Quick little thing before you read, I forgot to type out that the rife Jaune was using was a Paratrooper FAL, and also this is going to be a shorter chapter than the last two.
-Chapter Three-
Settling In
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin's voice echoed throughout the auditorium. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Cardinal, led by… Cardin Winchester!"
Atop the stage, opposite Ozpin, and underneath their portraits were a pack of rough-looking boys.
The largest of the bunch was Cardin, a fair skinned, broad shouldered teen who was built like a brick and stood at six foot one. His face was squared and arrogant, with uncaring indigo almond eyes, a flat, hooked nose, and thin lips pulled up in a natural sneer. His burnt orange hair was brushed back from his face and held in place with too much gel – giving it a greasy look, much like a used car salesman.
He was dressed in a red trimmed, black polo covered by heavy silver-gray armor with a gold trim and matching bird with it's wings outstretched on his chest plate, under this he wears a pair of black pants with a red sash and thigh plates, which lead to a pair of silver-gray armored boots.
Next to him was Russel, a short, fair skinned teen of five foot four who bore a small, wiry, frame. He bore a thin, angular, rat-like face held a pointed nose and pinched lips, with hawk-like brown eyes. His light-green hair was done up in a short, messy mohawk.
He was dressed in a cut-off, sleeveless hoodie over a pale green long sleeved shirt that was tucked into a pair of dark gray pants that lead to a pair of knee high, thick brown leather boots. He also wore a pair of light-green bracers and a matching spiked pauldron attached by a brown leather strap.
After him was Dove, an equally short, pale skinned teen of slightly pudgy build. He bore an ovular face with nearly closed, squinting blue eyes, pouty lips, and a pug-like nose. His light-brown was short, falling to his ears, and combed to the left.
He was dressed in a black shirt and pants with a matching scarf under a set of tan half-plate armor similar – but lighter – than his leader.
Lastly was Sky, standing slightly taller than his other two teammates – at five foot six – with a plane white complexion and unassuming build. His face was angular and held a pretty boy quality to it, with a straight nose, bottom heavy lips, and monolid brown eyes. His dark blue hair was worn long and slicked back, somehow bearing even more hair gel than his leader.
Like Dove, he was dressed in all black with a long sleeved V-neck and pants covered by dark gray armor with a light gray trim.
Somehow, the sheer dullness of their dress made even Jaune look garish in comparison. But the assembled students still gave the pack of boys a standing ovation, which continued as Jaune, Ren, Blake, and Pyrrha walked on stage and took CRDL's place – their own portraits appearing one screen, though only Jaune and Pyrrha were smiling in them.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Blake Belladonna." Ozpin announced as the audience quieted down. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces." He looked over the assembled team. "From this day forward, you will work together as Team Abalone(ABLN)."
Seeing her chance, Pyrrha launched herself at Jaune and gave him a – slightly – restrained bear hug.
"Led by… Jaune Arc!" Ozpin continued.
"Me?" Jaune questioned.
"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin smiled, a slight gleam of vindication in his eye.
Pyrrha tightened her hug while Blake and Ren exchanged a polite nod, before the newly formed team exited the stage and were replaced by Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and a disturbingly subdued Nora.
"And finally: Nora Valkyrie. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xio Long." Ozpin motioned to the four girls in front of him. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Youngster(YNSR). Lead by… Yang Xio Long!"
Weiss looks to her right in shock, where an equally shocked Yang stands gobsmacked, until Ruby launches at her with a Semblance enhanced hug that knocks her out of it.
"Mom would be so proud!" Ruby cheered, causing Yang to tear up a bit.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year." Ozpin smiled as the last round of applause dies down.
-/-
The newly minted teams Abalone and Youngster walked side by side to their dorms – which just happened to be right across from each other!
Jaune, Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha chatted merrily, while Weiss and Nora drifted along like a pair of specters, with Ren and Blake silently following – with Blake nose deep in a book.
"Nora." Ren called.
"Yes…" Nora replied, dead eyed and monotone.
"You… know just because we're on separate teams doesn't mean we still can't hang out, right?"
The light returned to Nora's eyes as she whipped around to look at Ren. "You mean it!"
"Of course." Ren replied. "So long as Jaune is okay with it, that is."
"Yeah!" Nora yelled, running up and jumping on Jaune's back.
Jaune – being an older brother himself – barely broke stride as he hooked his arms under Nora's knees and locked them to his sides, effortlessly transitioning into a piggyback position.
Pyrrha looked forlornly at Jaune and Nora, opening her mouth to say something when Ruby beat her to it.
"Hey, that looks cool!" Ruby beamed. "Can you carry me to?"
"Sure!" Jaune smiled, nudging his shoulder. "Hop on up!"
"Yeah!" Ruby smiled, disappearing in a burst of rose petals before re-materializing on Jaune's right shoulder.
Pyrrha looked on with a heart broken expression, looking down and cursing her masculine body, only to look back up at Ruby's condescending smirk and pout in anger. "Y-You… b-bitch!" Before blushing at even thinking such a word.
Yang, unable to see Ruby's face, smiled warmly at her sister making friends. Ren, meanwhile, followed Blake's lead and pulled out a book as well, reading it as they walked. A few minutes later the two neonate teams divided and entered their respective rooms.
Team ABLN entered their dorm's common room, a large, three hundred and forty two squared foot, spartan room that bore dark hard wood floors with contrasting two-tone cream and slate gray walls – with a panel of similar dark wood divided the two. To the left of the door coming in were four wall lockers, with a large plate glass window and a pair of double blank-style doors opposite the door – which lead to a slim balcony. Tucked in the corner is their assorted luggage, of which only Pyrrha and Jaune had more than a backpacks worth – something which caused Pyrrha to blush when she noticed.
"I suppose we'll have to decorate ourselves." Blake notes aloud.
"That might be a little difficult…" Jaune chuckled. "C'mon, let's check out the rest of the place – we can worry 'bout makin' her pretty later!"
The dorm room proper was a smaller affair, measuring at two hundred and thirty four square foot room that bore the same walls as the common room, but with a deep red carpet covering the floor and a matching set of drapes covering the sole blank-style window. Situated near the corners of the narrow room were four identical Full sized beds, each topped with plain white sheets and red comforters, with a single white pillow at the headboard, with a pair of dark wood bedside cabinets in between each bed.
"Alright, not the worst place I've slept." Jaune said, with Ren and Blake nodding along – leaving poor Pyrrha out. "While we're here, let's pick out beds." He nodded towards Blake and Pyrrha. "The girl's pick first."
Nodding, Blake immediately made a beeline for the bed to the left of the window, plopping down and curling up like a cat bathing in the sun. Pyrrha, meanwhile, cringed at the sight of the window and promptly chose the bed opposite Blake, closets to the bathroom.
"Any preference?" Jaune asked, looking t Ren.
Ren's head tilted left to right. "I'd rather not be next to the window."
Jaune nodded. "Alright."
With the sleeping arrangements made, the four make their way to the final room – the bathroom.
The bathroom was a the thinnest room, measuring a hundred and seventeen squared feet, with a pristine checkerboard tile floor and blank walls. Opposite the door was a long counter that bore four individual washbasins and a large mirror that went from the counter to the ceiling. To the left of the door on the far side was a Victorian styled toilet and a large shower hidden by frosted glass, with a Victorian styled faucet and shower head, alongside a half moon frosted panned window situated near Ren's head, with a large wall spanning Victorian styled closet on the opposite wall.
"Thank the Gods there's public toilets!" Jaune chuckled at the bathroom. "Though, I suppose it would've been awkward if there was three toilets next to one another."
With their tour done, the four go back to their dorm room and set some ground rules.
"Okay, so obviously the girl's are going to be showering first – y'all can figure out who goes first amongst yourselves." Jaune announced. "Then it'll be Ren, then me."
"Why me?" Ren questioned.
"You've got more hair then I do." Jaune answered simply. "And I know how difficult it can be to look after, 'sides, I'm used to going last."
"What do you mean?" Blake quirked a brow.
"Well, let's just say that havin' seven sisters comes with some downsides." Jaune chuckled.
An eternity's worth of deafening silence passed within the span of a few seconds as Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha registered Jaune's words. Before all hell broke loose.
Ren – imagining six more Nora's – blue screened.
Pyrrha squawked in surprise and blushed. "O-Oh my!"
Blake, meanwhile, stared straight at Jaune with a strange glint in her eye and blood leaking out of her nose, before she pulled a small notebook out of nowhere and started furiously scribbling – all the while maintaining eye contact with Jaune, with an unreadable expression plastered over her face.
"Yeah, that's about what usually happens." Jaune's chuckled transitioned into a laugh. "Well, except whatever Blake's deal is, but I've learned to not question the ways of women – that path's made better men than me loose their minds."
"Now, to get back on track." Jaune announced, knocking his team from their stupor. "I imagine y'all ain't too terribly comfortable with Ren and I around your unmentionables, so I propose that we all do our own laundry, deal?" The three teens nod. "Good, now we should probably wait until we get our bearings before making any team bonding activities." Once more his team nods. "Now, anyone want to cover anything more ground rules?"
The three look between each other, before looking back to Jaune with a shake of their heads.
"Alright, alright, alright." Jaune smiled. "Now, seeing as none of us knew each other before today, how 'bout we go round and say a few things about ourselves – now I'm not asking for you to spill any deep, dark secrets or nothin', just some basic info and maybe your Semblances."
Pyrrha tilted her head cutely. "Our Semblances?"
"It makes sense." Ren nodded. "We are a team now, and it'll due us some good to have a good grasp on what each other can do."
Blake nodded in agreement.
"Alright, since this whole shebang was my idea, I'll start." Jaune smiled. "I'm from the Isle of Dogs, a small town situated on an island in the middle of the Ford river on the east coast, as you know I have seven sisters, and my Semblance is known as Aura Amplification – or Amp for short."
"Ooh, what does your Semblance do!" Pyrrha asked starry eyes – always excited to learn about new Semblances and fighting forms.
"Well, at first, we – that means my family and I – thought that I could use my Aura on others and enhance theirs." Jaune answered.
"Wait, "at first"?" Blake questioned.
"Yup!" Jaune replied, popping the P. "After a while I figured out I could do a whole lot more – I can refill both my own and others Aura, boost and reinforce Aura, supercharge Dust and Semblances." He chuckles. "Even managed to "evolve" a Semblance once."
Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha stared gobsmacked at Jaune.
"Holy shit…" Ren whispered.
"That…" Pyrrha panted, her voice coming out in a husky growl. "That's the most powerful thing I've ever heard of…"
"Y-Yeah…" Jaune chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, ignoring the shiver that went up his spine at Pyrrha's tone. "Though I can only use it to boost, reinforce, and supercharge things a few times before I start experiencing complications."
"Complications?" Blake quirked a brow.
"Well I get one helluva migraine if I use it too much too soon." Jaune answered. "And if I push it past my limit, my body forces me into a short coma to recoup and recover."
"W-What's your limit?" Pyrrha panted once more.
"I can push it to twenty times, but I usually pass out shortly after." Jaune explained. "So my current limit's nineteen."
There was a brief, tense silence as the rest of the team ruminated on Jaune's Semblance, and how broken it could be if it ever evolved.
"W-Well!" Pyrrha called out suddenly. "How about I go next?"
"I have no objection."
"Go ahead."
"Okay, well, I'm from Argus-"
"Huh, really?" Jaune interrupted. "Wow, small world, my sister's lived there for the last two years with her wife!" A contemplative look crosses his face. "It's strange we've never crossed before, Argus' not a very large settlement."
"Huh, that is strange, surely we should have crossed paths at least once, even in passing." Pyrrha mused, before continuing. "Well anyway, I'm an only child and my Semblance is Polarity."
"Damn, that's pretty useful." Jaune smiled.
"Only against humans, I'm afraid." Pyrrha looked down.
"What are you talking about?" Jaune quirked a brow, Ren and Blake following. "You have an incredibly useful Semblance, baring how advantages you'd be against any bandits or the like, you have a ton of uses outside of that."
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked, cocking her head to the side.
"You could use it to always find north." Ren suggested.
"You could find traps or even people." Blake added.
"You could also act as a human divining rod for various metals." Jaune piped up. "Which would make you invaluable out in the frontier."
"Huh, I never thought of it like that…" Pyrrha mumbled.
"Well, you were a tournament fighter." Jaune reminded. "So I imagine your coach didn't bother to think of any other way to use your Semblance than against your opponents."
"Still…" Pyrrha looked away with a blush. "It's embarrassing to think I've been under utilizing my Semblance in such a way."
"Hey." Jaune soothed as he sat next to Pyrrha and wrapped his arm around her shoulders – which Pyrrha unconsciously leaned into. "No one's an instant master of their Semblance, hell, I thought mine was little more than a battery for other Hunters."
"But I still should have thought for myself." Pyrrha countered. "Instead of solely relying on my coach."
"Pyrrha." Jaune's tone broke no arguments. "You were a kid, no kid questions the adults around them." He smiles. "That's a learned talent! So don't worry 'bout being a late bloomer."
Jaune looked up at Ren and Blake, still hugging Pyrrha as he sensed she needed it. "Flip a coin?"
"No need." Ren replied. "I am… from Kuroyuri, it was a lake village similar to the Isle of Dogs, I am an… only child, and my Semblance is known as Tranquility – it allows me to mask negative emotions, essentially making my and another person invisible to the Grimm."
No one bothered to ask Ren to clarify about Kuroyuri, as they all knew what he meant.
"Damn! That's one useful ass Semblance!" Jaune cheered, with Blake and Pyrrha nodding along in agreement.
Seeing she is last, Blake excepts her fate with a sigh. "I…" She chews her lip for a moment, seemingly deciding something, before nodding to herself and reaching up and untying her bow – revealing a pair of black cat ears. "I am from Menagerie, I am also an only child, and my Semblance is known as Shadow – it allows me to make shadow-clones of myself, I can send them out in any direction I want or use them to take my place and tank a hit for me, I can also add Dust into the clones as well."
Ren and Pyrrha looked shocked at Blake's reveal, Jaune meanwhile just smiles.
"What a perfect Semblance for a skirmisher."
It's now Blake's turn to stare wide eyed. "Y-You knew?!"
"Blake." Jaune smiled. "I have seven sisters, I know how bows work." His smiled widened as Blake cocked her head. "Your bow twitched when I sat next to you in the ballroom."
Blake blushed. "Oh…"
"Whelp." Jaune sighed as he stood, much to Pyrrha's chagrin. "I think that's enough soul searching for now – don't want to bear ourselves raw to one another on the first night, after all where's the fun in that? – so let's go unpack and hit the hay, we've got a big day tomorrow!"
With that, Team ABLN unpacked – which was more expedient for Blake and Ren – before changing into their sleepwear. Blake once more dressed in her sleeping yukata – which somehow came off as more provocative than if she just slept in her underwear, probably because Jaune wasn't used to seeing it – while Jaune changed into his tank and sweats. Though it was the first time the two saw Pyrrha and Ren in their pajamas.
Pyrrha was dressed in about as stereotypical of pajamas you could imagine, wearing an, admittedly childish, bronze colored sleeping shirt with matching pants.
Ren, meanwhile, was dressed more like a samurai preparing for battle than going to bed. Wearing a dark green kimono, with a light green trim, that was tucked into a pair of black hakama, which was covered by a red sash and a dark green jinbaori-styled housecoat with a pair of lotus' embossed on the shoulders, with a pink center and light green petals.
"Damn Ren! You going to bed or to a battle?" Jaune smirked. "Oum, way to make the rest of us look under dressed."
"Oh, I'm sorry I did not-" Ren started.
"Nah, don't worry 'bout it." Jaune waved. "'Sides, there's one more thing I gotta do."
The rest of ABLN stared quizzically at Jaune as he stood and walked towards the bathroom. "Blake, Pyr, c'mon."
After a moment, Jaune's words registered with the three teens, with Pyrrha blushing heavily, Ren's eyes widening to the size of saucers, and Blake's ears furiously twitching as blood flowed freely from her nose.
"Oh, will you get your minds outta the gutter and c'mon!" Jaune scoffed.
With slight disappointment, Jaune leads Blake and Pyrrha to the large, wall spanning closet and open it up to his designated section.
"Alright." Jaune said as he stepped back and gestured towards the closet. "Take what you want."
Blake and Pyrrha stared blankly at him.
"Look." Jaune sighed. "I know y'all are only children, but when a guy lives with a woman in any capacity – for any amount of time – some of his clothes are going to be stolen by the woman. Don't ask me how or why, it just happens, so… here."
"Then… why isn't Ren doing this as well?" Pyrrha questioned innocently.
"Cause Ren doesn't have enough clothes to spare." Jaune answered easily. "And he's skinnier than the both of you, so none of 'em would fit anyway – so take your pick."
The girls, with a glance and a shrug at each other, stepped forward and – for lack of a better term – "raided" Jaune's closet. Pyrrha chose a large black, short sleeved hoodie with a stylized, white heater shield on the front – a gift from his sisters, but he did say anything – alongside a white, graphic tee bearing the logo of an old RPG Jaune used to play as a kid with his sisters. Blake, meanwhile, simply took three pairs of him boxer-briefs, which Jaune didn't question too hard for the sack of his sanity – besides, his sisters used his underwear as pajamas all the time.
With all said and done, the three exited the bathroom and went to their respective beds – except Pyrrha who had stayed behind and came out dressed in Jaune's shirt instead of her pajamas, with his shirt ending halfway to her mid thighs, now that she wasn't wearing her heels. Without further ado, the new team laid down and went to bed, a swirl of emotion thumping in their chests at the prospect of finally attending Beacon.
Boy, this chapter was hard to write – as for some reason I suck at writing fluff – and further chapters are going to take even longer to come out as I have to essentially make the curriculum for Beacon – and decide if I want to even include the whole Salem plot or not.
Now, as you've noticed, some things have already come to light – as I always thought that Blake kept her heritage hidden because she was on a team with Weiss – and I've also tried to… flesh out Blake's, Pyrrha's, and Ruby's character, as they didn't really have much going for them in the early volumes, at least that I can remember – though to be fair its not like I can go back and watch the early volumes now.
And I'm kind of glad I didn't make Ruby part of Jaune's team – as they will be getting the lion's share of story time – simply because I have no idea how to write her outside of a socially awkward, adorable mess, I don't recall if they ever even told us why she was a Huntress outside of "wanting to help people" which, is not a good motivation for a protagonist to have.
I mean, Weiss wanted freedom from her father and to clear her family's name from said man's machinations. Blake wanted to redeem and stop what she saw as her family legacy, while also finding redemption for her part in said legacy. And Yang wanted to find the mother that abandoned her and get some answers.
Now, no one would call their reasons revolutionary or overly complex, but at least they had them – as we still haven't been given any for Ren and Nora, and never will from Rooster Teeth now.
Now next chapter is going to deal with Team YNSR's first day as a team and show off the course for the next year, alongside – hopefully – some team bonding and action.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing.