to go to school with your family."
Jaune cocked an eyebrow at the woman, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about."
"You have a sister at Beacon, do you not? A Third Year Huntress?"
Jaune shook his head, frowning at the woman, "You're misinformed. I was raised by my Grandfather. I never knew my parents."
"Is that so?" Specialist Schnee hummed, looking at him for a long moment.
Jaune nodded simply.
"Well, I suppose my information was wrong," Specialist Schnee shrugged as if the fact was inconsequential, "To the matter of why I'm here," she reached into her coat and pulled out a piece of paper, which she handed to Jaune.
Jaune quickly scanned through the paper, his eyebrows raising as he read.
Lieutenant Arc,
Enclosed is a formal proposal to unite our families in matrimony to wed my daughter Weiss Schnee to you.
Sincerely,
Willow Schnee
Jaune blinked. Blinked again.
He looked up at Specialist Schnee examining the woman, attempting to find something, anything that explained what she had just handed to him.
Specialist Schnee's expression was implacable.
"What is this?"
"What it looks like, a marriage request from my Mother for my sister," Specialist Schnee replied, her expression giving nothing away.
"This is," Jaune struggled for words, "Does Weiss know about this?"
"No," Specialist Schnee shook her head, "But it is not so uncommon in Atlas for our parents to decide who we marry."
Jaune frowned, Specialist Schnee was dancing around something with her words.
"That's not how it's done in Vale," Jaune frowned at the woman, "Weiss should have a say in who she marries."
"So if my sister agreed, you would not be opposed," Specialist Schnee cocked an eyebrow at him.
Jaune's frown deepened. "I mean, we don't know each other all that well yet, shouldn't there be- " Jaune hesitated before he said, 'Love.'
His Grandfather had once talked about his two wives, speaking in such glowing terms of them, of how they had inspired him each day to do more, to be more.
Jaune was unsure about his own parents. He didn't remember them; they were a blank space in his memory. His first memories were of his grandfather; before that, nothing. He knew his parents had been named Juniper and Hadrian Arc, but he had never seen so much as a picture. The topic seemed to so greatly pain his grandfather, so he hadn't pressed.
"Courting Weiss will give you the opportunity to get to know her," Specialist Schnee said primly, "She is beautiful and comes from the Schnee family, so I don't see why you would be dissatisfied."
The way she said it made Jaune uncomfortable like the entire process was a transaction.
Jaune's eyes narrowed, "There's more to marriage than that! It's a partnership between people who love each other, not some business transaction!"
The words came out with more heat than he intended, but Specialist Schnee did not seem remotely bothered, and she smiled a cool wintery thing, "I'm glad you think so."
She steepled her fingers, "Let me be blunt, Lieutenant Arc, I'm no more in favor of signing my sister's future away to you than you seem to be. I thought perhaps you could get to know each other…" Winter trailed off, seemingly lost in thought, before she shook her head, "My Mother, on the other hand, is not so easily dissuaded. Furthermore, there are… circumstances that I feel you should be aware of."
Jaune frowned, attempting to recall Weiss's mother. He had not met much of the Schnee family, but he vaguely recalled meeting the head, Jacques Schnee. A thin man with a bristling mustache whose eyes had glanced over him like he was a piece of furniture. He didn't think he had met Willow Schnee at all.
"There were messages I sent Weiss; they were never delivered, did you have something to do with that?" Jaune asked, looking at Specialist Schnee contemplatively, that question still hadn't been answered.
"Not me," Specialist Schnee shook her head, "That was my father, Jacques Schnee, I only realized he was intercepting your messages when I contacted your Grandfather."
"Why?" asked Jaune, something strange curling in his gut as he looked seriously at Specialist Schnee.
"Control, most likely," Specialist Schnee said, shrugging her shoulders as if the answer was inconsequential, "That doesn't matter, what does is that you've been picked as the centerpiece of a game between my Mother and my Father."
"I'm sorry," Jaune raised an eyebrow at Specialist Schnee, "What?" He noted that she hadn't explained why she had contacted his Grandfather.
Specialist Schnee smiled again, the expression just as chilly as the first one, "My Mother wants you to marry Weiss, my Father is hoping to marry her to one of his sycophants to maintain control of the company"
Jaune's heart clenched, "They wouldn't do that to his own daughter?" he asked, examining Specialist Schnee for a telltale sign of a lie.
Specialist Schnee chuckled, but there was no mirth to the expression, "Of course, my Father would; it's quintessential Jacques Schnee. My Mother on the other hand is a desperate woman, before this I thought her entirely broken, but it seems as if for now she has a bit more fight and she is willing to do anything to fix her previous mistakes."
Jaune looked down, resting his hand against the pommel of his sword. This was something he couldn't fight, though. He imagined it would feel pretty good to punch Jacques through a wall, but that wouldn't solve the problem, would it?
"You're Mother," Jaune said slowly, "Why exactly does she want me to marry Weiss?"
Specialist Schnee shrugged a sardonic tilt to her lips, "Well, Weiss gushed about you to me when you left, and my Mother found out and did some investigating. She determined that given who your Grandfather was, you were not only a viable candidate in the eyes of Atlessian nobility, but she thinks you may actually be able to rip the company from the hands of my father. I've never seen my Mother so engaged as this last month after you left. You're her opportunity to fix her mistakes.
"How so?" Jaune asked.
Specialist Schnee shrugged, "My grandfather, the actual originator of the Schnee Dust Company, before he died, was manipulated by my father into writing that the Schnee Dust Company would only be able to be run by male members of the Schnee family, taking my mother out of contention and leaving only my father to run the company. Given the birth ratios of men to women on Remnant, well, it pretty much secured his control. It remained written in our family, though, that male members could challenge the head for control of the company."
"Challenge?" Jaune echoed.
"Martially," Specialist Schnee clarified, "An echo again of the previous rules that governed our family considering our hereditary semblance."
"Right," Jaune nodded, his face impassive as he looked directly at Winter, "What's your angle in all this?" he asked bluntly.
Specialist Schnee shifted slightly, uncomfortable for some reason at the question Jaune thought. The motion was minimal, but Jaune caught it, "I want my sister to be happy," she said simply, "the way things are," she chuckled an unhappy sound which made Jaune wish that, for once her laugh would have actual humor, "there's not much left to be done that can make her happy, our Father is grooming several members of his company to potentially marry Weiss, our entire legacy is to be stolen and put in the hands of those who would use it do as much harm as possible to the world."
Jaune clenched his hands, "You sound like you've given up," he said simply locking eyes with cold ice blue.
Winter's eyes flashed, and she glared at him, "I have not yet begun to fight," she said cooly, "I'm unwilling to give up my sister's happiness and, more importantly, her choice, and I am unwilling to let things continue as they are with my family. The answer is simple."
Jaune raised an eyebrow at the woman, wondering where she was going.
"You," she enunciated clearly, "Will marry me."
Jaune blinked. Then blinked again.
"I'm sorry?" he said weakly.
Jaune stared at his opponent, padded red, made super durable for hunter use and masking the steel grains that filled the inside of the bag. It was one of his personal punching bags that he stored in his dorm room.
A flurry of fists ripped against the material.
There were only a few moments in his day when extraneous thoughts did not go through his head. In combat was one, there he was focused, and he found that working out was another such place.
Except for now.
Yet he could not disturb his thoughts from the new information that had been unceremoniously dumped on his head.
The answer should be simple.
Save Weiss. Prevent the continued use of the Schnee Dust Company as a force for exploitation of Remnant and her people.
Give up his dream. He couldn't be a Hunter in training and marry a Schnee Heiress. There would be responsibilities and expectations.
His Grandfather would do it. His Grandfather always did what was necessary to help people. An icon of self-sacrifice and heroism, everything that Jaune aspired to be.
Except Jaune never thought he would have to sacrifice this.
As childish as it was, he had hoped someday for a wife of his own, one who loved him as he did her. To have children that his Grandfather could hold, to have the smile his Grandfather did when he spoke about his own wives. If he got married now, he wouldn't be able to finish his training, at least for the foreseeable future. Even if he could, the head of the Schnee family wouldn't be allowed to go out hunting Grimm.
"A Legionnaire's duty is sacrifice. To do what good can be done." Jaune mumbled; it was something his Grandfather had told him often during his training when his body refused to move and when he was bleeding red across the ground.
What was a loveless marriage in the grand scheme of things?
Even if it interfered with his dream, the good he could do…
A loud bang broke the repeated sound of his fists on his bag as his right hand punctured the bag, going straight through.
"You all right there, Lady killer?" a familiar voice broke Jaune out of his reverie.
Jaune turned to see Yang dressed in a yellow tank top that hugged her chest, accentuating her breasts just as her black shorts did so to her ass.
"Yang!" Jaune said, pasting a warm smile onto his face in an instant, "What are you doing here?"
"Uh, working out?" Yang replied, raising an eyebrow at him, "What most people do in the gym, I think, except I guess you, what did the punching bag do?"
Jaune forced out a chuckle and shrugged, "Nothing, it's nothing," he said, pulling his hand free.
"Brothers!" exclaimed Yang, stepping forward and grabbing his hand, "What did you do?"
Jaune looked down at his hand not seeing the issue. His knuckles were soaked in blood as was typical of a training session for him. He only activated his aura in minute bursts to heal his muscles and skin for maximum training effect.
"Just training," he said simply.
Yang looked up at him, her violet piercing into him, "You tear yourself up like this every time?" she asked, looking at him with a look Jaune could not define.
"Yeah," Jaune nodded, "It's not like Aura can't heal it, right?" he laughed but only got a couple of chuckles deep as Yang kept looking at him with the same expression, her own face not portraying any amusement.
"Wait here," Yang said firmly before she turned and walked to one of the areas with cabinets that kept tape and other supplies for the gym. She grabbed a box and walked back over, pulling out antiseptic, "Even if our aura heals us, you should still clean up the blood," she said simply.
She ran surprisingly soft hands over his own as she began to wipe up his blood.
She didn't say anything else for some minutes, and Jaune found himself oddly entranced by the rhythmic movements she made and how her golden hair caught the light of the room in gleaming strands.
"You should take better care of yourself," Yang said softly
Jaune frowned, "I do take care of myself," he said, somewhat offended.
Yang shot him a look, her expression completely disbelieving, "Uh huh," she said dryly, "Even I don't train my punches like that, you could hurt yourself or get an infection."
Jaune sighed, frustration flowing through him, but he knew it wasn't at the girl, "Right, I uh, will be more careful."
Yang's lips quirked up in a soft smile, "Good," she said simply.
Silence entered the air again, but Jaune was tired of the silence because that left him to his own thoughts.
"You uh do this often?" Jaune asked awkwardly.
Yang blinked before laughing softly, shaking her head in a golden cascade, "No but my mom does this for me when I've overdone my training."
"Summer?" Jaune asked.
Yang nodded, "Mmhmm," she gave Jaune a smile that made his heart clench, "She's the best, I couldn't have asked for a better mom."
Jaune smiled at her, "I feel the same about my Grandfather, he's always been there for me."
Yang nodded, looking down as she continued to clean his hand, "Yeah," a moment of pause, "I just sometimes wish I knew my actual mother more, you know?"
"Yeah," Jaune said, "I wish I wish I knew more about my parents too."
"You said you never knew them, right?" Yang asked softly, "I guess it's not fair to compare my mom against that-"
"Don't," Jaune interrupted firmly, raising one of his hands to place it gently on Yang's shoulder, ignoring the soft texture of her shirt and the heat of her skin underneath, "You don't have to compare those losses and denigrate your own."
Purple locked with blue, and Jaune realized how close their faces were to each other, her minty breath blew into his face, and her pupils had expanded, shrinking the violet around them as she gazed at him.
"Thanks," Yang said, giving him a soft smile, "So what had you here so late?" she asked, obviously diverting the topic.
Jaune sighed, looking down, "I-" he hesitated. He didn't know anyone here that well yet, but there was something about it being Yang that egged him on to say something.
Maybe she wouldn't be a bad sounding board.
"If you were given the choice between helping the world and sacrificing some really important things, would you do it?" Jaune asked.
Yang frowned, "Where'd that come from?" she asked bluntly.
Jaune shrugged, "Sorry, I don't know I just-"
Yang held up a hand, stopping him, "It would depend on what I'm sacrificing," she said simply.
Jaune thinned his lips, thinking of how to say it, "A dream, I guess, it's not really all that important in the grand scheme."
"Not important, to who?" Yang asked cocking a brow at him.
"Just, I guess the good of doing one outweighs the good of the other, but that one also involves sacrificing a lot of the things you want."
"So you'd be sacrificing what you want from life?" Yang asked.
"Right," Jaune nodded, "And honestly, by most metrics, you should, but it's your dream."
Yang blew hot air out through her lips, brushing over Jaune's face, "You can't do both?" she asked.
Jaune shook his head, "I don't think so. Both are full-time commitments."
"Then pick your dream," Yang said simply.
Jaune blinked, not expecting that answer in the slightest as he looked at Yang, shocked.
Yang gave him a wry smile, "You're pretty incredible lady killer, but I don't think you're the only person capable of doing good for the world. You don't think that you deserve happiness?"
Jaune shook his head, "But there are people this decision will hurt, and what if I really am the only person who can help?"
Yang sighed, "I don't know, but even then, you can't think of another option? My Dad says when someone's guard is up, you need to look for an opening; maybe there's an in-between point."
"An in-between point?" Jaune questioned.
"Yeah," Yang nodded, "Can you jab this problem where it's not guarding?"
Jaune hummed, running the idea through his head, "So approach the problem differently."
What did he know? Specialist Schnee needed a man who was part of the Schnee family to challenge her father for control. By necessity, this meant either she or Weiss would have to get married.
Or did it?
Male members of the family were the only ones who could challenge for control; what qualified as a family member?
An idea began to percolate in Jaune's mind.
A smile of relief filtered onto his face, and he met Yang's purple gaze, "That could work, thanks, Yang. I owe you one. It means a lot."
Yang blinked and then giggled, her cheeks tinting a faint red as she looked away. "I didn't do anything."
Jaune shook his head, "You definitely did, seriously. If you ever need something, just ask."
"You shouldn't say things like that," Yang said softly, gazing at him; there was something dark in his gaze, something hungry, "I may not be able to hold myself back." Her cheeks tinted a bright red at the end of her sentence.
"Uh, sorry?" Jaune said, confused, feeling a tenseness in his gut as he met Yang's eyes.
"Mmm," Yang hummed, gazing at him intensely, "You're forgiven." She mumbled softly before lightly tapping him on the head with her index finger, "For now," she winked.
This was like Ren all over again; Jaune realized his cheeks were reddening against his will. There was no way Yang met anything by that; she was just teasing.
"So?" Specialist Schnee said with the same implacable look that she had in the bullhead.
Even sitting here in the private room at a restaurant she had booked and not on the bullhead, Jaune found himself unable to interpret her expression.
Jaune needed to be careful about explaining his idea to her; he figured a wrong statement could quickly lead to the discussion going sideways.
"I'm not going to marry you," he said simply, and then he immediately wanted to slam his head through a wall.
Specialist Schnee's eyebrow rose, and her lips thinned.
Jaune quickly continued, "You deserve to marry someone who will love you, you shouldn't pick me because you feel you have to."
Specialist Schnee sneered, "That's not for you to decide, I'm doing what I have to do for my sister."
Jaune frowned at the woman, "What if there's another way? To save your sister without sacrificing yourself?"
Specialist Schnee gave him a long look, cold blue boring into his own sky blues.
"Explain," she said shortly.
"You need a male member of your family to challenge your father for control of the Schnee Dust Company?" Jaune asked.
Specialist Schnee nodded once, a short, abrupt movement.
"We don't have to be married to do that," Jaune pulled out a sheaf of paper and handed it over to Specialist Schnee.
"What is this?" the woman asked her eyes scanning over the documents.
"Your Grandfather's will," Jaune said shortly, rubbing tired eyes; it had taken him all night to obtain the document and read it. I wanted to double-check the conditions he made for the Schnee Dust Company. You're looking for Paragraph 50, section 4."
Specialist Schnee flipped a page and then read aloud, "A male member of the family qualifies as either a biological son of the current patriarch, a husband of a biological Schnee, or a fiancé of a biological Schnee."
Jaune nodded, "I imagine he wrote that condition so that your father could take control of the company as soon as possible."
"I don't see how this changes anything?" Specialist Schnee said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"We don't have to get married. If we're engaged, that's enough to give me the standing to challenge your father. Then I win and change the rules as the leader of the Schnee family to allow you to assume control of the family and lock your father out. Then we can break our engagement."
Specialist Schnee blinked, then looked down at the paper, reading carefully before she looked back up at Jaune, "How did you know to look for that kind of provision?" she asked her voice for once, not sounding cold and distant.
Jaune shrugged, giving a tired chuckle, "I've read my fair share of contracts in my time at the VFL. Can't all be slaying Grimm and saving villages, can it?"
Specialist Schnee nodded slowly, still looking at him strangely, "Why would you do this? You're giving up a not-inconsiderable amount of power and wealth."
Jaune shrugged helplessly, "I just want to be a Huntsman, power, wealth, all that stuff, I guess it's just not something I ever particularly cared for. More than that, I meant what I said: you should marry someone who loves you, Specialist Schnee."
Specialist Schnee blinked, and then, for the first time, a corner of her lips twitched slightly, and her expression was no longer so cold, "Honestly," she said, shaking her head, "I don't understand you Lieutenant, but I suppose if we're going to get engaged if only for a short while, please, call me Winter."
Jaune chuckled, relief swelling through him, "Of course, but then please call me Jaune."
Winter gave him something that approximated a smile, "Well then, what's the first step of your plan?"
Jaune reached into his pocket and slid out of his seat, holding out a small black box which he flipped open with his thumb.
"Winter, will you marry me so that you can take control of your company back?" he asked.
Winter shrugged her shoulders, combing her singular bang away from her eyes, "Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Jaune."