[RWBY] White Knight Errant

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

The backlash of Golden Lion's Roar was always the worst part. It made Jaune's arm burn like he'd been on fire, he was left panting for breath, and even after training with Ren and Pyrrha to improve his Aura control? He still felt drained.

Now though… As he saw the devastation caused by the blast, the collapsing roof, the falling walls, a new feeling about his most powerful attack entered Jaune's mind:

Guilt.

He yanked out his Scroll and hit the mass call button.

"Ruby! Pyrrha! Ren! Yang! Nora! Weiss! Blake! Sun! Anyone?!"

Static was all he got back. He grit his teeth.

Damnit… Damnit…!

The clouds of smoke began to clear, as debris fell from the ceiling. The walls were groaning uncomfortably. Jaune looked back towards the impact point of Golden Lion's Roar, and could see what was left of the containers just peeking out.

He couldn't see anything beyond burned and cracked metal on the red, green, and blue containers. He tightened his grip on Crocea Mors, and took heavy, deep breaths.

Did… Did I kill her?

As much as he had desired this… Jaune felt empty as he looked over the wreckage. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing-

A luminous glow filled the smoke cloud, shaped like a translucent, convex disk.

Ah, his mental Gato voice returned, A hardlight Dust shield! That's new.

Jaune's eyes widened.

Oh fu-

The containers exploded, and a gigantic mass blasted through the smoke right for him. A huge metallic two-pronged claw reached out and closed around him like a vice. His arms were pinned to his sides as his ribs creaked, and he let out a loud cry.

A massive Atlasian mecha stared at him, a viewscreen on the front. It turned translucent, and Iridescent's face appeared. She was blushing deeply, and licked her lips as she squeezed Jaune's body.

"AUGH!"

"Oh, darling~! You spoil me," Iridescent cooed over the speakers, as she licked her lips, "You really did go all out! If I didn't slip into this, I'd have been utterly destroyed."

"You…!" Jaune growled and struggled against the mechanical grip. Servos and hydraulics whined against his strength, but held him tight.

"Now now, sweetie," Iridescent clucked, shaking her head, "Did you think I'd settle for anything but the best? You've ruined me for everyone else, darling~. That fire to grow stronger, more powerful! Oh, it's simply wonderful!"

Rocket boosters activated on the giant mecha, and it flew through the air. It smashed right through the nearest wall, sending the rest of the docking facility collapsing with a roar as bricks and dust filled the air. They flew towards the overpass highway, and for a brief moment Jaune was terrified she was going to crash into it with its hundreds of innocent commuters-!

At the last moment, she dove underneath it. Nothing but a few abandoned cars and piles of rubbish greeted them.

Iridescent slammed the mecha down hard onto the pavement, and slammed Jaune with her as she skidded to a halt. The asphalt cracked, and Jaune screamed.

"Doing this in public is a bit embarrassing, but that venue was a little too wrecked by your passion, lover~," Iridescent went on with a smirk. She let Jaune go with the claw, and he sucked in a breath-Only for her foot to slam down and dig a crater with his body.

"AUGH!" Jaune yelled, as Iridescent tittered.

"So darling, what does it feel like?" She crooned. "Fighting for your life? Letting your passions run wild? Nothing left but to do or die before you?"

Her grin widened.

"It's what you LIVE FOR!"

Jaune gritted his teeth and glared up at her. He rummaged around his belt. It was a miracle his ever present pouches and their contents hadn't been crushed, but that's not what he was looking for. His fingers touched the hilt of Levigato, and he yanked out his dagger. It glowed as he charged his Aura. He thrust the dagger into the armor, his brute strength letting him start dragging it through the thick armor.

I'm at about fifty percent, but maybe…!

Iridescent fired a burst from the mecha's lighter machine guns. The rounds fell like steel rain onto him, and Jaune grit his teeth against the onslaught.

"Nothing to say, baby?" Iridescent asked mocking, as she ceased fire. "Nothing for the woman who made you who you are today?"

She smirked and dug her heel into Jaune's chest. The pain was unimaginable.

"AARRGH!"

"That's it, let me hear you scream!" Iridescent panted like a bitch in heat.

Jaune looked up, feeling his floating ribs buckle as he tried not to cry out. He tried to grab onto Levigato again, pulse more Aura into it! He got a hold, but Iridescent just opened up with the guns again!

Damnit… Damnit… This is my fault, he thought, All my fault… My friends might be dead… My fault… It's all my own damn fault…!

Black Aura burst to life around the Atlasian mecha, and its armor cracked. The whole vehicle was forced backwards. Jaune yanked his dagger out of the mecha's foot, and forced himself to his feet. He looked up, and his eyes widened as his heart leaped.

"PYRRHA!"

The redheaded Amazon stood on top of an abandoned car, looking a little worse for wear but focused on the Atlasian mech with a fiery determination. Both her hands were outstretched and burning with black Aura energy. Jaune ran towards her, as the Atlasian mecha strained loudly against the force of magnetism holding it captive.

"J-Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped. "Sorry I'm late… I was a bit held up…!"

"YOU!" Iridescent snarled over the speakers, stomping the mecha's feet like an angry child, "YOU WHORE! SLICK!"

A tall man in blue pinstripes, a fedora, and a black gasmask slid up out of nowhere, looking utterly impeccable from his polished shoes to his stylish cane.

"Yes, Lady Iridescent?" He asked calmly, even as Jaune caught his breath and Pyrrha grunted to hold the mecha at bay with her Semblance.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP THEM FROM INTERFERING!" Iridescent raged.

Slick was unfazed. He glanced at Pyrrha, almost boredly, before he shrugged.

"I apologize, Lady Iridescent," he stated, "But the building collapsed and I lost her in the dust-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Iridescent bellowed. "THIS WAS MY TIME WITH MY JAUNE! NO ONE ELSE'S!"

"HE'S NOT YOURS!" Pyrrha shouted angrily back.

"HE WAS MINE BEFORE YOU SET EYES ON HIM, YOU SKANK!" Iridescent roared. "HE'S MINE! BODY! HEART! SOUL! ONLY I CAN BRING OUT HIS TRUE SELF! A MERCILESS KILLER! WE BELONG TOGETHER!"

Pyrrha stared in shock and horror at the ranting woman… Before her eyes narrowed.

"You," she growled, "You're why he's so hurt. You're why he's…!"

Normally, Jaune would be terrified at seeing Pyrrha so furious. And yet…

She's like this… For me? Jaune thought, his heart skipping a beat.

Pyrrha strained as she brought her hands together-Or at least tried. Iridescent's mecha began to glow brighter as the Amazon pushed more power into it.

"She's fighting me! It's just too much mass to-to control!" Pyrrha gasped. "How's your Aura?"

"I can hit her with one more Golden Lion's Roar," Jaune managed, even as his Aura healed his ribs.

"Do it-!"

Slick blurred, and Jaune barely got his shield up in time to block cane strikes so fast and hard it felt like a machine gun was being unloaded on him!

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha cried. That momentary distraction allowed Iridescent's mecha to move. Its cannons opened up, and Slick, Jaune, and Pyrrha ran in different directions to avoid the fire.

"SLICK! GET OUT OF HERE!" Iridescent bellowed angrily, barely audible over the harsh roar of the cannon fire.

"Lady-!"

"NOW!" Iridescent shouted. Slick sighed, and vanished as quickly as he appeared.

Jaune and Pyrrha ran towards the far part of the underpass, the cannon rounds blasting up asphalt and concrete shrapnel. They held up their shields as the debris struck them from all sides. Pyrrha looked around, saw the apartment buildings and heard the traffic overhead…

"Get in close!" Jaune shouted. "We gotta take her out!"

"On it!" Pyrrha shouted. They split up, running in different directions before turning and charging Iridescent from opposite directions. Iridescent divided her fire, seething over the loudspeakers.

"You can't just-!"

Jaune dove in front of Pyrrha as they got to mid-range. She ducked behind his shield and switched Milo to rifle mode. Bracing her rifle on his shoulder (which he held steady through sheer willpower), she fired several shots on the mecha. She hit what looked like its sensors with pinpoint accuracy, making Iridescent swing its weapons around furiously and without accuracy.

"HOMEWRECKER!" Iridescent seethed. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!"

Missile launchers activated on the back of the huge mecha. Jaune could count about fifty individual cells in the launcher boxes, and he grit his teeth.

Shit, that's a lot of firepower, but maybe we can-

"YOU DAMN WHORE! YOU WANT TO MAKE JAUNE INTO SOME KIND OF HERO, DON'T YOU?!" Iridescent snarled.

"I WANT TO BE A HERO!" Jaune shouted back.

"THIS WHORE LED YOU ASTRAY, DEAR!" Iridescent shouted. "THERE ARE NO HEROES. ONLY PREDATOR… AND PREY. ONLY IDIOTS CARE ABOUT PREY!"

The laser designators for the missiles lit up. Jaune and Pyrrha tracked where they were focused on. Jaune's jaw dropped.

"No! Iridescent, don't-!"

Iridescent fired the missiles, and all fifty of the projectiles burst forth, turned, and screamed right for the apartment complexes!

- - -

Ruby came to the feeling of Aura flowing into her. She started and jerked awake. She saw a pale visage with a scar over one eye, framed by platinum blonde hair, and felt strong arms holding her up as she sat on rough pavement. She could make out a tanned face framed by blue hair, also looking worried.

"Ruby? Ruby, are you all right?" Weiss asked urgently. "Speak to me!"

"Come on kid, wake up!" Neptune said, as the sounds of sirens began to wail in the distance.

"Ugh… I… What… What happened?" Ruby managed, looking down. She could see Weiss pressing a Healing Dust Emitter to her stomach. It resembled a groomer brush with a strap to hold the oval-shaped business end against the palm. "Wait, you're healing me?"

Weiss flushed, and scowled.

"I do know how to use Healing Dust. It's Dust, I'm an expert at-"

"Why are you here?! What happened?!" Ruby demanded.

"Well, the factory exploded," Neptune deadpanned, "So I think that was a good reason to get out here."

"We found you outside with some Healing Dust and an emitter," Weiss went on, "Do you know why you had those with you? Or by you?"

Ruby's heart pounded in her chest and ears. She looked around. Those bodies were still there, lying amidst all the rubble and refuse kicked up by the collapse of the old factory. Piles of bricks and masonry were everywhere amidst damaged, naked supports and ragged remaining walls.

Her eyes just kept going to the dead bodies of the White Fang goons. Yes… Yes, they had been trying to kill her… But seeing the light go right out of their bodies and leave them like Grimm…

The dead… They're dead…

"Ruby," Weiss murmured, "Ruby… It's all right."

She shifted a bit to block Ruby's view of the bodies, and looked into her eyes.

"It's all right… You're our leader. Now, what do we do?"

Ruby sucked in a deep breath. Her heart rate slowed, just a little.

She knew where she was.

Ruby sprang to her feet, and scanned around. She pushed her Aura into her eyes again. The world darkened, but points of bright light began to appear amidst the rubble of the fallen factory.

Points of bright light that might fade away and go black, too, if she didn't do something right now.

"Come on!" Ruby shouted, charging in. Weiss and Neptune followed, too shocked to really disobey.

"Ruby, we need to wait for the rescue teams-!"

"Weiss! Gravity Dust, right there!" Ruby shouted, pointing at a pile near where the main entrance had been. Weiss was shocked, but slammed the required canister into Myrtenaster and unleashed a Purple shockwave. The bricks rose up, higher, higher…

A massive yellow Aura blast threw the rest away. Out of this rubble emerged Yang and Blake-Blake was clutching a few thick binders of documents in her left arm as she supported Yang with the right.

"YANG! BLAKE!" Ruby cried.

"Ugh, hey sis," Yang managed, as Ruby hugged her tightly. She grunted at the touch, but patted Ruby's head. "We really brought the house down, huh?"

"Please, no," Blake muttered. Yang snickered.

"What? It fell like a ton of bricks!"

"Weiss, heal them!" Ruby ordered. She dashed to another point of light. "Neptune! Get over here! Use your Water Semblance!"

"Wait, hang on-"

"THERE'S NO TIME!" Ruby shouted. "GET OVER HERE!"

Neptune complied as though pulled by a chain sickle. He summoned up water and sent it underneath the rubble. He grit his teeth as the bricks rumbled. He moved his hands upwards, and the bricks and debris began to float.

Neptune grunted, his brow beginning to sweat as he focused.

"Come on, come on…!" He growled.

"HEY!" Ruby shouted. "HEY! WHOEVER'S DOWN THERE, WE'RE HERE! COME UP!"

A massive pink Dust blast went off, scattering Ruby and Neptune with loud cries. Sun Wukong emerged, bloodied and bruised, as he carried Ren and Nora under his arms. He had used Magnhild, and dragged it along.

"SUN!" Blake shouted, and she rushed over to him. Yang and Weiss followed, as Sun panted and gently set both Ren and Nora down on the rubble.

"Ren! Nora!" Ruby gasped. "WEISS!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Weiss insisted, quickly kneeling down. She pressed the Healing Dust Emitter against Nora's bloodied, bruised body first. Ren opened his eyes first, his pink Aura flickering to life.

"Haa… Nora? Where's-?!"

"She's here! She's alive," Ruby insisted, holding him down. He pushed against her, and sat up. He looked down at the unconscious form of his best friend, grimacing deeply. His hand went out and he grasped Nora's hand.

"Nora… Nora, I-URK!"

Nora's fist clenched tightly around his hand, and she sat up fast. Weiss yelped, thrown back.

"I'M ALIVE!" Nora cheered. She then scowled at Sun, who was being held up by Blake. "You touched my hammer!"

"Sorry, had to save our lives," Sun grunted. Nora grumbled, but then brightened and smiled cheerfully.

"I forgive you! Thanks for the kiss!"

"What?!" Ren blurted out, as everyone else stared.

"What kiss?" Yang asked, eyebrows waggling.

"Not with him," Nora scoffed, "With Renny! Our first~!" She beamed and nuzzled him. Ren coughed.. Then coughed up blood.

"Oh right, heal him!" Nora demanded, grabbing Weiss and dragging her over into Ren's lap.

"OOF! Don't treat me like that-!"

"Complain later, heal now!" Nora demanded. She looked around, and, as though seeing them for the first time, smiled and waved her hand.

"Hey Ruby! Hey Blakey! Hey Yang-Yang! Hey…"

She stared at Neptune. Neptune scowled back.

"Neptune?"

"Sure!" Nora said cheerfully. She turned to Ruby.

"Where's Jaune-Jaune and Pyrrha?"

Loud gunfire and explosions filled the air. Ruby's Aura Sight let her see the action, no matter how many ruins were between them and the action.

A giant, luminous mechanical device, burning with luminous Aura, was confronting two smaller Aura signatures. One burned a strange white and black, but it was comfortingly familiar. The other was golden yellow, burning like a bonfire.

"Over there!" Ruby shouted, all ready to speed over to the rescue. "We need to-!

Forever Fall again appeared in her mind. She stopped herself, and took a deep breath.

There were many other little lights under the rubble, too. Maybe they were White Fang… But after what she'd seen…

"Weiss! Neptune! Heal everyone else up! Get anyone else out of the rubble!" Ruby shouted, as she saw emergency service vehicles driving up to the scene. "And when we're done-"

"Smashy time!" Nora cheered.

Ruby grinned at her fellow redhead.

"YEAH!"

- - -


The missiles… Were a bit of an issue. Pyrrha had to channel most of her considerable Aura into her Semblance, and the black energy answered by ensnaring all of the screaming projectiles. She dropped Milo and stretched out her wide open hands, so she could concentrate everything she had into keep the fifty missiles in place above her. Their Dust powered rocket motors were very loud, and after the flashbangs from before she was a little disoriented.

She looked around and spotted Jaune on her right side, charging up his sword. Ahead of them was Iridescent in the mecha, the guns on the giant military robot audibly charging up.

"JAUNE! GET DOWN!" Pyrrha screamed. Jaune looked back at her in shock.

"PYRRHA-!"

Polarity let her know that slugs of hyper dense metal were screaming through the air for her. She could sense them, tell their trajectories through long practice. She was able to shift herself just enough that one shot past, grazing her side. The next hit her stomach, but her weakened Aura just barely managed to absorb the hit, though the pain was immeasurable.

Next hit… No Aura left… The missiles…! Channel it!

Pyrrha tried to move to the side, tried to do anything, even as she moved her Aura away to prevent it breaking.

The shots struck and drove her back. She slammed up against something sharp.

She felt an explosion of pain, and then a horrible numbness. She looked down, and saw a chunk of metal poking out of her stomach as blood oozed out of her torso. She blinked at it, as her knees shook. The missiles still roared overhead, straining to escape her Semblance.

Oh dear… That might be… A problem… She thought as she tried to focus on the missiles and not the chunk of metal piercing through her stomach.

- - -

A scream tore its way out of Jaune's mouth.

"PYRRHA!"

Gut shots. Gut shots were the worst injuries by far in a hospital. Even with Aura healing, if it wasn't addressed right away, septic shock could still be fatal.

The fact Pyrrha was still on her feet, her arms up, her Aura flaring as she kept the missiles from hitting anything, was nothing short of a miracle. Just like her.

"H-Hit her, Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped, despite the fact her diaphragm had likely been hit, "T-Take her down!"

Jaune looked away at Iridescent. She was smirking in the Paladin mech's cockpit, powering up another barrage. He looked at his sword, burning with power. One more Golden Lions' Roar, and he could finish her.

"COME ON, LOVER!" Iridescent bellowed, "SHE'S OCCUPIED! IT'S JUST YOU, AND ME! OR WILL BE!"

He could kill Iridescent, like he'd almost done in the docking area. She'd be dead and… And Pyrrha…

Minutes. She had minutes. At best. Even with her Aura, disease and illness from the septic shock would kill her. The surest fire way to save her was with the Aura energy burning in his sword. The means to save her… The means to kill Iridescent…

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha gasped out. "TAKE THE SHOT!"

"COME ON!" Iridescent shouted, licking her lips.

It was what he wanted, wasn't it? The perfect opportunity to kill Iridescent. To get his revenge. To get justice for Gato.

Why won't you tell me anything, Gato?! He thought frantically. WHY?!

Because you know what the right answer is, Jaune, a voice spoke in his head, not quite Gato but still intimately familiar. As though spoken into his ear while a strong hand rested on his shoulder. You always have.

You want to be a hero, right?

The Paladin's rotary cannon spun up again… Pyrrha grit her teeth and glared into the oncoming barrage…

Jaune dropped his sword and ran, diving in front of her with his shield up. Even with Aura enhancement, Crocea Mors took dents from the high velocity slugs as Jaune stood in front of Pyrrha. The redheaded Amazon gaped at him in shock.

"J-Jaune, your shot-!"

"Shut the hell up, Pyrrha!" Jaune growled, "If I don't get to martyr myself then you sure as hell don't either!"

Thanks to long practice, he found the canister of Healing Dust and jammed it into the emitter without looking and with only one hand. Still taking fire and being forced back, Jaune swung his arm back and pressed it against her gaping stomach wound and the metal that pierced her.

"YAAAHH!" Jaune bellowed, channeling all the Aura he could spare through the Healing Dust into Pyrrha. She screamed as well, her aura flaring behind him, black and yet somehow bright.

He somehow heard the metal spike fall from her wound. He managed to glance back: Through the hole in her armor, only smooth skin and awesome abs were visible. Her eyes had rolled into the back of her head.

"Pyrrha?! PYRRHA!"

Her Aura surged, and she flung her hands forward. Puppeteered by her power, the fifty missiles turned around and, while without Dust propulsion, flew right into the gigantic Paladin mecha. Its pilot screamed.

"WHAT-?!"

Jaune was able to see Iridescent's eyes widen almost comically and the glow of its hardlight shield just before they all impacted.

KABOOM!

Jaune felt Pyrrha fall against him. He turned, pulled her all the way down onto the pavement, put himself between her and the mech, and put everything he had left into his shield.

"UGHHH!"

The impact of the shockwave blasted him back, skidding along the pavement. They slammed into an abandoned car, smashing in its door and shattering all the windows. Its alarm went off, which just made Jaune's headache worse. He groaned and opened his eyes.

A pillar of smoke and flame obscured the Paladin. Jaune turned his attention to Pyrrha. Her eyes were shut, and he shook her shoulder.

"Hey! Hey, Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted. "Pyrrha!"

Please, don't be dead, don't be dead…!

He checked her pulse-It was slow, but strong, and some tension left his entire body. He nearly dropped like a boneless fish when she opened her eyes.

"J-Jaune…?" He murmured.

"Hey," Jaune said with a smile. "How… How are you?"

"I'm… I'm okay," Pyrrha said. She smiled softly. "Aura… Aura's low… N-Never felt that before."

"Bet you haven't," Jaune laughed. He looked back over at the smoke and flames… And his heart dropped into his stomach. "Shit."

The Paladin mech slowly stepped through the flames. It was pretty beat up, but still operational. He could still see Iridescent through the smoke clouded cockpit glass. The hardlight shield flickered, then apparently died when a component on top of the Paladin burst into flames.

"Ooh… I suppose I could accept another in our relationship, lover," Iridescent said, "If she's gonna get that rough? Maybe… But you're not done yet."

Jaune took a deep breath. He took a few steps between himself and Pyrrha. He hefted up his shield, and glared down Iridescent.

"No," Jaune stated, "We're done. You're nothing to me, Iridescent. And I'm tired of you hanging over my life."

He flared his Aura, his gaze focused on her. Iridescent laughed mockingly.

"You'll never be rid of me, lover! I'll haunt your steps! I'll always be in your heart!"

"No," Jaune stated coldly, "You won't. Not… Not anymore."

"J-Jaune," Pyrrha tried.

"Stay down," Jaune ordered. He pulled out Levigato, and clenched his fist. He channeled Aura into it, and the little blade began to glow like a small star. He prepared to charge…

A massive blast of Ice Dust erupted, forming a barrier around the Paladin mech. A flurry of rose petals burst in front of it, and Ruby appeared with Crescent Rose aimed right for Iridescent's head.

"YAH!" Ruby shouted, firing multiple anti-material rounds into the mecha. A second later, Yang, burning like a small sun, charged in and punched the Paladin's left arm clean off. Blake and Sun appeared underneath, firing shots at the Paladin's joints and dancing around at high speed. Ren joined in, leaping artfully over the mech to take out the right arm joints. Ruby spun at it, and as a blur, slashed right through and took off the right arm.

"YOU!" Iridescent screamed. "GET AWAY! HE'S MINE! HE'S-!"

Nora dove down like an avenging angel, swinging Magnhild with all her might. She brought it down on the back end of the Paladin mecha, and unleashed the full grenade payload of her hammer.

BABOOM!

Nora flipped backwards, and everyone else managed to get clear as the power generator for the Paladin went up in gigantic blast. He watched Ren grab her out of mid air, and they landed safely. The rest of the teams came together in front of the burning mecha, Weiss and Neptune gracefully landing after jumping off the nearby bridge support structures. Jaune turned back and helped Pyrrha to her feet. She gratefully clung on, and they walked to meet them.

"You guys okay?" Ruby asked anxiously, reaching out to touch Jaune's chest.

"Pyrrha! Are you all right?" Weiss cried.

Pyrrha beamed and nodded.

"I'm fine," she said softly, "Just… Aura exhaustion. Jaune took good care of me."

"I sure hope he did!" Ruby said… Then blushed. "Oh… Ohhhh…"

"N-Not like that!" Pyrrha insisted, blushing a bit.

Yang smirked a little with a raised eyebrow. Weiss looked scandalized. Neptune' jealousy knew no bounds, which made Jaune smirk a bit back. Blake was hiding a smile, as was Ren, and Nora just hugged Jaune and Pyrrha tightly.

"Urk… Yeah…" He looked over at the flaming wreckage. He sighed.

"Yeah… We're done," he muttered.

"Hm?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune shook his head.

"Nothing… It's nothing."

- - -

There you go! A nice, big, action packed chunky update! All that's left is the epilogue for this arc, and then? Onto the next one!

Though with my new job beginning next week, I may have to slow down a bit. Sorry about that.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -


On the plus side, they didn't get arrested this time. The police even thanked them for assisting in the search and rescue of many White Fang members and innocent civilians trapped in the rubble.

The downside came when they returned to Beacon.

There was a small waiting room nearby Glynda Goodwitchs' office that the elder students all referred to as 'The Grimm Cage'. It was where you went before and after Professor Goodwitch took time out of her busy schedule to chew you out and tear you to shreds if you had fucked up sufficiently.

For over two hours, each individual member of Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN (those who were present, anyway) was called into her office while everyone else waited. They then returned in a daze, upping the anxiety level of the next person called in.

Ruby and Yang clung to each other. Sun sat in a bewildered, haunted daze. Blake sat next to him, twitching as she resisted the urge to cry. Neptune was only resisting the urge to curl up in a ball and suck his thumb because Weiss was there. Weiss herself was fretting and trembling, even after her chewing out. Ren was stoic as always… Save for the blush as Nora cuddled up to him. Pyrrha was the only other person seemingly not affected, as her soft smile had not left her face since they'd returned.

"I didn't even do anything bad," Neptune mumbled again.

"She always finds something," Ruby shuddered. "Poor, poor Jaune."

Weiss looked over at Blake, who still stared into the distance.

"Blake?" She asked tentatively.

The cat Faunus shook her head.

"She called my parents," she mumbled.

Everyone winced. Sun squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

"It'll be okay, I promise," he said.

Blake shuddered again.

Finally, the door opened. Jaune walked out, his face grim, his motions slow. Despite his immense Aura… He looked exhausted in every way a person could imagine. All of his friends and comrades looked at him. Ruby and Yang were deeply concerned, as Pyrrha smiled encouragingly.

"So?" Nora prompted.

Jaune sighed, and looked at his friends tiredly.

"Guys? I… I'm sorry," he said, "This is my fault. I-I nearly got all of you-"

"It's my fault too," Blake insisted, standing up to stand by Jaune's side. "You shouldn't carry that burden all on your own."

Sun pouted a bit at this, but it went unnoticed.

"If you want me to step down as leader-" Jaune began, but Ruby shook her head.

"I don't think anyone wants that."

"No, we don't," Ren stated.

"Absolutely not," Pyrrha declared earnestly.

"It would be boring!" Nora grinned, as she nuzzled Ren. The stoic boy looked very flummoxed all of a sudden.

"Y-Yes… Agreed," Ren said.

"I did almost get all of you killed-" Jaune tried, but Yang's hard gaze stopped his mouth in its tracks.

"We chose to go with you," Yang stated firmly, "And after hearing that bitch yelling? I don't think any of us disagree that she needed to go down."

"After fighting her?" Pyrrha interjected, "I absolutely don't disagree."

Ruby tensed at that. Jaune looked over at her in concern. She slowly shook her head, and trembled again.

"I… I mean… They didn't find her body," she said carefully, "So…"

She trailed off, and a hard silence filled the room. Like the universe was holding its breath.

Jaune looked down at his feet, and then up at his friends.

"So," Jaune said quietly, "I'm not letting it… Get to me. We run across her again… We'll fight her. But otherwise, I…"

He shook his head slowly.

"Never again."

Pyrrha and Ruby both looked relieved. Yang nodded. Blake had a bit of a smile. Weiss relaxed just a little. Nora beamed. Ren nodded as well. Neptune winced.

Sun coughed.

"I mean, hell, maybe I should step down," Sun said, "But we'd need the other members of my team here to vote on it. Neptune?"

"Uh… Yeah, no, I-I'm good," Neptune said quickly.

Jaune managed a little smile at them all. He turned to Blake.

"That said… I think we should let the White Fang go," he said.

Blake winced.

"Professor Goodwitch said the same thing," she said.

"She also said the only reason she wasn't leaving us in jail is that we actually did a good thing. Sort of," Ruby pointed out with a smile. "I-I mean… Mostly…"

She looked back down at her feet, as her sister squeezed her comfortingly.

"The White Fang should be weakened considerably, after we turned over all those records to the police," Weiss said carefully, looking at Blake with concern, "So… It might be good to leave things to the proper authorities. For once."

Blake stared intensely at Weiss for a moment or two, before she slowly nodded.

"So, yeah," Jaune broke, "Since we're confined to the school and our movements will be monitored… Guess we're on break. Again."

He looked over at Pyrrha, and smiled nervously.

"So uh… Pyrrha? About our date… You um… Are you still up for it?"

Pyrrha's soft smile grew, and she nodded slowly.

"Absolutely," she stated.

Ruby pouted a bit. Jaune sighed and walked up to her. He patted her head again.

"And I haven't forgotten ours, either. I promise," he said with a reassuring smile.

Ruby blushed, and smiled back up at him.

"Thank you… That… That means a lot…"

The party broke up after that, everyone heading towards their dorms. Jaune felt something squeeze his shoulder, and he stopped. Pyrrha looked back in concern. He shook his head.

"I'll catch up," he promised. Pyrrha nodded, and walked away slowly. Jaune looked around the hallway.

"So…?"

The air cracked like glass, and Mint/Neo appeared in front of him. She smiled warmly, and waved her hands.

"Fun night?"

"No," Jaune stated coldly, glowering darkly at her. The fury was there, but for the life of him, he was spent. Physically and emotionally. He mustered up the best glare he could and-

Neo pouted cutely. Jaune was unmoved, his glare still strong. Neo sighed, then shrugged.

"Was a lot of fun to watch. Would have been there, but the bitch keeps a tight leash on me." She winked at him. "Would love you to put one on-"

"Please tell me you didn't set me up just for that fight," Jaune managed. "Please, Neo."

Neo stared, then shrugged.

"Not just the fight."

"Fucking knew it," Jaune growled. Neo beamed.

"Though it was incredible. It did need to happen, though. You had to get over her. Over her hold on you."

Neo winked.

"I'm not sharing with the likes of her."

Jaune sighed, that familiar mixture of exasperation and affection filling him when it came to Neo. The thief huffed.

"Don't pout. The White Fang is in disarray and your crazy ex is out of the picture for a while. We're not in a position to take out the bitch yet, but we're one step closer. As much as I hate to wait? Anticipation can make things feel so much better when they happen."

"You are not going to set me up again," Jaune said firmly. Neo leered.

"Will you punish me if I do?"

"I'm serious, Neo. I like you… But you're going to change that if you keep this up."

Neo stared at him for a long, silent moment. She sighed, and nodded. She actually looked remorseful.

"Fine. I have heard healthy relationships are all about give and take. I'll remember that in the future."

"We're not in a-"

"And hey: Nearly blowing that bitch up has me in a forgiving mood."

Jaune's Scroll beeped. He blinked, as Neo nodded. He pulled it out, and opened it up. He got one look at Neo's texts… And blushed bright red.

"I-You-?!"

Neo winked.

"More where that came from, Lover-Boy," the shortstack signed with a gleeful smile. She hopped up to kiss his cheek, then vanished in a crack of glass. Jaune looked up at the ceiling, counting down from ten. He glanced down at his scroll.

Godsdammit...

... and saved the images.

- - -

On one hand, Roman Torchwick appreciated not meeting with Cinder in person to deliver bad news. Meant that his chances of getting incinerated were a lot lower.

The fact Neo was ostensibly being held as a "hostage" didn't bother him too much. His adopted daughter was pretty deadly, and could escape if she needed to… He hoped.

That said, Cinder's glare had not lost any of its potency. The contempt she leveled at them from the holoscreen in the bare studio apartment safehouse he, the Albain Twins, and Slick had fled to felt like it could burn them away if she focused just a little more.

That psycho Adam Taurus being on the other screen of the call didn't help at all. His subordinates all cringed back, like puppies threatened with a beating.

"So," Cinder stated flatly, "You not only lost your financial records and multiple members… You also lost the mecha we were smuggling?"

"To be fair, your newest recruits did that," Roman said smoothly, leaning back on the threadbare couch that served as the only furniture in the place. Everyone else stood or sat on the bare wooden floor.

Hey, he wasn't made of money.

"And yet you didn't supervise them properly?" Cinder seethed.

"They're the heads of an underground fighting league, I thought they could handle fighting," Roman stated, barely resisting the urge to shrug. Honestly, what had Cinder expected hiring crazy people like that?

"Besides," Roman said, waving his finger, "I did my part. Your White Fang goons were barely more than cannon fodder!"

Ilia winced. She'd been utterly silent since they'd arrived. Before, she'd have been barking orders like she owned the place, but right now, she seemed lost.

Good.

"Ilia," Adam stated, his voice cutting like his sword as it made everyone stand up straighter, "Why did you fail to capture Blake?"

Ilia winced.

"The humans with her… Were very formidable," she said, and the Albain twins nodded in unison. "You have seen the scans for yourself. One of them, Jaune Arc, was able to bring down nearly the entire factory with one Aura Slash technique."

Damn. Roman knew the kid was pretty powerful. That's what had given him hope of coming out of this alive. The fact he'd been the one to unleash that blast?

I think my odds just got a little better, especially now that Crazy McYandere is-

The door slammed open. Roman barely managed to hide his dismay, but his eyebrow still twitched.

Godsdamnit…!

Iridescent walked in, naked save for a green poncho hastily thrown around her shoulders. Slick followed her at a respectful distance, lugging along a cylinder wrapped in a black garbage bag. Iridescent's hair had been burned to stumps on her head, but she remained fairly calm as she stepped in front of the holoscreen.

"My Lady Cinder," Iridescent said, "I apologize for being late."

"How did you survive?!" Roman demanded, hoping he sounded concerned and not bitterly disappointed. Iridescent smiled.

"I managed to increase my density to the level that I smashed through the Paladin, and down into the sewers," she said, with just the tiniest hint of smugness. "Slick found me and brought me here. With our prize."

"What prize?!" Roman demanded. "The Paladin is a wreck! Most of the weapons in the warehouse were destroyed and most of the manpower we had are now in jail!" He pointed at Adam. "His organization's finances are now being gone over by the VPD with a fine toothed comb! Even they might find some incriminating evidence!"

Which was his hope, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

Iridescent nodded to Slick. The gas mask wearing minion opened the garbage bag. He pulled out a large, silvery metallic cylinder with orange markings splashed across it. Dust circuitry glowed softly across its surface. Roman went pale.

Oh no, don't tell me-

"The data core of the Atlasian Paladin," Iridescent said with a smile, "The most advanced processing unit yet developed for the Atlasian Military… And without those pesky cybersecurity protocols installed yet."

Cinder's eyes widened, and then narrowed. She smirked a bit.

"Very good, Iridescent. Very, very good."

"You sacrificed my men and our arms just for that?" Adam Taurus demanded, his voice even but his fury carrying across the transmission just fine, thank you very much!

"With this device," Cinder stated, "We'll be able to do more harm to the Kingdoms than you could with a hundreds times as many armaments and troops. Besides… The Valean Council will see to it that most of your men are released very soon. Our losses are minimal."

"Won't Atlas notice that the data core is missing?" Roman asked, "Change the codes?"

"I made sure to slag the entire chamber," Iridescent said brightly, "As I smashed through it into the sewers. They'll think the data core was destroyed too."

"Still, this is why we have backup plans," Cinder said. She smirked at Adam through the video feed. "Patience, Taurus. This is a war, after all."

She hummed.

"As for the teams from Beacon… They're going to be monitored from now on. I'll handle them myself if necessary."

"Blake Belladonna-" Adam tried, but Cinder scowled.

"Is irrelevant right now. You will have your ex when the time is right, and not before. Understood?"

Adam seethed, as did his henchmen behind Roman. Roman grit his teeth and squeezed his cane nervously.

Is this it? Is this the moment he finally snaps?

"... Very well," Adam stated flatly, "So far though, you've promised much and delivered little, Cinder."

"And your movement hasn't gotten anywhere until you allied with us," Cinder replied coldly, "Do not forget that."

The call mercifully ended. The White Fang goons headed out, shooting some glares Roman's way before they went out the door. Ilia in particular still looked heartbroken.

Eh, whatever. Not his problem… He hoped.

However…

Iridescent sniffled… Then broke into tears.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!"

WHY IS THIS MY PROBLEM? Roman thought angrily. The half naked woman sank down onto the couch, making it creak. Roman scooted off to the side and sighed.

"MY DEAR JAUNE! SEDUCED BY THOSE WHORES! WAAAAAHHHHH!"

Roman looked at Slick for some kind of aid. The gas mask wearing minion stared back with that inscrutable mask. Roman sighed, and patted Iridescent on the shoulder.

"There. There," he said in a toneless voice.

Iridescent sniffled again.

"He's grown so strong… But he didn't accept my love!" She cried.

"You probably just came on too strong," Roman sighed, "Maybe chill out, do your job, let the air clear… And try again later?"

Iridescent wiped her nose, and stared at him.

"You… You think that would work?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Roman nodded slowly. Iridescent stared at the far wall… And then smiled. It was not a pleasant sight.

"Oh yes! YES! Build the anticipation!" Iridescent sighed. "I should have known my darling wouldn't react well to just leaping back into things! So rough, so hard! I need to be more accepting of his feelings!"

Her pupils dilated and her smile became wide and terrifying.

"Or maybe I should just murder all those whores trying to take him from me-"

"No, nonono!" Roman said. He cringed as Iridescent turned that horrific gaze on him. "I mean… Come on. Boss Lady's trying to keep a low profile, right? You don't want to spoil that."

Iridescent kept up that horrifying stare… Before she gasped, and nodded quickly.

"You're absolutely right, Roman! Plus… I can't let Cinder know about Jaune and our love! She'd try to take him for herself!"

Roman slowly nodded.

"Yeah. Totally."

Seriously, what the hell was wrong with this generation?

- - -

In RWBY's dormroom, a loud, throaty groan echoed off the walls.

"Ooooohhhhh~!"

"Now Blake," Yang said, "We're not going to chase after the White Fang anymore, right?"

"Nnngh… Ohhh…! Y-Yes…!"

"We're not going to interfere now that we've given the police all that evidence," Weiss added.

"Unnngh… Yessss…!"

"And," Yang finished, "We're not going to wreck any more private property!" She paused. "Not unless we have a really fun party beforehand."

"Nnnngghh-YES~!"

Blake sighed, and looked up at Yang. She was lying on the bed chest down, as Yang worked out the kinks in her legs.

"Good," Yang said with a smile, "Glad we worked that out."

She bounced onto the mattress, nearly knocking Blake right off.

"Now do me!" Yang cheered.

"Whatever would Arc think of you cheating on him?" Weiss asked wryly, even as she blushed. Blake began to massage Yang's legs. Yang smirked up at the Schnee heiress.

"Hmm… You know, I bet he wouldn't mind~," Yang hummed, and let out a throaty moan as Blake rubbed her lower back, "What do you think, Blake~? You wanna tease Jaune like this? Loosen him up~?"

"Since Pyrrha can't?" Blake asked. Yang chuckled smokily.

"Oooh… Maybe we could loosen her up, too."

Blake nodded slowly, and smirked.

"You keep saying you haven't read my books, and yet-"

"Maybe I should," Yang giggled.

Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I still don't get why all of you are fine with taking turns, dating him-"

"You want one?" Blake asked, as Yang moaned happily under her hands, "I wouldn't mind."

Weiss turned bright red.

"You literally interrupted my date with Neptune!"

"So we would owe you one with Jaune?" Yang sighed happily, "Mm, lower~!"

"Can do," Blake said, looking a lot more relaxed.

Weiss huffed and shook her head rapidly. She looked over at the window.

"Ruby, please tell me you're not as perverted as everyone else?"

Silence. Ruby kept staring at the door. She frowned.

"Ruby?"

Ruby started, then looked back at them. Her silver eyes were gently glowing.

"Hm?"

"Ruby, are you all right?" Weiss inquired. Yang and Blake also looked over at her in concern.

"Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Oh, um… I'm fine," she said quietly. "Just… Keeping an eye on things." She beamed. "I'm really glad we're all okay. Really."

Blake flushed, and nodded at her.

"Y-Yeah, um… Yeah," she said.

Blake went back to massaging Yang, while Weiss stared for a moment then went back to her reading. Ruby just kept staring, her eyes glowing, in silence.

- - -

It was another sleepless night for Headmaster Ozpin. Those weren't too bad, honestly. While his magic was much diminished compared to the old days, he still knew enough to keep himself going far longer than any normal human or even Huntsman, without the deleterious side effects.

Coffee didn't hurt, either.

He looked over the piles of documents on his large desk, blocking his view of the clockwork that encapsulated his office, and let out a sigh.

It didn't make it any less arduous, though. On one hand, he was quite glad that Teams RWBY and JNPR were fighting back against the White Fang. Glynda was much too stuffy about such things.

On the other hand, the City Council, Mayor, and even Valean Council were all demanding to know why his students were being vigilantes. He had hoped the re-establishment of the Valean Defense Forces might keep the media attention off these incidents, but alas, it wasn't enough.

Captain Silverhand will be displeased at losing the spotlight, Ozpin thought to himself wryly.

The elevator door chimed, and the doors opened. Ozpin looked up.

"Glynda, I'm not-"

He stopped. He stared.

A tall dark skinned man in a dark blue and gold striped suit strode up, as smooth and graceful as a tiger. His black hair was slicked back, though still spiky in back. He wore earrings of silver, and his eyes still burned that bright red they always had.

He still retained some of the arrogance he'd born as a young, headstrong exiled prince, but much of it was replaced with serenity.

His team had seen to that, long ago.

He stopped right in front of the desk. He smiled in a friendly way, yet his teeth still shone like daggers.

"Hello Headmaster."

"Arjun Sarkara," Ozpin breathed, "It… Has been a while. What brings you here?"

Arjun shrugged slightly.

"I'd heard my godson Jaune had become a Hunter-in-Training. I wanted to see him for myself."

The Headmaster's eyes widened.

"But," Ozpin muttered, "If you know, then…"

- - -

Somewhere in North Sanus

Isabel was woken up out of her sleep by a loud, annoying ringtone. She grumbled as she sat up out of her dark bunk, the moonlight shining through the slatted windows of the Bullhead.

Qrow groaned, and reached for her.

"It's cold," he grunted, his fingers brushing over her bare body.

"Let me answer this and I'll get back," Isabel sighed, pulling her robe on. She patted him on his shoulder, as he sat back with a grunt. She slid her feet into her slippers, and padded out to where her Scroll was screaming.

She took a moment to alter her brain chemistry, and perked herself right up. She picked up the Scroll and opened it up.

"Isabel Arc," she greeted, far more politely and warmly than anyone else at 3 in the morning could be expected to.

A beautiful but severe redheaded woman in her middle age appeared, wearing stylish glasses that did nothing to hide her angry glare.

Oh now what is this? Isabel thought to herself.

"Doctor Arc," the woman stated, "I am Athena Nikos. You did some health therapy with my daughter, Pyrrha?"

Isabel blinked slowly, and then nodded. Right, she'd done some work for the Mistral Regional Fighting League. She'd helped a young but brilliant young fighter recover from her fights with some new therapies. As she recalled, Athena had been just outside the examination room every time, and she'd been with her daughter in the gymnasium as Isabel helped Pyrrha go further.

She'd been impressed with Pyrrha's sheer will and determination, but Athena? She always came off as too cold for her tastes. Even when she complimented Pyrrha, it had always felt clinical. The poor girl's smiles were too plastic.

It wasn't enough to make Isabel take drastic action, mind you. It did, however, make her dislike Athena Nikos on a very deep level. But, Isabel Arc was good at hiding her feelings. Her Semblance made that easy.

"Of course," she said lightly, "Is there something wrong with her?"

"Yes," Athena said stiffly, "And it has to do with your son, Jaune."

Isabel blinked.

"I'm… Sorry? What do you mean?"

"First," Athena hissed, "He steals her rightful place as leader of her team. Then, he manages to seduce her into-into rejecting me and cutting all ties!"

Isabel's eyes widened.

"I-What? That's not possible!"

"Is your son Jaune Arc?"

"Well, yes-"

"Is he not attending Beacon Academy?"

"He's there, he's working as a medical assistant-!" Isabel protested, but Athena held up a picture. A picture of Jaune in the old Great War Arc armor he'd taken from the living room, but heavily upgraded. He wore a green cloak, and was holding up his sword and shield with a grim expression.

"He's registered as a student at Beacon! He's been attending classes!" Athena barked. "I don't understand what you're doing here but he's a Hunter-in-Training, just like my daughter! And he turned her into his slave-!"

Isabel, as she had many times before when it came to a client yelling at her, turned her out. She stared intently at the picture of Jaune. The upgrades to his armor and weapons stood out, but that didn't draw the lion's share of her attention.

It was his eyes.

His eyes… Those eyes…

No… He's…

She knew that look. Oh, she knew that look all too well. She knew her son too well not to recognize the change.

"-She refused to do any more promotional videos! She's getting herself emancipated! All because your son has-has taken her away from me-!"

"Huh? Oh…" Isabel shook her head. "I see… I'll have some words with my son, Mrs. Nikos."

"Words?!" Athena demanded, "You had better have more than words with your son! I haven't found a legal remedy yet but I'll find it and if you don't-!"

Isabel turned off the Scroll. She took a very, very deep breath, and shut her eyes. She focused very, very hard on her Semblance to keep herself from losing her temper.

It took a lot of Aura, but she managed it. She very slowly turned to Qrow, eyes narrowed. The shapeshifting hunter coughed guiltily.

"Um," he tried, "Isabel, I-"

"Qrow," she stated in a dead tone that promised nothing but pain, cracking her knuckles menacingly, "I'm going to give you one chance to explain yourself-"

"Ozpin's orders," he immediately said. "He wanted Jaune at the Academy."

Isabel's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed again.

"Where's your loyalty to your master?" She asked.

"On infosec? You'll get nothing out of me because neither of you will trust me ever again," Qrow stated, then shrugged.

"But when it comes to Jaune? He won't break me in half," Qrow stated firmly.

Isabel glared death at him for a few moments, before slowly nodding.

"Good point."

"That is the only thing I ever lied about," Qrow said quietly, his eyes locked onto hers without any fear.

Isabel closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath.

"... I know," she said. "But you'll excuse me if I ask you to sleep somewhere else tonight."

Qrow nodded slowly back.

"I get it," he said.

Her Scroll beeped again. She turned and picked it up.

"I swear, if it's that bitch again," she growled as she opened it up… She blinked.

Qrow frowned, even as he dressed.

"Isabel?"

"When the stars align," Isabel sighed. She held the Scroll up to him. "One of Merlot's secret sites was in Vale. Right outside the old VDC base. I think we should investigate it. Right now."

Qrow slowly nodded.

"Sounds good to me," he said.

Isabel couldn't help the sadistic smile that came over her face. It was not something she did anymore. She had always had a bit of a sadistic streak, she'd known this and accepted it long ago. Nick had found it hot, as long as she kept it in check.

Well… Nick wasn't here anymore.

"And I think we'll pay a visit to my son… And the Headmaster," she stated.

Qrow shivered, then politely bowed out. That hurt.

Well… She'd deal with that later.

After she checked on her son… And made Ozpin beg for death.

- - -

Don't worry, more is coming. Unfortunately, I'll be starting my new job soon and so I'll have less time to write. But we're still going.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Velvet sighed a bit as she carried a stack of papers.

"Can't believe I volunteered to help Junior Professor Moisia with her testing," she grumbled. Honestly, she wanted to just go hang out with her boyfriend and their teams. They were having a movie night, and they were going to watch the Exterminator movies!

And maybe the Marauder movies. She really liked the first one (who didn't?) but the other ones were... Mixed.

Depended on how much time they had.

She turned a corner... And ran into a tall, broad-shouldered man.

"OOF!"

Who had Aura, as she was knocked back on her round bottom. The papers went flying everywhere.

"Oh, I'm sorry, young lady," a pleasant baritone voice spoke. She looked up to see the middle-aged man holding out an open hand to her. He smiled warmly behind his large red mustache, and his brown eyes were so familiar...

"Uhhh..." Velvet tried, blinking, as the man looked down. He set down onto his knees, and began picking up the papers.

"Sorry about that," he stated. Velvet found her wits and began picking up the other papers. They soon had it back into a stack, and then they rose up back to their feet.

"I-It's okay," Velvet managed with a smile. "Thank you."

"Not at all," he chuckled, "I'd be a poor politician if I treated potential voters badly, hm?"

"O-Oh?" Velvet asked, blinking, "Er, I don't pay a lot of attention to politics. Um, I'm Velvet Scarlatina."

"It would be nice if you didn't have to, hm?" The older man laughed quietly. "Rufus Winchester. Councilman of Vale."

Velvet's eyes widened.

Oh Gods... You're Cardin's father?!

"I am," Rufus said.

OH GODS I SAID THAT OUT LOUD! Velvet thought in a shriek. Rufus chuckled.

"You know my son?"

"Uh, er, um..."

"Dad!"

Velvet gaped as Cardin came around the corner. Her boyfriend looked equally horrified. Rufus hummed, and looked back and forth between them. He then scowled.

"Cardin," Rufus growled, "Come here, son."

"Uh, D-Dad-"

"Now."

Cardin walked over, trying to hold his head up high and not tremble. He stood like a soldier in front of a displeased general. Rufus glanced at Velvet, and then back at Cardin. They looked at each other nervously.

"Young lady," Rufus began, "Has my son been bullying you?"

Velvet and Cardin gaped in disbelief.

"Uh, er, n-no-!"

"No! I-I absolutely have not!" Cardin said.

Rufus leaned in and his glare intensified.

"Are you sure?" He growled.

"H-He isn't!" Velvet insisted. "W-We're, uh... We're friends! Comrades! R-Really! We're having a movie night!"

"Totally!" Cardin said.

Rufus held his fearsome glare for a few moments longer... Before he smiled.

"Good to hear!" He said brightly with an approving nod, "Glad you two are friends, too."

"Y-Yes!" Cardin said quickly. "Just friends!"

"Nothing more than friends!" Velvet squeaked.

Rufus looked between them and raised an eyebrow.

"You're sure he's not bullying you?"

"N-no, he's not!" Velvet said defensively.

"Are you bullying him?" Rufus asked, his tone dangerous.

Cardin groaned.

"DAD!"

"I never would! Unless he wanted me to!" Velvet cried out in fright. Cardin went bright red. Rufus blinked.

WHY DID I SAY THAT?! Velvet screamed in her head.

"... All right," Rufus sighed and chuckled. "It's good to see you again, son. I try not to be around the student areas of Beacon too much when I visit. I don't want to cramp your style."

"N-No! It's fine!" Cardin said quickly. "Um, I uh-"

"You kids get going, have fun," Rufus chuckled, waving his hand gently, "I've held you both up long enough. It was nice to meet you, Miss Scarlatina."

"Y-You too, Mister Councilman, s-sir!" Velvet stuttered. Rufus smirked.

"Well... If you're going to be associating with my son, you could just call me Rufus."

"Ummm..." Velvet tried.

Rufus chuckled.

"Fair enough. Have a good time!" He winked. "And try to remember protection, son!"

"DAD!" Cardin cried, as he and Velvet blushed brightly.

"Hahaha, you kids, too easy!" Rufus laughed.

- - -

 

[UnknownAnon]

Okay, with AJT's permission, time to kick things off.

= = = = = = =

Cardin frowned as he looked at the combat rankings bulletin board posted on the outside of Professor Goodwitch's classroom. At the beginning of every week the large digital display was updated to show how all the students ranked up against each other, showing who was the strongest and who was the weakest. It was divided by student classification, since it wouldn't be fair to put freshmen students on the same board as those in their final year at Beacon. The top twenty for each year were boldly sitting atop each list of names, announcing to all who were considered the "elite" of each year. The top three of each year were denotated by digital crowns atop their names, with gold, silver and bronze crowns sitting on the names of first, second and third place respectively.

The Winchester youth was irked that he hadn't once made it to the top twenty during his time at Beacon so far.

For his own year, the top of the board was always completely static. Pyrrha was at the top of the leaderboard, followed by Yang Xiao-Long who was often in second place, and then freaking Jaune Arc who would sometimes trade his third place spot with the bombastic blonde. Cardin could recognize a few other names sitting in the top twenty. Coco, Nora, and Ruby… though a few of the visiting students had made their way onto the leaderboard too, with that monkey faunus Sun and that weird girl Penny making it to the top twenty.

After passing initiation, Cardin has assumed that his combat aptitudes would be the highlight of his first year at Beacon. Given he was one of the top students at his old prep school, he thought it had been a fair assumption to make. The first few weeks in Beacon had been a sobering wake up call, especially with Arc making him look like a fool in his first combat class and continued to dance around him whenever they were paired up in the arena to this day. He'd been a big fish in a small pond, and the combat rankings were a constant reminder of how much he had to improve.

"Hey! You made it into the top thirty!"

Glancing down at his girlfriend, who was bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet as she pointed to his name on the digital screen, Cardin followed her finger and found his name sitting next to the number twenty-nine just above Yatsuhashi.

…He still wasn't where he wanted to be on the board, but Cardin grinned at the accomplishment nonetheless. He'd been working hard to get out of the mid-thirties for the past few weeks, and it felt good to see his efforts bear fruit.

"Looks like beating Yatsuhashi the other day was what finally put you in the twenties!" Velvet smiled as she squeezed her boyfriend's arm.

And that had certainly been a hard fought battle. Velvet's teammate was an absolute tank and could swing around his sword like it weighed less than a twig, so Cardin had certainly worked for that particular win.

"Should you really be this happy that I beat your teammate?" Cardin asked in a teasing tone.

"I'm happy that my boyfriend is moving up in the world!" Velvet replied with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah?" Cardin turned back toward the screen. "Wish I could say the same about my girlfriend. You haven't even made the top fifty yet."

Velvet gasped when Cardin pointed to her own name which was displayed next to an sixty-seven.

"Wow, rude!" Velvet huffed, turning on her heel and marching away from him. "Fine, if you're gonna be like that then I'm not feeding you today!"

Cardin chuckled to himself as he followed after her, quickly hurrying his pace and wrapping an arm around her shoulder as he attempted to mollify her. After a few seconds the bunny girl stopped pouting and giggled into his side, and the duo continued to playfully banter as they headed to the cafeteria.

Indeed, Cardin might have been a bit dissatisfied with his combat ranking and test scores, but he was acing his love life. A surprise certainly, but a welcome one definitely.

If only he could've taken credit for it.

Entering the cafeteria with Velvet, Cardin couldn't help it as his eyes searched around and eventually landed on the one who was really responsible for his big win in the romance department.

Jaune Arc sat among his usual cadre of friends and associates. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were sharing a table as always, though they also appeared to have the company of a transfer team this time. It only took a second to realize it was Team SSSN as the third team, since there was only one guy in Beacon who absolutely refused to button up his shirt despite the school dress codes he was violating. Sun had the entire table's attention, and he appeared to be waving around a breadstick as he orated some story that Cardin couldn't hear that had most of the table laughing.

For a guy who'd been all up in his face during their first week at Beacon, and despite being a frequent opponent of his in Goodwitch's combat class, Cardin hadn't had an actual conversation with Arc since that Grimm attack during the Forever Fall trip. And even though the blonde had pissed off Cardin to no end in those early days and honestly still did annoy the hell out of him whenever he saw his face, Cardin's anger toward the other boy had cooled considerably over the months.

A big part of that was because of how much fun he was having with his girlfriend… who he had only hooked up with thanks to Jaune's lie, and he was constantly reminded of that whenever he saw the blonde's face.

It was really annoying. He liked being with Velvet. He had fun with her, she was understanding, she was a great cook, and she was pretty and sexy… he'd lucked out, no question. But knowing the fact that he'd only gotten with her was because of Jaune's manipulations was like having something constantly stuck in his teeth. It was a fact often forgotten, but when he did remember he got annoyed not only with Jaune, but with himself.

"Cardin?"

Velvet's voice snapped him out of his deprecating thoughts, though she'd followed his stare and was now looking in Jaune's direction too.

"Ah, sorry, were you saying something?" Cardin asked.

"Nothing super important. I'm guessing you're curious too though?"

"About what…?"

"Y'know, about what Jaune and all his friends got up to last week."

"R-Right, that." Cardin nodded, leaping on the excuse Velvet presented him.

"Appearing on the news and then a whole week of detention." Velvet mused aloud. "Those teams certainly got up to a lot, didn't they?"

That was an understatement. While their names had been kept out of the news and newspapers, everyone with a functioning brain at Beacon knew who the "Beacon students" who had thwarted the White Fang's operations were. RWBY and JNPR had the scuffs and bruises to show for it, and the week long detention Goodwitch had handed to the two team, plus half of Team SSSN, was plenty to confirm the identities of the students who'd gotten involved with blowing the whistle on the terrorists. No one was certain of the exact details of what went down other than those involved, and while Beacon's teachers had issued a stern warning to the rest of the student body about inquiring about the event, it hadn't done anything to quash the rumors circulating about RWBY and JNPR's joint adventure.

Plus in addition to the detentions, the teams had been confined to Beacon for the duration of their punishment. That pretty much announced to everyone that RWBY and JNPR were the ones that the news was referring to.

"You should hang out with him tomorrow."

"Huh?!" Cardin's head whipped down to his girlfriend as he gave her an incredulous look, which she responded to with an expression that was mildly puzzled.

"Yeah? I mean, you two are friends, aren't you?" Velvet asked, tapping a finger against her lips as she pondered the matter. "Thinking about it… I haven't seen you spending much time with him at all. I know you guys match together in Goodwitch's class, but it's not like you've actively hung out together outside the classroom. At least not from what I've seen. Usually you're either with your team or with me."

And there was a reason for that. It was because Cardin didn't have a genuine friendship with Arc, Velvet was just under the misconception that he and the blonde were friends because of Arc's lie when he had convinced Cardin that his attempt to bully Velvet near the beginning of the school year had been a bad attempt at flirting. As he was selling the lie, Arc had also given the impression that he was being a good friend and wingman for Cardin and trying to hook him up with the girl he had a crush on. Cardin, under duress at having his arm twisted, had rolled with it without much thought.

What they had wasn't friendship, but mutual dislike.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Cardin!"

And now she was apologizing.

"I didn't mean to keep you from hanging out with your other guy friends!" Velvet said guiltily as her ears drooped. "I mean, I'm happy that you spend so much time with me but it's important to not ignore your friends just because you're in a relationship! I actually haven't gone out with Coco since the new semester started come to think of it. Looks like we both kinda messed up and neglected our other friendships, right?"

"Uh…" Cardin floundered.

"Well, not anymore!" Velvet declared, continuing the conversation without his input. "It's important for couples to spend time apart too! Don't worry about me and spend some time with Jaune!"

"I, er, but… weren't we going to go to the movies tomorrow? See the new Grimminator?"

"We can do that another day! It'll still be in theatres for another few weeks. Or heck, you can go see it with Jaune!" Velvet smiled, pulling him by the arm as she started walking over to Jaune's table.

"Velvet, wait…!"

He tried to stop her, but the faunus was already waving her arm enthusiastically as she called out a greeting to the other boy.

"Hi Jaune!"

The blonde turned in his seat and blinked in surprise when he found a smiling Velvet and a frantic looking Cardin standing behind him.

"Uh, hi…?" Jaune greeted, raising his hand in a small wave.

He was more than a little confused by this sudden event.

"So Cardin was wondering if you were free to hang out tomorrow?" Velvet asked for her boyfriend, not noticing his panicked expression. "I know you guys haven't had a chance to hang out in a long time, and that's probably my fault, but you can make up for lost time by heading out to the city tomorrow! You don't have any plans, do you?"

"Well, today's actually the last day serving detention with Goodwitch so I should be free." Jaune informed her. "I've kinda been on autopilot while serving my sentence with everyone else, so I haven't actually put a lot of time into my plans for the rest of the week."

"That's great! So then you're totally free to hang out tomorrow then." Velvet smiled.

"I mean, you're not wrong I guess…" Jaune said, glancing aside to his friends who were now peering over toward him and observing his current interaction with curious expressions. "Still, I don't know if Cardin wants to-"

"Yeah, let's hang out!" Cardin blurted.

"Huh?" Jaune looked to the other boy with a perplexed look.

"It's been a while since we've hung out, BUDDY." Cardin gave a strained smile as he emphasized the word. "I didn't mean to ignore a FRIEND, but I got a little carried away spending time with my girlfriend. What do you say, PAL? Could we please hang out tomorrow?"

Jaune stared at the duo, glancing from Velvet's beaming smile to Cardin's twitchy grin. He hadn't actually spoken with either of them since he'd flipped Cardin's bullying attempt on its head. Sure, he was aware that the two had entered a relationship not long after he pretended to wingman for Cardin, but his interactions with the Winchester heir just consisted of him beating him in Goodwitch's class and he actually hadn't even talked with Velvet at all period.

Still, he could sort of infer the situation from Velvet's optimism and Cardin's desperation, and while there was a bit of temptation to watch Winchester squirm, Jaune wasn't in the mood to be coy.

"…Yeah, sounds good. Let's hang tomorrow." Jaune replied, hoping his grin didn't look too tired or forced.

Cardin breathed a sigh of relief while Velvet clapped her hands excitedly.

"Great! I'll let you guys sort the details on your own later. I promise you can have him tomorrow. For now though, I'm exercising my girlfriend privileges to keep him for the rest of the day." Velvet smiled, grabbing her boyfriend's arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Y-Yeah. I'll uh, text you later BRO." Cardin added forcefully, not that Velvet seemed to notice.

Jaune chuckled at his expression. "Sure thing, man."

The blonde watched Cardin sigh as he was pulled away by his girlfriend, the faunus girl starting to talk about what lunch she'd made for the day. Once they disappeared in the crowd of students milling around the cafeteria, Jaune shrugged and turned back around to face his actual friends who had been watching the interaction.

"So, you're hanging out with Cardin tomorrow?" Yang asked curiously. "I didn't think the two of you were friends."

"Eeeeeeeh," Jaune made a so-so gesture with his hand. "Velvet seems to think we are, but this is just me being a nice guy and not rocking the boat with his bunny girlfriend."

"Right, didn't he try bullying the girl that was hanging off his arm during our first week of class?" Pyrrha asked as she thought back to when Jaune had interceded when Cardin had been pulling Velvet's ears.

"Whoa, he tried to what now?" Sun piped up. "How does he go from bullying a girl to dating her?"

"That's because Jaune helped!" Nora proclaimed.

"How's that?"

"Well, I sorta stopped Cardin before he could really get started with his bullying and spun it so he was trying to flirt with a girl he fancied but was doing a bad job of it." Jaune explained, grinning a little at the memory. "Convinced her that pulling her rabbit ears was his attempt at getting her to notice him and that he was crushing on her."

"And that worked?" Neptune asked incredulously, having seen Velvet and found himself super envious that Beacon apparently had a sexy bunny girl and Jaune had helped another guy hook up with her before he had a chance to shoot his shot.

"Somehow." Weiss grumbled, finding the memory less amusing than the rest of the table did.

"Apparently they're in a very happy relationship now." Blake commented. Out of everyone at the table, she was the one who paid the most attention to Beacon's gossip and there were plenty of girls swooning at how apparently gentlemanly Cardin was with Velvet and how cute their relationship was.

Blake herself had mixed feelings about how the couple came about and didn't have a high opinion of Winchester or his family, but the romantic in her couldn't help but coo at how sweetly Cardin and Velvet interacted and that somehow they were an extremely positive example of a human-faunus couple.

"So, you've got a man-date tomorrow with Cardin." Yang said. "How do you think that's gonna go?"

Jaune shrugged as he bit into a chicken nugget. "Guess we'll see."

"Try not to give Ms. Goodwitch a reason to give you more detention." Ren advised.

"I'm not gonna start anything," Jaune grinned. "Can't guarantee Cardin won't start something, but if anything does happen know that whatever response I give will be wholly justified."

"Be sure to share all the juicy details with us when you return!" Nora demanded.

"Still though, a date with Cardin," Yang smirked, and Jaune could tell from the quirk of her lips that she was in a teasing mood. The blonde girl turned to address Pyrrha. "Hope you're not feeling too neglected, P-Money."

Pyrrha blinked guilelessly at the comment. "Huh?"

"I mean, Jaune's going on a date with Cardin before he takes you out." Yang teased, causing the redhead's eyes to widen. "Just saying, you're falling a little behind there."

"I-I am not!" Pyrrha protested. "And it isn't an actual date! Besides, Cardin's dating Velvet! He isn't competition!"

"But what if he is though? What if dating Velvet was a front to get closer to Jaune and she used-"

"Yang, stop." Jaune interrupted, cutting off the head of the conversation before it could grow anymore. "Don't give Blake any more ideas."

Blake froze from where she was sitting. "What are you talking about? I wasn't-"

"Nora, grab her notebook."

Blake wasn't quick enough to slap her hands over her little black notebook before Nora swiped it from her. The orangette leaped off her seat and circled the table as Blake jumped to chase after her, though with Nora keeping the table between herself and Blake, the cat faunus was having difficulty retrieving her book from Nora's hands.

"Aha! Caught you red handed!" Nora shouted as she scrutinized the page. "Filthy kitty! How dare you write such things about our fearless leader!"

"I-I wasn't! Look at the names! They're not-!"

"Juan and Hardin." Nora announced to the table.

"Gee, I wonder who those names could possibly refer to?" Jaune asked dryly.

Blake didn't respond, only quickening her pace as she continued to chase Nora around the table. Yang and the entirety of Team SSSN laughed at their antics, while Ren and Weiss both shook their heads. Nudging Pyrrha, Jaune gave her a reassuring smile.

"Hey, don't worry, I didn't forget. I remember our date. I mean, if you're still interested in-"

"Yes!" Pyrrha beamed at him. "I am very, VERY interested."

"...Good to know." Jaune nodded, backing away slightly at the intense look the redhead was giving him. He turned to his other side. "And I haven't forgotten you either, Ruby."

The little reaper didn't seem to register his words, pushing around the food on her plate with a blank look on her face.

"Ruby?" Jaune tried again, poking a finger into her side which caused her to jolt in place.

"Ah!" Ruby startled for a moment before she turned to Jaune. "J-Jaune? Sorry, did you say something?"

Jaune frowned for a moment before pulling up a smile. "I did, but it wasn't anything important. You doing okay? You've been a little quiet today."

"Um, yeah, I'm good! Just a little lost in thought. Sorry!" Ruby smiled back before taking a look around. "Why's Blake chasing Nora around the table?"

Jaune sighed a little to himself. Detention after class, hanging out with Cardin tomorrow, going on a date with Pyrrha sometime later in the week, and then going out with Ruby sometime in the near or distant future...

But he'd been getting more than a little concerned with how out of it Ruby had been lately. Yang had noticed to if the look she was giving him from across the table was any indication. It was something that would need to be addressed at some point.

"One thing at a time." Jaune advised himself internally.

For now, he had to think about what do while hanging out with Cardin tomorrow. Hopefully they could make it through the day without strangling each other.

= = = = = = =

Purpose of these next few chapters is to wind down from the action from the last arc and also to further develop the characters within the story. Because you can never have enough of that, especially when RWBY is concerned.

Plus Jaune needs more guy friends. Let the bromance commence!

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Because a government of three elected officials is... Not a government. Seriously, it's just not. That's a triumvirate dictatorship at best, nothing can get done. There is a reason governments do tend to get big, you need to work out a way to ensure proper representation of your citizens, if you don't there are a lot of things you can't get done and you might get rebellions.

So! Basic proposal for the Valean government, at least, is three branches. Mostly.

The Assembly, or Low Council, is made up of representatives directly elected, proportional to the population of the smaller kingdoms and provinces that make up Vale. They would represent the interests of the people most directly. Rufus Winchester in White Knight Errant would be the Speaker of the Assembly, the highest ranking member of that assembly.

The Senate, or High Council, would be made up of representatives chosen by the governments of the Kingdoms and Provinces themselves. They basically function as Ambassadors of the Kingdoms to the main government, akin to how the US Senate was before the 17th Amendment was passed. In the Roman Republic the Senate was the province of the aristocrats, representing all the landowners. In this case, most High Councillors would be of aristocratic bent with long family lines, but not always.

The Executive Council, or Consuls, would be the elected leaders of the Kingdom in general. There would be a Chairman/Chairwoman, essentially a Prime Minister, who would be chosen by vote by both the High and Low Councils, to lead the Kingdom. There would also be other positions voted on by the Councils as well as those chosen by the Chair. One of these positions would be Warden of Vale: Essentially the military commander and the person who manages the Hunters. In this case, this would be Ozpin, who is voted into this position regularly.

There is a judicial branch as well that keeps the other two in line.

I mean it wouldn't be much good for fight scenes and so on but it is good for worldbuilding purposes and could present some storytelling possibilities. Plus, it makes more sense than voting for, what, three executives? What? No wonder Salem beat these idiots so easily.

 

[UnknownAnon]

Next chapter, ho!

= = = = =

The sun had almost dipped completely behind the horizon by time JNPR was let out of the classroom.

"Aaaaaaand DONE!" Nora announced, stretching her arms over her head as she took a deep breath and tasted freedom. "No more staying after class and wasting the day away! We can be real people again!"

"And just before the weekend too." Pyrrha smiled, swept up in the orange-haired girl's energy.

They'd lost their last weekend as part of the fallout of their battle against the White Fang and Jaune's insane admirer, so the team was especially excited to make up for all the free time that their week long detention had sapped up. Sun, Neptune and the entirety of Team RWBY felt much the same, though those six had been slightly luckier in that they were able to serve their final detention a little earlier in the day than JNPR had.

Everyone else had at least been able to enjoy their evening, as evidenced by a few cheeky texts Yang had sent Jaune while his team sat through their detention. There had been pictures attached to the texts showing RWBY and SSSN having a fighting game tournament in Team RWBY's room.

Pulling his scroll out of his pocket, Jaune checked the latest text message in the chain and snorted at the image.

It showed Sun and Scarlet seemingly in a fight, with the monkey faunus's hands clasped around the redhead's throat while Scarlet himself had pushed his fingers up Sun's nose. Sage was playing with a controller in one hand while texting on his scroll with another while Blake had a controller in her hands and was looking like she was trying to have the least amount of fun possible. Weiss, holding her own controller, was shouting at her morose teammate while Neptune hid behind the Schnee heiress and edged away from Sun and Scarlet's fight. Yang was in the foreground of the shot and flashed a peace sign as she held her scroll out in front of her, smiling as she captured the chaos behind her.

Only the single sentence "Wish you were here!" followed by a heart emoji accompanied the picture.

"Looks like we have a party to crash!"

Jaune turned his head to see Nora peering over his shoulder and staring down at his phone.

"I'd rather get something to eat than crowd into team RWBY's dorm room." Ren opined.

"But Ren! We must go forth and conquer! You must assert your dominance as the King of Games!" Nora said, latching onto the stoic young man's front. "And I, as your queen, will be there to cheer you on!"

Ren sighed before his lips quirked up a bit. "What if her majesty would like some breakfast for dinner instead?"

He had barely finished the sentence before his childhood friend lifted him in the air and started carrying him down the hallway.

"Away, my king! To the kitchens!" Nora shouted. "Come, my vassals! A feast of fluffy cakes and syrup awaits!"

"Someone's in a good mood." Pyrrha laughed as she watched Nora and Ren disappear down the hallway. "And is it just me, or has Nora gotten a lot more physically affectionate with Ren recently?"

"Nora's always been a hands-on kind of girl." Jaune commented. Ever since befriending the girl, he'd probably gotten more attack hugs and surprise cuddles from her than the entirety of his family. And Isabel Arc had raised some of the best huggers in Remnant.

Tanya being the one exception. She was more likely to smack someone upside the head or kick them in the shins before she ever voluntarily gave someone a hug.

"Yes, but nowadays she's always clinging to him. She probably would've spent our detentions sitting in his lap if Professor Goodwitch hadn't yelled at her." Pyrrha smiled. "I wonder if things have progressed a little for them after the moment they had during our raid on the White Fang last week?"

Jaune chewed on his tongue as he thought about that. He remembered Blake and Yang mentioning something about Ren and Nora sharing a kiss during that time. He hadn't been around at the time as he'd been dealing with Iridescent so he was lacking context, but other than Nora being a little more overly affectionate with Ren than usual he hadn't noticed any major shifts in the duo's dynamic.

Then again, it wasn't like he was an expert on romance in spite of the fact he amazingly had several girls voice their interest in him. Maybe Ren and Nora had gotten a relationship upgrade and were actually "together-together" now?

Though speaking of girls with an interest in him…

"Pyrrha? Remember what we discussed about personal space?"

The redhead flushed at his words, but didn't ease up on the hold her arms had around her partner's waist.

"I-I was just thinking that if Ren and Nora were getting more physical then maybe it would be okay to try-"

Pyrrha made a whining noise as Jaune pressed two fingers against her forehead and pushed her away. "We'll save our own touchy-feely moments for when we have our date later, okay?"

"I'm holding you to that!"

"…I probably should have worded that better." Jaune lamented in his head.

Pyrrha's clinginess aside, he was genuinely looking forward to the date. He just had to plan it, though luckily the week of detentions had given him plenty of time to ruminate over it, among other things.

"So, are we joining Ren and Nora for breakfast-dinner or are we going to team RWBY's room?" Pyrrha asked.

"Ren's pancakes or a fighting game tournament ragefest. Which sounds more appealing to you?"

Pyrrha beamed. "To the kitchens it is then!"

"Indeed we do." Jaune grinned back, but stopped short after he made to head down the hall toward the kitchens. "Actually, could you go on ahead of me? I'm gonna take a quick walk to get my body moving. Sitting in a chair for the past few hours has made my body all stiff."

"Oh, I could come with you! We can make it a light workout before our meal!"

"I'd prefer to go solo for this walk and NOT turn it into a workout, if you don't mind." Jaune requested with a soft smile. "I just wanna take a few minutes to unwind by myself."

"But… oh, alright." Pyrrha sighed before giving a small pout. "Just don't keep us waiting for too long!"

"I'll do my best," Jaune smiled. "Tell Ren and Nora I'll be there soon."

"You'd better, or Nora won't leave any pancakes for you." Pyrrha smiled back before she turned and headed down the hall toward the kitchens.

Jaune watched his partner go with a smile, staring after her until she disappeared around the corner. Turning down the opposite way, Jaune trudged through the hallway before exiting through a door that led to Beacon's courtyards.

The air outside was a little brisk since the sun was setting and Jaune could feel the chill through his uniform, but it wasn't a bad feeling. Plus his attention was less on the cool evening air and more on the array of red, orange, yellow, blue and indigo colors that the sky and clouds were dyed in as the sun was setting. The scenery helped Jaune feel even more at ease as he trekked though the concrete paths and garden arches. Eventually, the aspiring huntsman found a bench and sat down on it, heaving a relaxed sigh as he leaned back in his seat.

"What a week." Jaune mumbled to himself. Though as he said that he was thinking less about the string of detentions he and his friends had served and more on the events that had earned them those detentions in the first place.

Getting tangled up with the White Fang and thwarting their activities was something he hadn't expected after finally getting into Beacon. Even more surprising than that was seeing Iridescent again and finding out that she was working with the terrorist group.

"Well, given the kind of person she is it isn't too surprising that she'd work with terrorists." Jaune mused quietly.

It was more that he hadn't given much thought about her after he'd finally arrived at Beacon. He hadn't given much thought to any of his previous misadventures and various run-ins he'd had throughout his journey to get to the academy. Not that he wanted to as that six month period was probably the most stressful and trying period of his life. Plus thinking of Iridescent in particular always brought up memories of Gato and Jaune didn't want to deal with that.

Yet, thinking about Gato now, the pain of losing his mentor wasn't as sharp as it used to be. Nor was Iridescent as haunting to think about as she used to be. Ever since that battle and the crazy woman's defeat, Jaune felt like a knot in his soul had come undone. That moment where he'd had to chose between ending Iridescent or saving Pyrrha and then choosing the latter option… since then, Jaune hadn't felt the griping determination to avenge Gato like before. He still definitely wanted Iridescent to pay, and Jaune didn't have any doubt in his mind that she'd pop up again in the future given that no body was found and that there hadn't been any news reports about her being arrested, but it felt less like a personal grudge he was holding onto and more of a sense that he'd take her down because it was the right thing to do and it would prevent others from being put through what he and Gato had.

Whether it was turning her into the police or ending her life… though Jaune didn't have the burning desire for the latter option anymore.

Having had a week to process the battle, Jaune thought that maybe he felt this way because he was moving past his guilt over Gato's death somewhat. Either that, or it was because he felt like for the first time in a while he'd managed to do something right when he decided to save Pyrrha over satisfying his personal grudge.

And it had been a team effort. Together, they'd all managed to take down Iridescent and the White Fang that day. Sure neither problem was solved just yet. Jaune knew in his gut that Iridescent was skulking around somewhere and the White Fang were still at large, but they'd messed up their plans and every one of his friends had come out safely. He hadn't lost anyone.

For Jaune, that was an overwhelming victory. And he'd saved a life. The life of a friend. Pyrrha hadn't become another Gato. He'd managed to protect her and everyone else. And they did a great job at protecting him too.

"…It feels like I've actually made some progress toward accomplishing my dream." Jaune murmured as he stared down at his hands.

He felt, just a little bit, like the hero he aspired to be.

"Just like Gato…" Jaune whispered. "And just like dad…"

The blonde closed his eyes.

"I wonder, dad… what you'd think of me being here in Beacon?" Jaune muttered to himself. "Would you have sided with mom and pushed me to become a doctor, or would you have supported me and maybe convinced her to let me follow my dreams?"

Jaune clenched his hands into fists.

"I wonder… if you'd be proud of me?"

"Nick was always proud of you, Jaune."

The blonde jolted in his seat and his head shot up to find a man standing a few feet away him. The sun had also completely set and it was more night than day, but there was still enough light for Jaune to make out the man's features. The man had a dark complexion with a neatly trimmed beard, with wavy, raven black locks of hair swept up and out of the way exposing his handsome face. He wore a robe that was a blend of blue and white colors and designed in a way that didn't look native to Vale. The man's face and clothes in general made him look more like he belonged in Mistral of Vacuo.

Jaune recognized him instantly.

"U-Uncle Arjun?!" Jaune gaped as he stood to his feet, wondering if he wasn't seeing things. "I-Is it really you?"

The man smiled softly. "It has been some time, hasn't it?"

"I-I'll say! It's been years! Actual years!" Jaune exclaimed, still shocked that his godfather had suddenly shown up out of nowhere after so long. "Last time I saw you was… damn, I don't think my age was in the double digits!"

"Indeed. It truly… has been a long time since we've last spoken." Arjun nodded, stepping forward and placing his hands on his godson's shoulders. "You've grown so much. I see so much of Nick in you now. More than I would have thought."

"…I think that was probably the last time I saw you, come to think of it." Jaune said quietly. "At the funeral. And then after that when…"

Jaune trailed off, grimacing as he thought about what his uncle and godfather had suffered through. Losing his teammate and then losing…

"We are all destined to suffer through loss at some point. It is one of the inevitabilities of life." Arjun said. "I shared my grief with your family. Yet, when I grieved for her… I wanted to keep it to myself. It was selfish of me, but I couldn't help but hoard my feelings to myself. It was part of why I stepped away. I am ashamed of that, that I wasn't there for you, your sisters, or you mother."

The man heaved a sigh, and Jaune winced at how his godfather seemed to age a decade as he did.

"Even with two gone, there was still one left. And Isabel had all of you to take care of. For my last remaining teammate, and for all of you, I should have been stronger." Arjun sighed before he gazed at Jaune. The older man's eyes were suddenly swirling pools of amber, almost as if flames had been lit up behind his irises. "It gladdens me to see how strong you've become. Such strength I see in you further highlights my own shortcomings."

It had been a long time since Jaune had seen his uncle's semblance, but seeing the fire in the man's eyes brought back warm memories as well as vindication that through his aura sight Arjun had just gone and confirmed his growth as an huntsman.

"H-Hey, c'mon. As a kid there were a handful of times I wished you'd been around, but when my sisters explained everything to me and… well, know I don't blame you for anything, okay?" Jaune smiled. "It's just so good to see you after all this time! Er, speaking of that… why ARE you here anyway?"

"Like many others, I'm here attending the Vytal Festival." Arjun answered, taking his hands off of his godson's shoulders and folding them behind his back. "While I've been neglectful toward you family, and I am sorry for that, I have not been idle during our time apart. Myself and my associates will be providing security for this festival. I just finished finalizing a deal with Ozpin regarding that."

"So you'll be sticking around for a while?"

"I will."

"That's… that's great!" Jaune beamed, elated that Arjun wasn't going to disappear again after showing back up. "Oh man, we gotta find time to catch up later! There's so much I want to talk with you about!"

"And there is much I'd like to discuss with you as well." Arjun smiled. "I've heard a little bit about your exploits from the Headmaster. He has his eye on you."

"Ah… after all the trouble we've gotten up to lately, that doesn't surprise me." Jaune chuckled before he noticed that the sun had completely set. "Oh, shoot… hey, uncle, I'm really sorry, but I got to cut our reunion short. I've gotta be somewhere."

"Of course. We'll talk later. We have time." Arjun nodded. "It is good to see you, Jaune."

"And it's great to see you!" Jaune smiled, stepping around his uncle and heading in the direction of the cafeteria. "I'll be sure to-"

Jaune was interrupted by the sound of his scroll going off. It wasn't hard to guess who it was. Fishing his scroll out of his pocket, Jaune hit the answer button as he held it up to his ear.

"Hey, Pyrrha, sorry I lost track of time but I'll be there in-"

"Bzzt! Wrong!"

Jaune blinked. "Yang?"

"Duh! Do I really sound like P-Money over the phone?"

"No, not even close. I just wasn't expecting a call from you. What's up?"

"Your detention should be finished by now, right? Did you not get my invitations? We're hosting a fighting game tournament in our room! We're doing doubles now and Blake is a crappy partner! I need you to tap in!"

Jaune heard a bang and a series of expletives from someone in the background.

"Also, Sun is a very angry gamer as it turns out. And Scarlet might be even worse at playing than Blake. Anyway, point is we need some competent gamers! When are you guys coming over?"

"Ah… actually, I'm gonna have to pass on the tournament. I'm actually going to be eating with my team right now. I mean, if you're still playing by the time we're done I don't mind joining but-"

"Ah, nah, it's cool. You should spend your time after detention the way you want to!" Yang replied, not sounding bothered by the turndown. "Although… where are you right now?"

"Around the courtyards. Why?"

"Well… if you're already outside, could you do me a favor?"

"Depends on the favor."

"Could you maybe see if you can find Ruby for me?"

"Ruby's not with you?" Jaune asked, a little surprised by that.

Come to think of it, she hadn't been in the latest picture Yang had sent him. Scrolling through the pictures Yang had sent over, Jaune noticed that Ruby had been present in the beginning but the last four pictures didn't show her present within the group. When had she disappeared?

"No… she's been gone for almost an hour now. I saw her leave earlier and I assumed she was just going to get a snack from the vending machine earlier but she hasn't come back yet. Could you go look for her and send her back please?"

"I'll look for her." Jaune replied, earning a sigh of relief from Yang over the line. "Did she leave her cloak in your room?"

"Lemme check… nope, not seeing it so she's probably wearing it like usual."

"Least that'll make her easier to find. Not many other girls where a bright red cloak around here." Jaune smiled.

"Thanks for doing me a solid, stud. Return my sister to me and I'll give you a proper reward~!"

Jaune grinned at that. "Well, that's enough incentive for me. I'll deliver a Ruby unto you in the near future."

"You're the best! Thanks again!"

"No problem."

Jaune hung up and pocketed the scroll, cracking his neck before taking a look around. "Now, where should I start looking…?"

"You're looking for a young woman wearing a red hood?"

Jaune whirled around to face his uncle when Arjun voice that question.

"I overheard." Arjun answered before Jaune could ask how he knew. "As I was walking around, before I spotted you I did happen to spy someone in a red hood sitting at the cliffs that overlook the Emerald Forest. Perhaps she's still there."

"Seriously?" Jaune asked, wondering why Ruby would be there of all places. Still, it saved him the trouble of running around Beacon trying to find her without a lead. "Thanks for letting me know! We'll talk again soon, Uncle!"

With that, Jaune took off in the direction of the cliffs. Arjun watched him go, his eyes glowing in the night as he watched his godson powerwalk away.

"…You've already got scars on your soul. Evidence of your hardships, but also your growth. And they've been healed. Your soul doesn't bleed, godson." Arjun intoned. "Because you are blessed with companions who will help bandage your wounds. Hold them close, for they will be a balm to whatever harsh experiences you endure. Be there for them as much as they are there for you."

Arjun closed his eyes and he thought back to those he'd lost.

"Yes, take care and cherish those you love. Because life without them is a truly empty thing."

A portal swirled into the space behind the huntsman.

"Do not worry. I'll do my part as well." Arjun whispered. "There is… much that needs to be done. And much that I need to make up for."

He stepped into the portal, and was gone.

All that remained in the courtyard were the rustling leaves on the trees and bushes and the night breeze swept through the area.

- - - - -

The trek to the cliffs actually made him a little nostalgic, bringing to mind his reunion with his childhood friends and quickly getting acquainted with everyone of his friends and how they'd all first fought together in the Emerald Forest. Jaune didn't let himself get swept down memory lane though. His primary focus was on finding Ruby. Luckily he didn't have to look very hard, since he managed to find the girl the instant he found the cliffs.

The little reaper was sitting at the edge of the cliff face. From the angle he stood, Jaune saw that she wasn't daggling her feet off the side, but thankfully had chosen to sit on the grass several feet away from edge. That meant he didn't have worry about accidentally startling her off the cliff as he approached. Jaune's shoes crunched on the dirt and grass, announcing his presence to Ruby from the way her shoulders jolted briefly before she turned her head toward him.

Jaune raised his hand in greeting and shot his friend a smile. "Hey there! Come here often?"

The girl tilted her cutely and blinked in slight befuddlement. "Jaune…?"

"Who else would I be?" Jaune asked as he stepped up next to her. "Mind if I sit?"

"Uh, sure?" Ruby nodded, still looking a little lost as she watched Jaune plop down next to her. "What are you doing here?"

"That should be my question." Jaune replied. "All alone out here this late at night while there's apparently a gaming competition being hosted back in your room. Passing that up doesn't seem like a very 'Ruby' thing to do."

"Ah… haha… yeah, I guess it doesn't." Ruby gave a small laugh at his words before turning back to face the direction of the forest.

Jaune frowned at the melancholy look on the girl's face. Her current expression wasn't very "Ruby" either. Even as she gazed out over the treetops of Emerald Forest, it didn't really look like Ruby's attention was on the tries. Plus she was ignoring the much more amazing sight of the starry night sky and Remnant's shattered moon overhead.

"…To be honest, I haven't been feeling very 'Ruby' lately…" Ruby murmured.

"Well, after a week of detention I think we're all a little drained." Jaune said.

"It's not just that. I mean, that's part of it, but it's also…" Ruby trailed off before pulling her legs up to her chest and hiding her face against her knees.

Now Jaune was getting concerned. "Hey, Ruby, you know you can talk to me if something's eating at you, right?"

Ruby didn't reply to his words immediately, but Jaune didn't let her lack of response deter him. He scooted closer to his friend, placing one hand on her back and rubbing in a circular motion which he hoped was comforting. They stayed like that for a little while, with Jaune rubbing Ruby's back while she herself continued to hide her face.

Eventually, Jaune felt Ruby give a big sigh and she pulled her face away from her knees.

"Say Jaune," Ruby started quietly. "What do you think of your time at Beacon so far?"

"Huh?" Jaune blinked, a little thrown by the question. "I mean… it's been great for me. I'm finally getting to work on becoming a hero like my dad. I got to see you and Yang again, plus I got to meet Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, and all of our other friends. I couldn't be happier to be in Beacon."

Wearing a concerned frown, Jaune leaned forward a little to try and get a better look at Ruby's face and gauge her mood.

"I mean… aren't you happy to be here too?"

Ruby was quiet for a few seconds before she answered.

"I'm happy about all that stuff too. Seeing you again, meeting all of our friends, training to be a Huntress… it's just… well…"

Beacon's youngest student bit her lip and seemed to struggle with herself before speaking up again.

"It… It just feels like I haven't done a lot of Hunter related stuff lately." Ruby hissed quietly.

"What?"

"I just… well, you know how I got into Beacon, right?" Ruby asked. "How I foiled Torchwick's robbery at a dust store in Vale's downtown? Chasing him off is what got me noticed by the Headmaster."

"I'm aware." Jaune said, nodding slowly. "It's actually pretty impressive that-"

"But then a little after actually getting into Beacon and being placed on a team, we're all fighting terrorists at a dock with some nasty lizard faunus trying to attack us. Or eat us."

"Right, that. But we all came out of it okay, plus Blake and Weiss managed to-"

"And then one of the first things we do when our new semester starts is to try and bust another White Fang operation, only this one has even more terrorists and some crazy girl piloting a mecha who wants you to marry her."

Jaune grimaced at that. He'd had the whole week to process the event, and while there were still a couple embers of guilt burning in his stomach about getting everyone involved in that debacle, he was in a much better headspace now. Pyrrha was all healed up, all his friends were safe, and Blake had agreed to ease off on her White Fang vendetta. The shared mission between their teams now was to train and focus on their studies so that they could graduate and officially become huntsman in a few years.

Sure, criminals were still lurking around in the shadows… but with Atlas flying in, the new security initiatives Vale was pushing forth, and now knowing that his godfather was present in the city, Jaune felt even more confident that the criminal element would be taken care of without his or Ruby's teams needing to stick their noses into things again.

Still, Jaune wasn't sure he was following along with Ruby's train of thought.

"What are you saying, Ruby?"

"It's just… we're trying to become hunters, right? Hunters fight Grimm." Ruby mumbled. "So… why have we been fighting people?"

Ruby's words gave Jaune pause. Before he could respond though, the girl continued speaking.

"Heck, even back in Forever Fall there was that sniper that shot at me. And then I almost got mauled by those Grimm. If you hadn't saved me…"

"Hey, where's all this coming from?" Jaune asked, his voice heavy with concern.

For the past week he'd noticed Ruby had been out of sorts. Yang had too, and both of them had worried about the attitude shift Ruby had displayed. While Jaune was glad that the little reaper was opening up to him, it shook his nerves a little to hear Ruby sound so downtrodden.

"Geez, I wonder if this how everyone else felt when I was getting lost inside my own head." Jaune thought.

It definitely wasn't fun being on the other side of it.

"It's just weird. I just feel like I've fought more people than Grimm since I started at Beacon." Ruby muttered. "A-And that doesn't feel right! Hunters and huntresses are heroes who fight against Grimm! We've fought terrorists a-and I know we did a good thing, several good things, I-I just…"

Ruby turned toward Jaune with glistening eyes.

"Jaune, I-I didn't become a huntress to hurt people. We shouldn't be fighting people! It should just be Grimm… right…?"

The blonde stared at his childhood friend for several moments after she voiced that question. He chewed over her words and what type of questions she was asking. They were familiar ones. They were questions he'd asked himself several times during his journey to Beacon after he'd ran away from home.

It was why Jaune knew that it wasn't just the concept of fighting other human beings that had Ruby feeling so lost.

"Ruby, you know you can trust me, right? That you can tell me anything?" Jaune asked.

The girl held his gaze for a moment before she gave a slow nod.

"So tell me… what did you see that has you so shaken up?" Jaune asked. "Or should I be asking, what did you do?"

"I-It wasn't me!" Ruby stammered, hands shooting out and fisting into the front of Jaune's hoodie as she clung to him. "T-The White Fang, t-they were the ones who were…!"

"Ruby, did you…"

"No!" Ruby shook her head. "It was someone else! The White Fang, they were shooting at me, but then someone else shot them and they all fell down! And then I…"

Jaune gasped when the dark around them was suddenly illuminated. Jaune stared in amazement as Ruby's eyes glowed a brilliant silver in the night.

"Your eyes…"

"Ah…!"

Ruby tried to recoil away but before she could Jaune pulled her to his chest and embraced her. His friend stilled in his arms and relaxed after a moment.

"…This is what I wanted to tell you about before." Ruby mumbled into Jaune's chest. "My eyes… my mom had them too. They're supposed to be special and make it so I can fight against Grimm better than anyone else."

"…They wouldn't also happen to fire lasers, would they?" Jaune asked cheekily, smiling when he felt Ruby snort a laugh into his shirt.

"I wish." Ruby giggled before she fell silent. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around Jaune's waist. "Actually, I don't know much about them myself. My dad told me some stuff, and my mom had some old journals but… I'm kinda fumbling in the dark when it comes to these special eye powers I apparently have. And… last week when we fought the White Fang, when I saw those White Fang members die… I found out something about my eyes."

"…What was it?"

"…I saw them die." Ruby whispered. "And I don't mean I just saw them fall on the ground and stop breathing when they were shot. I-I mean I saw their souls leaving their body. I-I don't know how to describe what it felt like when I saw it, but is was like something got cut out of the space they were standing it. Like someone suddenly opened up a pitfall where their souls were and it all just drained away. It made my skin crawl and I got so scared…"

Ruby trembled in his arms.

"I want to be a hero like my mom. I want to protect people. But seeing the life drain away from someone else is… I mean, rationally, I know I'm not gonna be able to save anyone. B-But if every time someone dies I see that again…?"

Ruby let out a shuddering breath.

"S-Sorry, I know I'm not making much sense and that what I'm saying is-"

"No, I understand completely."

Ruby pulled away and gazed up at Jaune, expression curious and desperate.

"You do...?"

Jaune sighed and held Ruby tighter. "Ruby, I... kinda got into this a little with Yang, and I know you said she told you, but... I'm in the same boat. Combine my time here in Beacon with the six months it took for me to travel to Vale... I've had to fight way more people than I have Grimm. Honestly, my kill count for people is probably higher than my Grimm kill count."

Ruby bit her lip.

"When I was in Iridescent's arena, the people I fought weren't all criminals. I'm sure some of them were in the same situation as me, but because I didn't want to die, I fought them. Sure, I didn't go for the killing blow or anything delibrate. Not always. But I hurt them, and put them in bad positions for future fights. Plus what happend with Gato..."

Jaune closed his eyes as he thought about his mentor.

"Like those White Fang guys you saw die, even if you weren't the one who pulled the trigger, you still feel responsible, don't you?"

With her mouth falling open slightly, Ruby gave a frantic nod.

"You keep thinking if you hadn't been there, or if you'd done something different, or been a little stronger, a little smarter, maybe no one would've had to die. But life isn't like our comic books. When we heroes defeat the 'villains', they don't always get up and swear vengeance and run off with only a few bruises and scrapes. The results are a lot more final than that. Even after I escaped, there were... others that I had to take out because it was either me or them. I could tell you all about how the people I fought were evil, or that they deserved what I did to them, or that I was just defending myself... but it didn't stop me from feeling guilty about it."

"I don't feel guilty about killing Grimm." Ruby told him. "B-But people...!"

Jaune nodded. "I know. It's hard, watching people die."

And he had six months to get used to it. Ruby was going dealing with witnessing death firsthand. Deaths she'd been involved in... even if she wasn't directly responsible for them. And she apparently saw it in a unique way that he or anyone else couldn't fathom.

But he could help her through it.

"I don't know what you think of yourself after you saw those guys die, but you... can't hold yourself responsible for every death you might see in the future. It... took me a while to understand that myself, and I only recently convinced myself to let go a little... but you don't deserve that weight on your soul, Ruby."

"...But what if things stay like this?" Ruby asked. "What if we have to fight people again? I keep thinking that if Yang, or Weiss, or Blake, o-or you, and if... if I need to save you, and the only way to do that is to-"

"I've made those decisions too. And making those decisions doesn't make you a bad person, Ruby. It doesn't make you any less of a hero." Jaune assured her. "Certainly not in my eyes."

Jaune rubbed her back.

"Do you think I'm a bad person for the things I've done? For the lives I've taken?"

"No. Never once."

The instant answer made Jaune smile.

"You have no idea how much of a relief that is to hear from you. And I believe you. So can you believe me?"

"I... I do..."

"And... if we ever have to burden ourselves with a hard choice, we can carry that weight together. Promise." Jaune said soothingly. "I'll always be here to support you, Ruby. Just like Yang will. And your team. And my team. And anyone else who wants to be heroes with us. We'll be there for each other to make it easier."

"Mhm..."

"You're gonna be a hero one day, Ruby. Don't worry about the big picture or what we might have to fight in the future. Just... prioritize. It's something I've been trying to get used to, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I'm kinda measuring my success on how happy the rest of you are and whether or not I can keep you all safe. But the recent fight with Iridescent and the White Fang showed me I can't do it alone. I'm much more successful together with all of you than trying to go solo. I know you feel guilty about those White Fang guys, but I also want you to know you saved me back then. You can be happy about that, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So, um..." Jaune waffled as he and Ruby clung to each other. "I... hope that made you feel a little better?"

Hearing Ruby giggle in response had Jaune giving another relieved sigh.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now." Ruby smiled, leaning away from Jaune as the glow from her eyes faded. "Honestly, knowing you're going be with me makes me feel a lot better."

"Feeling's mutual." Jaune smiled. "I'd probably be much more of mess if you weren't here in Beacon with me. That's the truth."

"Yeah? Are you happiest about me being here compared to everyone else?" Ruby asked. "Even more than Yang? Or Pyrrha?"

"Those are questions I don't have to answer." Jaune replied, poking the girl's cheek playfully. "Though speaking of your sister, I promised I'd deliver a Ruby to her. She was worried when you left and didn't come back."

"Oh... so she asked you to look for me?" Ruby mumbled, looking sheepish. "I, um... can't we stay together a little longer? I don't feel like playing video games right now."

Jaune opened his mouth to reply but paused when he felt buzzing in his pocket. Fishing out his scroll and seeing a text from Pyrrha, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

"Well, if you don't want to go back to your dorm just yet, I've got another destination in mind."

- - - - -

"Order up!" Nora smiled and slammed the plate down in front of Team RWBY's leader.

Ruby leaned back and warily eyed the large stack of pancakes that towered in front of her.

"Um, where do I start?" Ruby asked.

"From the middle works best I've found!" Nora grinned. "And if you can't finish everything, I'll take the leftovers!"

"We've also got bacon, eggs, milk and orange juice." Ren said as he finished the spread.

"And there are also waffles if you want and alternative to pancakes." Pyrrha added.

"HEATHEN!" Nora shouted at her fellow redhead.

"They're practically the same thing. Same ingredients, the only different is that one is a circle shape while the other-"

"BLASPHEMER!"

Sitting next to Ruby, Jaune smiled happily when he saw Ruby giggle at his team's antics. He knew that not all of Ruby's worries and fears had been alievated, and there would probably be more discussions about her feelings and about her issues with her eyes in the future, but he was prepared to help her out with them.

Like Ruby, he was learning that the path to become a huntsman had divorced quite a bit from his original idealized image of the profession. But that was fine. Even if there were a few missteps here and there in the coming days, they could make up for it together.

And like he had mentioned earlier, Jaune had managed to find a pretty good measuring stick to track his success.

Grinning, Jaune flicked out his scroll.

"Hey, Ruby, scoot closer for a sec."

- - - - -

Yang threw her hands up as her characters was given another KO.

"Seriously Blake, could you be any worse at this game?"

"I told you I don't like fighting games." The cat faunus protested. She held her controller up in the air. "Please, someone, take this from me."

"Hey, Weiss, why don't we partner up from another round together?" Neptune offered.

"I would, but my thumbs hurt from the controls." Weiss frowned, staring at her red thumbs.

"That's what you get for button mashing." Yang shrugged.

"The controls are confusing!"

"Let's make it a Team SSSN fight this time!" Sun interjected. "Me and Nep versus Sage and Scar!"

"I'm down." Scarlet said.

"Sounds good to me." Sage nodded.

"Just don't text your girlfriend while you're playing this time." Neptune told Sage.

"I don't see how it's a problem seeing as I can still beat you both with one hand. It's two handicaps in your favor."

"What's the other handicap?"

"He's got Scarlet as his second player." Sun snarled as he glared at the redhead.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"YOU THREW THE BOMB AT ME FIVE TIMES! WE WERE ON THE SAME TEAM!"

"It was an accident!"

"FACE THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO THROW THE ITEMS AT! IT ISN'T HIGH CONCEPT DUMBASS! IT IS VERY SIMPLE!"

Yang rolled her eyes as Team SSSN got into it, but her eyebrows went up when she saw her scroll light up. Taking it out and unlocking it, she saw that Jaune had texted her. Opening up her messages Yang smiled at what she saw.

Sitting at a cafeteria table, Ren was balancing several breakfast plates in his hands while wearing a pink frilly apron. Pyrrha seemingly contrusting a face on a plate of waffles with bacon, eggs and blueberries while Nora was practically inhaling a pile of pancakes.

And in the foreground, Jaune and her sister were cheek to cheek and beaming at the camera.

Attached to the image was a message from Jaune that said "Wish you were here!" with a bacon and pancake emoji following it.

See how happy her sister looked, Yang decided that she'd have to find a way to thank Jaune sometime.

It was so nice having someone else to help watch out for her little sister.

- - - - -

A couple hours later, Jaune and Ruby stood in front of the latter's dorm room. There were no muffled noises or raging shouts coming from behind the door, as a text from Yang half an hour earlier had informed them that their gaming tournament had ended and SSSN had left to let everyone wind down for bed and properly prep for the weekend.

Jaune was gratified when Ruby stood in front of him, leaning against the door with a large smile on her face. It was a great improvement from her somber attitude at the cliffs, and Jaune was glad he was able to put that smile on her face with the help of Ren's cooking and the antics of his whole team.

"I really needed tonight." Ruby told Jaune with a smile. "So thanks for talking with me. And for feeding me."

"A rose should be kept watered and well fed." Jaune joked.

"Funny." Ruby giggled, sticking her tongue out at her friend. "So… any big plans for the weekend?"

"Well, I got a man-date with Cardin tomorrow in case you forgot. So that'll be fun."

"Wow. You sound so enthusiastic."

"I'm trying to convince myself it won't blow up in my face and no one will come back to Beacon with black eyes or broken limbs." Jaune shrugged. "What about you?"

"I… I'm just going to relax. That's something that I don't think I've done enough of lately." Ruby said firmly. "And I don't mean just staying in my room and being alone with my thoughts. I want to do things that make me happy! I wanna goof around with Yang, maybe do some shopping with Weiss, and read some books with Blake."

"Hey, you stay away from Blake's books. They'll only corrupt you."

"Too late! I'm already halfway corrupted!"

"Damn. Mark my words, that cat is gonna pay for this." Jaune promised, clenching his fist like a cartoon character declaring vengeance which earned more giggles from Ruby.

"Other than that, maybe indulge in my hobbies a little. Did you know I haven't been to the forgery once since the semester started! That simply cannot stand! Ignoring my precious baby and not giving her proper maintenance… I can't become a neglectful mother, Jaune!"

Rolling his eyes at Ruby's attitude and how she referred to her prized weapon, Jaune dropped the joking tone and gave Ruby a stern look. "So, about this silver eye stuff… you gonna tell anyone else?"

"...I will. Soon. For now can… can we keep it an us thing please?"

"If that's what you want, I promise not to bring it up unless you do." Jaune assured. "Just promise me that you will tell Yang and the others soon. You and I can't figure this thing out just on our own. Eight heads are way better than just our two."

"I know, I know. I just… wanna process a little more and get my thoughts in order before I tell everyone about my special powers or what me having these eyes might mean." Ruby murmured. "Heck, I'm here in Beacon this early not because I chased off Torchwick but only because the Headmaster knows about my special eye powers."

"Nah, you're definitely here because you're a kickass huntress." Jaune grinned. "Don't go doubting yourself now, not when we're already this far into things."

"Yeah, yeah… you're right. I shouldn't be so negative. I'm already in the top fifty in combat classes! And that's out of hundreds of students!"

"Exactly." Jaune nodded with a smile. "You're well on your way to becoming an amazing huntress."

"Both of us are." Ruby affirmed. "Don't forget you're pretty amazing yourself. I know you doubt yourself plenty and get mopey sometimes, but don't let those bad thoughts win!"

"I know, I know." Jaune sighed, feeling a little called out but that couldn't be helped. "I feel like I'm getting better, thanks to you all. But if I relapse, don't hold it against me, okay?"

"...Yeah. I think I get where you're coming from a little more now. I knew being a huntress wasn't all roses and sunshine, but I think I only really registered that fact last week when I saw those men die." Ruby said softly.

"Ruby, hey-"

"Ah, but, I'm not worrying about it as much anymore! Or at least I'm trying not to." Ruby stammered, waving her arms and giving a reassuring smile to Jaune. "Bad things happen and that's… just part of life. That doesn't mean I always have to focus entirely on the bad parts. Not when there's so much good parts in my life!"

"Now there's the always-positive Ruby I know and love." Jaune grinned playfully, his words earning a blush from Ruby.

"Ahaha… well, not always positive. It's hard being positive ALL the time, so if I feel sad I'm gonna mope. Just if I do, can you maybe try doing something like what you did tonight?"

"Hey, remember what I said before? I'm always here for you if you need me, Ruby."

"Yeah, I know. But I like hearing you say it." Ruby smiled before she ducked her head. "And… y'know, to help keep myself thinking positive thoughts and not dwell so much on the negative, I'm…. gonna start being a little more proactive about my happiness."

Jaune tilted his head curiously at those words. "What do you mean by that."

Shyly toeing the carpet with one foot, Ruby peered up at Jaune with a red face.

"Well… kinda like this?"

There was a burst of rose petals, as there always was when Ruby triggered her semblance, and Jaune's eyes widened when suddenly Ruby was leaning against him on her tiptoes and staring directly into his eyes.

Jaune stared back into her silvery orbs for a second before the girl closed her eyes and then closed the distance. Jaune felt something soft press against his lips for a half a second before the sensation was gone, and was left blinking guilelessly down at Ruby who was displaying red cheeks and a beatific smile toward him.

"Hehehe!" Ruby beamed, and gave Jaune a wink. "Ruby Rose is gonna keep doing her best! You better watch out!"

Having said that, there was another burst of rose petals and a second later Ruby was gone and the sound of her door slamming shut was echoing in his ears.

Jaune was left standing in the hallway, expression completely nonplussed as he tried to register what Ruby had just pulled. Slowly, one hand came up to touch his lips. After a moment, his hand rose to cover his face in embarrassment.

"...That girl is dangerous." Jaune mumbled, feeling how warm his face was with his hand.

Not only that, but it looked like it wasn't just the big sister who could leave him breathless and make his heart race.

Ever since reuniting with Ruby at Beacon and she had announced her infatuation with him, Jaune had sort of written her off. Unlike Yang and Pyrrha who were quite aggressive in expression their feelings for him, when it came to Ruby it was easy to look at her own overtures toward him and just see it as a childish crush. One that she'd grow out of when she found someone else better and more put together to crush on. Jaune had thought that he'd had the girl sister-zoned.

That was no longer the case. That kiss, brief as it was, had conveyed more to him than all of Ruby's hugs, playful gestures or teasing comments had combined.

Ruby really did have feelings for him.

And Jaune had suddenly realized that Ruby Rose was a woman.

"Geez, when did that happen?" Jaune wondered aloud.

Well, best not to dwell on that revelation for the time being. For now, he needed to get some sleep and get ready for his man-date tomorrow. Hopefully some time later he could put more effort into sorting out his increasingly tangled up love life.

Heck, maybe Cardin could give him some tips. Despite it all, he was somehow in a very stable relationship with his faunus girlfriend if the rumors were to be believed. Jaune could certainly use the romantic advice.

= = = = = = =

Enjoy me some Lancaster. But also character development. Developing and expanding characters properly is the really good shit.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Yang: "So... Kissed my little sister, huh?"

Jaune: "Er... More like she kissed me, Yang."

Yang: eyes burning red "That so?"

Jaune: "Come on, I'm not the kind of guy who would put the moves on your little sister! Honest!"

Yang: "I know that."

Jaune: "So why are you angry with me?"

Yang: "I'm not angry with you-"

Jaune: "Seven sisters Yang, come on."

Yang: "I'm just saying, why are we doing all the work around here, huh?" pouts "Why can't you kiss us once in a while, hm?"

Jaune: "Er... I mean... I do that and I might start playing favorites. You all deserve better than that, honest!"

Yang: "... And you're scared of us murdering you?"

Jaune: "What sane man wouldn't be?!"

Yang: "Well then, I'll make things clear: You wanna kiss me? You can do it any time you like~."

Jaune: "How does that solve any of my problems?!"

Yang: "Did I say it would solve any of your problems?" grin, wink

Jaune: "... Touche."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

It was probably only thanks to his endless mistakes and long life that Ozpin was able to keep his patience for any government hearing. After the first few centuries, they'd all kind of blended into a relatively easy to predict pattern. Humans were still humans, Faunus were still Faunus, even after all this time. All with their own wants, needs, desires, flaws, dreams and fears.

Most politicians were just that: People, out for their own gain, the gain of their backers and voters, and the gain of their country: Usually in that order. It was what they were meant to do and society did need them because of the nature of hierarchies.

So far, in his experience, Democratic Republics had the best track record when it came to producing a hierarchy for human society that benefited the most people. The sad fact was, the fundamental truth of nature and mankind was that hierarchies were required. There was always someone at the top and always someone at the bottom, because that was how the universe functioned. You needed hierarchies to accomplish things, so like anything else in this flawed world, it had good aspects and bad aspects. Raging against it was as pointless as raging against the setting of the sun, the moon and the stars. Even Ozma at his most powerful could do nothing about that.

"Once again, the members of the Lower Council let their passions take charge instead of looking at the facts of the matter! Your aggressive military expansion is causing more trouble than it is solving, just as it caused all the troubles in the Faunus Revolution!"

Of course, that had never stopped a politician from abusing people's ignorance of the facts, Ozpin thought, as he sat in his seat in the Valean Council Senate and listened to Councilwoman Prunella Glocken rant.

She had dark black hair with a distinctive white streak running up from her forehead back to her severe bun. Her face was sharp, her gaze like flint you'd hit steel against for sparks. Her form was prim and proper, like a particularly tyrannical professor Ozpin had employed a century ago, but had to let go when she was putting the students into death matches. She wore a black suit jacket with a black skirt, and a coat with Dalmation fur trim-A trademark of her family.

If he was being charitable, she did resemble her fiery namesake, Lady Prunella Ayra Glocken, a noble lady he had known a decade before the Great War. When the city of Vale was enduring a strike by the newly established police and firefighter unions, a major fire broke out in the Old Town. He recalled Lady Prunella, in full petticoat and bonnet, personally organizing bucket brigades and helping people get to safety. She'd become a sensation for her efforts and her family, already rich, entered the elites thanks to her brave efforts and masterful politicking.

"Are we to presume that Rufus Winchester, whose family owns Winchester Arms, has no financial goals with this breaking of our Constitution? With his backdoor deals and manipulations? How are we to trust the word of a politician who so blatantly defies the law set by this Council three decades ago?!" She demanded, slamming her fist on the wooden podium she was ranting from.

Ozpin knew plenty about politicians, about the kind of men and women who took that path. A few were truly paragons people he called statesmen and stateswomen because they had put their country before their own desires and it felt unfair to lump them in with the rest. Some were fairly moral people, though with vices and failures. Many fell into the inherent vices that handling power entailed, because not everyone was strong enough to resist it especially if it seemed to hurt no one you cared about. Some were brilliant, most average, some so stupid it was amazing they got their position at all. Those absolutely deserved to be called politicians.

"Indeed, we should let this new Valean Defense Force die, and put all funding into proper Faunus Reconciliation! I have been proposing a full government department for this very purpose for three years! How else are you to stop the White Fang from gaining members without reaching out to these poor, unfortunate souls to convince them to the path of peace? Rufus Winchester's answer is the same as his father's! With guns, violence, and bombs!"

Councilwoman Prunella Glocken was most definitely a politician, in Ozpin's mind.

"Indeed, we should open an immediate investigation into Rufus Winchester and his associates for this monstrous state of affairs! With the goal of removing him from this Council entirely!"

Throughout Glocken's speech, Rufus had managed to keep calm. He shot steely glares at Glocken, but this was fairly normal for their relationship. His fists clenched at this, but he still stayed seated, calm, and silent.

Councilman Jonas Uzi, a young green haired representative who had only recently been elected, shot up and shouted at her.

"That's going too far!" He shouted. "You Senate types are always trying to meddle in the Commons like you're a bunch of tyrants-!"

Rufus reached up and pulled Uzi down into his seat. The younger representative glared, but Rufus shook his head. Uzi grit his teeth but resumed glaring at Glocken. Ozpin nodded to Winchester in thanks, which the redhaired man returned.

Things were tense enough. Uzi was a hothead, and while his heart was in the right place? His head wasn't.

"Well, if one of Winchester's lapdogs is going to scream on his behalf," Glocken sneered, "Perhaps I touched a nerve, hm?"

The Chairwoman of Vale, an elegant older woman with tanned skinned and white hair in a ponytail, presided over the Senate on a raised dais in the circular forum. She nodded, and rapped the gavel that was the symbol of her office when she was selected to lead Vale as a nation three years ago.

"Thank you, Madame Councillor, your time is up," Chairwoman Sandra Browning stated firmly.

"But Chairwoman, I protest!" Glocken growled, "I was interrupted-"

"Thank you, Madame Councillor, but we have much to get through and it is late," she stated firmly. Glocken scowled, gathered up her papers, and stalked off back to her seat. Browning looked over at Winchester and Ozpin.

"Councilman Winchester, you have the podium."

Winchester stood up, and walked slowly out to the podium. He set down his papers, shuffled them a bit, then cleared his throat. He looked up, and began to speak as his distinctive red mustache waved a bit.

"My fellow Councilmembers. The accusations made by Councilwoman Glocken are extremely dramatic, I'll grant her that. They were made worse by her shrill, shrieking voice-"

"Councilman, if you please," Browning stated coldly. Rufus caught Ozpin's eye. The red haired man slowly nodded, then resumed.

"However, at no point did I break the Constitution, the law, or my oath as a Councilman of Vale, nor as the Speaker of the Commons," he stated, "Under Article 17 of the Valean Constitution, per People vs. Township of Lexington, it is legal for any citizen to raise a militia for the purposes of the defense of their community from external threats. It was further established in that same case that government funds can be applied for in order to create such a militia. If approved, the funds will be released to said militia, with the use of those funds to be examined on a yearly basis by a government-appointed auditor."

Winchester looked up to Browning directly, his face calm and controlled.

"The Bill to formally reinstitute the Valean Defense Force was approved by this body and you yourself last week. Bill 224.4, 'for the establishment of increased security for the Vytal Festival in light of threats to Vale.' You signed off on that Bill yourself, Madam Chairwoman."

Ozpin mentally applauded Rufus for doing his best to not appear smug. Despite his temper, he had made a career after being a Huntsman as a lawyer, after all.

Browning slowly nodded, her keen blue eyes narrowing.

"I did, yes. The fact remains that fully re-establishing the Valean Defense Force was to be carried out by a committee approved by this body. You instead raised a militia and had them all volunteer to become the Valean Defense Force."

"Out of pirates and mercenaries, no less!" Glocken shouted. Much uproar ensued, and Browning slammed the gavel down like a goddess of thunder to get things calm again.

"Order, order! Well, Councilman Winchester?" Browning asked.

"Under Article 17," Winchester said smoothly, "Men and women who had not committed egregious crimes against citizens such as murder, kidnapping, or rape were not barred from enlisting as members of a defense militia. They would be granted a full pardon for crimes under the provision that they signed a two year service contract. All members of the PMCs and Captain Silverhand's crew agreed to this. A number are on parole pending a more thorough investigation into their past conducts, which is also a provision in Article 17."

"That's ridiculous! You only raise militias when the nation is in a state of war!" Glocken blustered, "We're at peace!"

"The Councilwoman has a point, Mister Winchester," Browning stated calmly, "Usually a state of emergency must be declared for the provisos of Article 17 to come into effect for rearmament."

"Except I didn't institute rearmament or the recreation of the VDF," Winchester stated smoothly, "I merely raised private militias for the purpose of the defense of Vale. It calls itself the Valean Defense Force, but as there is no such force at the moment, there is no conflict with the official force-As it does not exist. No declaration of war is required for that. Unless this august body would like to pass a bill declaring war on all Grimm."

He smirked a bit.

"Honestly, it would be nice to get it out in the open and make it clear to all and sundry what we're fighting for. Naturally, we would require a military force of some kind to wage war. Rather difficult to do so without one." He shot a smug look at Glocken, whose face turned puce.

"If only one was available…"

"Enough, Mister Winchester," Browning stated firmly. She shook her head, and looked over at Ozpin. "Councilman Ozpin. You are the officially selected Warden for Vale. You oversee the defenses of the nation and assess the overall defensive requirements for the nation at large. What say you?"

Ozpin got up and walked to another podium. He tapped the mike out of habit-He'd started it when the things were invented, after all.

Glocken was smirking nastily at Winchester, and Ozpin could imagine why. Despite his colorful history with Winchester, Ozpin had agreed with Glocken a great deal. He could certainly see the value in reaching out to the Faunus and improving social conditions throughout the kingdom. This is what Glocken had started out doing when she was first elected thirty years ago.

Somewhere along the line though… She'd become a politician.

"It is in my estimation that the current defenses of Vale are inadequate to handling the requirements of the Vytal Festival. Current funding for Hunter forces is also inadequate," Ozpin stated. "This is why I endorsed the re-establishment of the Valean Defense Force, and felt that Councilman Winchester's militia was most suitable to accomplishing that goal. It is my belief that Councilman Winchester was acting out of the good of the people with his intentions."

Winchester didn't smile with his mouth, but his eyes did. Glocken's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"While his methods were… Haphazard, he did not break any laws nor violate his oath," Ozpin went on. He waited for the murmuring to die down, tapping his cane a bit to hurry it along before he continued.

"That said, the re-establishment of the Valean Defense Force requires oversight, like any other government program. As Warden of Vale, I will be beholden to the Committee established to ensure that this VDF does not become a cesspool of corruption, graft, and even worse crimes against the innocent as the last one did. Councilman Winchester has graciously handed over all financial documentation for the VDF as it stands. The committee will go through this and monitor the VDF's actions."

He leaned forward.

"I will not lie: Re-establishing a military is a long, difficult, and messy process. However, given the dangerous state of Vale and Remnant at this moment? Something is indeed better than nothing. We now have some basic forces and organization in place, largely made up of military veterans who wish to serve their country and do good in the world. I suggest we encourage the better angels of their nature by ensuring that the basic necessities of the VDF are not bogged down by petty politics. It is my belief that this new VDF can work and we can avoid the mistakes of the past. As our very survival may depend on them."

Brown considered him and Winchester for a moment, before she slowly nodded.

"Gentlemen," she began, "These actions are likely to keep federal lawyers busy for years in how convoluted this has become…" She sighed. "But if the Warden of Vale himself recommends it? I can't discount his views. For the time being, the VDF will be allowed to exist."

Winchester became much less tense at this. Ozpin was too old a hand at this to give anything away, but some relief did flow through his body at this. Browning continued, even as Glocken and her supporters murmured and grumbled unhappily.

"We will begin oversight committee and Department formation to manage its operations next week. The proposed budget will stand with potential extensions next year. Let's get through the Vytal Festival first before we make any further decisions."

"But Chairwoman-!" Glocken loudly protested. Browning slammed her gavel down, and shook her head. Glocken glared sourly across the forum, but kept her peace.

"If there is no other business for tonight?" Browning looked around, and everyone wisely stayed quiet under the intensity of her glare, "Good. Session is adjourned."

She slammed the gazel down once, and the various Councilmembers and their staff began to get up and head out. Ozpin and Winchester walked over to Winchester's seats, where Uzi was waiting.

"I uh… Sorry for speaking out of turn," Uzi apologized with a blush.

"It's done so often that it's little wonder most people think that's how it's supposed to work," Ozpin deadpanned. Winchester sighed and patted Uzi on the shoulder.

"You'll learn… Or I'll beat some sense into you," he stated. Uzi grimaced.

"You mean that metaphorically, r-right?" He asked.

"Clearly you missed when brawls were part of Senate hearings," Ozpin chuckled, "Ah, those were the days."

"Ahem."

All three men turned to see Sandra Browning standing before them. She was smirking a bit. Winchester did his best to remain stoic, Uzi paled, and Ozpin was the picture of calm.

"That was a neat trick, Winchester," she stated, "You should have applied as a judge on the Supreme Court."

"Maybe I will, some day," Winchester said with a shrug. Browning sighed and shook her head.

"That said… You have to step carefully now. These shenanigans of yours are very, very tricky. They could just as easily be used against you." She nodded over to Glocken, who was talking with her own staff, "Glocken might get on the committee and strangle the Defense Force in its crib."

"So… You support us?" Uzi asked. Winchester sighed as Ozpin was tempted to roll his eyes. Browning chuckled.

"You are as green as your hair, aren't you Uzi? I'm fine with executing the will of the people for the betterment of our nation. Having a defense force made up of colorful characters and not causing us headaches in the international news is, in theory, a good thing." She leaned in with a terrible smile.

"You'd better make sure it stays that way. Because believe me, I will be reviewing all of this. Very carefully."

She turned and walked away, her staff flocking around her like nervous geese.

Uzi shivered.

"Is… Is she always so scary?" He mumbled, brushing off his simple white and red suit in his nervousness.

"Look on the bright side," Ozpin stated blandly, "You didn't hide in the bathroom for four hours after she glared at you."

"Please," Rufus chuckled, "It was two hours. Tops."

- - -

Later, Councilwoman Prunella Glocken fumed a bit in her office in the Council Tower. Her assistants held up holopads, pointing out possibilities and counters to this upset in the chambers.

She nodded and processed it outwardly. Inwardly, her thoughts spun at high speed in anger.

That Winchester had gotten this kind of win… Her legendary temper was kept in check only thanks to years of practice. She went over everything that had been said, told her assistants to get the transcripts, and that she expected a proper response by the next morning.

This done, she dismissed her assistants. They went out the door, which slid shut tightly. Glocken looked around the bookcases full of lawbooks and biographies, the pictures on the desk of her family and dog, the various trophies and degrees and awards that decorated the walls to show anyone entering just what kind of a Councilwoman she was.

She lowered the lights a bit, and leaned back in her chair. It creaked a bit, but that helped fill the sudden silence. She looked to the nearby window. A female figure clad in black was sitting on the sill, a motorcycle helmet concealing her features.

"You're late," Glocken stated in irritation.

"You're not the only one I'm working with," the figure spoke, her helmet distorting her speech. Glocken sighed and shook her head.

"How did it get this far? He's even got Browning on his side!" Glocken growled. She glared heatedly at the figure.

"You promised me proof that Winchester was funding these 'White Fang' attacks!" Glocken sneered. "You promised me accounts that the VDF was a money laundering operation! Well where is it?!"

"We're working on it," the figure said, as calm and collected as ever. She reached into a pocket on her thigh, and pulled out a small holodisk. She handed it over to the suspicious Glocken.

The Councilwoman took it, and plugged it into her player. Several holoscreens appeared above her terminal: All with various financial records and images of Rufus Winchester and Ozpin meeting with various VDF officials.

"We're establishing the groundwork for your case," the figure said, "But it will take time. Ozpin himself is involved. Are you prepared to go against him?"

"In a heartbeat," Glocken said, without even a moment's hesitation. The figure's head tilted in curiosity. The Councilwoman sniffed.

"Surprised?" Glocken asked.

"Curious," the figure stated, "You have often sided with Ozpin."

"Well, if he's going to betray me by going over to Winchester, of course I'll fight him tooth and nail," Glocken growled. She shook her head, and looked over at the far wall. A newspaper clipping was framed. The headline read "GLOCKEN ENDS VDF". A picture of herself, far younger, standing in the center of the Council Chambers was in the center of the clipping.

She allowed herself an indulgent smile as nostalgia overcame her.

"I helped bring down the corrupt edifice of the old VDF," she sniffed, "It had abused our citizens, Faunus, and was guzzling down our money while getting no results." She stood up and stalked over to the paper, staring intently at it.

"Fighting the Grimm with force will always be a losing battle," she sighed.

"You don't approve of Hunters?" The figure asked.

Glocken turned and shook her head.

"I'm fine with Hunters. I'm fine with people standing up to defend themselves. To protect themselves from these monsters… But to truly beat the Grimm requires changing mankind itself. Ending poverty, homelessness, despair."

"A far more difficult challenge," the figure commented. Glocken nodded firmly.

"It is… But it's a worthy one. If Ozpin's going to turn his back on progress? I'll destroy him. Just like Winchester and his little fantasies of redeeming his father. All to make a better world."

Glocken turned back and looked at the figure intently.

"Isn't that your goal as well? To make a better world?"

The figure stared back in silence, before slowly nodding.

"Aren't we all?" The figure asked, her yellow eyes glowing slightly through the visor. She then dropped out through the window and into the night. Glocken watched her go, and sighed softly.

"Most of us," Glocken murmured.

- - -

It's some political worldbuilding and I know it's about as exciting as CSPAN, but it will factor in the narrative further down the line. Promise.

UnknownAnon just gets to write the fun stuff this time around as writing boring stuff helps me recharge so I can write the good stuff again!

Oh, of course the boring political chapter is 69. That's just my luck...

 

[UnknownAnon]

Oof, this took too long. But life and work got in the way, so it is what it is. Still, finally time to kick off the Jaune+Cardin bromance for real. Hope folks enjoy the ride.

= = = = = = =

It was only after he'd dressed for the day, left his dorm room and had a quick breakfast that Jaune realized he had no actual way to contact Cardin. This was a problem since there hadn't been any agreement or plan where to meet up for their man-date. He didn't even know where Team CRDL's room was, and Jaune wasn't keen on walking up and down the floors of Beacon's dormitory to find it.

Instead, Jaune made his way over to the bullhead landing pads near the edge of the school. Assuming Cardin hadn't left ahead of him for the city, he'd inevitably head there since the only way to get to Vale from Beacon was to take a quick flight down there. There was the option to cut through the Emerald Forest, but it was rare that path was taken given the forest had Grimm wandering around and a twenty minute flight was preferable to a two hour trek.

Jaune sat on a bench near the landing pads, checking his scroll for the time as he idled about. For a half hour he watched teams come and go, and there was a lot of students coming and going. That was normal for the weekend, but air traffic was even higher given all the teams from foreign academies that had transferred for the Vytal Festival. A lot of people wanted to use their weekend to fly down and explore the city. The blonde had made a little game out of trying to guess which school students passing him belonged to. Those who wore their uniforms made their affiliation obvious, but it was a little more challenging to discern nationality for those who were dressing casually.

So absorbed in trying to determine whether or not a pair of girls were from Vacuo or Mistral, Jaune completely missed Cardin's arrival and only noticed when the young man cleared his throat.

"Oh, there you are." Jaune said by way of greeting, glancing down at his scroll and noting that it was about a half hour before noon. "Wasn't sure where we were meeting so I came here."

"Yeah, well… not like either of us said anything about where we'd meet." Cardin grumbled.

"We did not." Jaune affirmed.

"I… actually came here before breakfast." Cardin admitted, crossing his arms as he let out an irritated grunt. "It took me twenty minutes before I realized we never agreed to meet at the bullhead docks. And I didn't know where your dorm room was. And I couldn't find any of your friends to ask them. And I didn't want it to somehow get around that I didn't know how to get ahold of you and tip off Velvet that we're not…"

Cardin trailed off, letting out a frustrated groan and pinching the bridge of his nose. Jaune was mildly amused that the other team leader had gone though a similar process he had, but he was careful not to let his bemusement show since Cardin was already in a sour mood and he didn't want to give him any excuse focus on him as an outlet for his frustration.

Jaune was already playing along with this charade on sufferance, and he didn't want to start his weekend getting into a fight with Cardin.

"Did you eat at all?" Jaune asked.

"I went back to the cafeteria and microwaved a breakfast burrito." Cardin replied. "Wandered around campus for a while before I came back here. How long were you waiting?"

"Just a little while. Came here after making myself a small breakfast. We might've just missed each other."

"…Maybe we did."

"…Yep." Jaune nodded.

The duo lapsed into silence as they stared at each other. Both men felt incredibly awkward as the minutes slowly passed by. Neither really knew what to say to the other. They didn't have a plan for how to spend the day and both were drawing blanks on what they could do.

"I mean, I'm only here as a favor to help him sell the lie to his girlfriend that we're best buddies. Shouldn't he be the man with the plan in this situation?" Jaune wondered to himself.

"We can't just stay here all day. I gotta be able to tell Velvet about what we did later, and I can't let it ever slip that back then I was really… dammit, but spending the whole day with Arc. Maybe we can just walk around for a few hours in Vale and then split up? I can come up with something fake and get him to agree to a story…" Cardin thought to himself.

So lost in their own thoughts, both first years couldn't help but jolt when someone called out to them.

"Hey, you two flying to Vale or are you just gonna stay here all day?"

Jaune and Cardin turn to see one of the bullhead pilots nearby shouting at them. Glancing at each other for a moment, the two boys hurriedly made their way over to the pilot and climbed inside the aircraft as the man lowered the gangplank of the ship to let them in the passenger bay. The duo wound up sitting across from one another, and the vehicle shuddered as it prepped to take off.

"Make sure to fasten your seatbelts, kids." The pilot's voice echoed from the intercom on the roof of the seating area. "We got fine weather this morning but landing docks in Vale are little more crowded than usual since a lotta people are flying in for the upcoming tournament. Trip will take the two fifteen to twenty minutes but might have to tack on another five or ten depending on if we gotta wait for a landing spot to open up."

Having said his piece, the vehicle shuddered before lifting from the ground and taking flight. In the seating area, Jaune and Cardin had yet to speak up at all and continued to stare at each other from where they sat.

About ten minutes passed before Jaune let out a large sigh and bit the bullet.

"So, what is the rest of your team up to today?" Jaune asked, at least trying to make an attempt at conversation.

Cardin blinked, not having expected the question but rubbed his neck as he forced a reply. "Uh, Russel bombed a test earlier this week so I think he's studying in the library. Dove went to his cooking club today-"

"Y'know, I always forget that Beacon has clubs." Jaune commented. No one on his team was in a club, nor was anyone on Team RWBY, so it wasn't something he thought about.

"Right. And I'm pretty sure Sky is just going to be playing video games all day." Cardin finished. A minute passed before he returned the question. "What about your team?"

"Nora's probably still sleeping. She's a heavy sleeper and uses weekend days to sleep in and doesn't wake up until it's past noon. I think Ren was gonna do some shopping in Vale and Pyrrha… she'll probably be in the training hall all day destroying training bots. If Lycan is overseeing the training hall today she'll probably challenge him too."

"Hm." Cardin grunted. "Must be something, having a celebrity on your team."

"None of us really care about that. And Pyrrha doesn't really care about it much herself."

Cardin sneered a little at that. "What, being rich and famous is too much trouble?"

Jaune frowned. "Lay off, Cardin. Wealthy people have their own problems. And can't you relate to that given the rumors about your family?"

"Those aren't…!" Cardin started hotly before forcing himself to swallow his words and cool his nerves. "Whatever. She's your teammate and I only know her based on her reputation, so it's not like I can comment."

"That's right." Jaune nodded before giving the other boy a sheepish look. "Sorry about the dig against your family."

"I was being snide about your partner first. It's fine." Cardin scoffed. "Just be careful if you're gonna try to imply anything about my family again, Arc."

"Sure, sure. And same to you."

"Whatever."

Once again, the duo lapsed into silence.

"Well, this is going swimmingly so far." Jaune thought tiredly.

"We only talked for a little bit and I already want to punch him in the face." Cardin lamented in his head.

"…You're welcome, by the way." Jaune muttered.

"Huh?" Cardin glared at Jaune for a moment before he realized what he was driving at. The Winchester heir let out a sigh. "Yeah, thanks for agreeing to go along with this and fake a friendship with me for my girlfriend's sake."

"Oh, I didn't mean that, but I guess that plays into it."

"Huh?"

"I mean, would you even have a girlfriend if it wasn't for me?" Jaune asked with a small smirk. "We both know you had very different intentions that day when I pretended to be your romantic wingman. But now look at you! Happily dating a cute bunny girl!"

Cardin just stared at him incredulously while Jaune returned his look with a cheeky expression.

"I never heard a 'thank you' from you for that."

Cardin just continued to stare at Jaune with his mouth slightly agape for several more second before his expression became stormy. Slowly raising his arm, Cardin pointed threateningly at the irritating blonde.

"Strike two, Arc." Cardin growled.

"Sorry, I just felt it had to be said or else I'd never have the chance to bring it up again." Jaune shrugged. "Seriously, even if I was just trying to keep you from bullying her, I'm genuinely glad that things have worked out so well between the two of you. Velvet seems really happy with you, and you seem happy with her. No joke, I wish you two all the best for however long you date each other for."

Once again Cardin was thrown off by Jaune's words, and was both surprised and flattered by the complete lack of sarcasm or mockery in the blonde's words. While deep down it still irked Cardin that Jaune was the one responsible for hooking him up with Velvet, he was right on the money about how well things had worked out.

"Yeah, well, we'll see how things go." Cardin mumbled. "I don't put much stock into the high school or college sweethearts thing. It's extremely rare for someone to actually end up with the first person they date for the rest of their lives so-"

"Wait, Velvet's your first girlfriend?"

"But I'm gonna do my best to do right by her." Cardin declared, purposefully ignoring Jaune's question as he crossed his arms and glared off to the side. "She's… a really great girl. I'm glad to have her as my girlfriend."

Jaune smiled a little at that. Even if Cardin's attitude was still hard to put up with, Jaune could at least respect the man for the genuine effort he seemed to be putting into his relationship with Velvet.

"…Thanks."

"What was that?"

"I didn't say anything, shut up." Cardin growled with red cheeks, clenching his fists when he heard Jaune chuckle. He opened his mouth to tell Arc where he could shove it but was cut off when the bullhead intercom crackled.

"We'll be landing in Vale in a few minutes. Get ready to disembark, but please keep your seatbelts fastened until I open the bullhead doors. Thank you."

Jaune and Cardin glanced at each other as the pilot's voice faded.

…Well, they'd managed to share a flight without trying to kill each other. It was still up in the air whether or not they could tolerate each other for the rest of the day.

"…So what's the plan?" Jaune asked.

"…That's a good question." Cardin sighed.

= = = = = = =

Starting small, but more to come. They're not gonna be buddy-buddy instantly, but it'll happen. Stay tuned.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Yang sighed happily, the last traces of the gym shower's heat still lingering on her skin even in her casual clothes. She walked alongside Nora, who was still bouncing up and down happily despite the long workout they did.

"Gotta say Sparky, you're definitely something else!" Yang complimented the shorter orange-haired girl. Nora beamed, practically shining in her joy.

"Thanks! You're pretty good too! Most of my other workout partners kind of... Broke!" She paused and hummed. "Except for Jaune, Pyrrha, and Renny of course! Nice to have someone else along!"

"It is nice, isn't it?" Yang agreed with a grin, as they walked through Beacon's main courtyard. A few other students were milling about, foreign and domestic, out enjoying the warm weather. Yang waved at a few she knew, but her attention was mainly on the glowing Nora.

"Sooo?" Yang prompted. Nora glanced over, and tilted her head like a curious puppy.

"Sooo?" She replied in almost perfect imitation of Yang's tone. The blonde brawler waggled her eyebrows.

"You and Zen Ren? How's it going?"

Nora frowned in thought as they entered the dormitory area. It was deeply uncharacteristic of the spastic girl.

"I mean..." Her face went dreamy, "We kissed. And... And it was everything I'd ever wanted." She grinned at Yang. "Even fireworks went off afterwards! Well, explosions, but still."

"Uh huh," Yang said, grinning back and nodding as they climbed the stairs up to their level. Nora sighed again, a frustrated look appearing on her face.

"But... The whole week of detention, he... He didn't bring it up!" Nora pouted. "Do... Do you think he likes someone else?"

Yang almost laughed at the worried expression on Nora's face. But hey, she was learning to be a little more sensitive.

"Of course not," Yang said, "I'm pretty sure you're his everything, Nora. But... Well..." She shrugged. "I honestly can't say. I mean it's not like Zen and I talk all that much."

She did admire his martial arts form, of course. He was extremely smooth, controlled, and refined in that. He moved like water, smooth and without hesitation. His Semblance probably played a role in that, but...

Nora frowned herself as they walked down the hallway towards their mutual common room.

"I just... He was gonna say he loved me, when he thought we were gonna die," she insisted, "I know it. I also know... I mean, he liked that kiss! I know he did... Right?" She again fretted.

Yang chuckled and patted the smaller girl on the shoulder. In some ways she reminded her of Ruby.

"Look... The life you two have lived? I don't think he wants to change things too much, too fast," she said, "He's... Well... He might be afraid of losing you if you finally took the final step from friends to more."

Nora shook her head.

"He'd never lose me," she stated, with the same certainty she might say the sun would come up in the east or sloths were cute. "Never."

"That's what my dad thought, too."

Yang winced the moment she said it. The frightened look on Nora's face made her regret complete. Yang took a deep breath, and reached out to hug Nora.

"I'm not saying you're-You're nothing like my mom," Yang said firmly. Nora nodded, having heard the story. "That doesn't mean that, well... That you wouldn't break up for some other reason. And... Well... You two are your everything. He's just as scared of losing you as you are of losing him."

Nora was silent, her gaze stony. She slowly nodded.

"I... I don't think I can imagine a world without him," she murmured, "I'd probably kill everyone around and myself if I did."

Yang laughed... Then a bit nervously at the intense look Nora still had in her eyes.

"I-I know... And uh, he probably feels the same way. And look... I mean... I'm not a date expert-"

"You're going out with Jaune-Jaune," Nora insisted, "And you're not weird horny crazy like Pyrrha or a little sister figure like Ruby!"

Yang flushed.

"Yeah, well... It's only been one date. That doesn't mean I know what I'm doing," she mumbled. She looked at Nora. "Still, I mean... He's got his own issues, too. I'm... I'm willing to be patient for him."

She smiled gently.

"I think... I think he's worth waiting for," she said, "And Ren is too. But sometimes, men are stupid and need a nudge in the right direction, you know?"

"They're not stupid... I mean, they are but they're," Nora thought about it for a second, "They're like wolves."

Yang blinked.

"Wolves?"

She grinned and winked.

"Well, I wouldn't mind Jaune gobbling me up-"

"I mean like," Nora frowned, "There was this wolf that hung around our village. It was hurt and snarly. Some of the men wanted to kill it, but Renny's dad just went out to it and gave it some meat. Left it out and then backed away. He did this over and over and overrr, talking soft, staying small... Until the wolf finally trusted him, and let him give the wolf scratchies behind the ears."

Nora beamed.

"Jaune-Jaune and Renny are stupid like that! Cause they got hurt and they don't wanna get hurt and sometimes talking doesn't get through!"

Yang blinked a few times, before she slowly nodded. A small, soft smile came over her face.

"Yeah... Stupid like that," she said. Her smile widened into a grin.

"So, you gonna give Zen Ren some samples of flesh? To bite into?"

Nora hummed.

"You think that could work? Ooh! Maybe I could use the syrup to make myself sweeter!"

Yang blushed, but covered it with a cough.

"Mayyybe that's a little too far," she suggested.

"Don't you wanna do that for Jaune?" Nora asked. Yang coughed and blushed some more.

"I... Well... Yeah," she admitted quietly, "But the wolf thing and... Well..."

She shrugged.

"Ruby and Pyrrha... They deserve their chance, too," Yang said softly.

It was easier in some ways to just let Jaune make the decision. Oh, she was going to fight for him. Hell... Part of her wanted to just go for it.

Like Ren though... There was that fear of losing everything. In the end... She was still Raven Branwen's daughter.

She didn't know if she could escape it... And didn't know if Jaune would keep her from becoming that.

She opened the door to the common room. Blake and Weiss were sitting on the couches around the coffee table, Blake with an ever present smutty book and Weiss with her Scroll. Both looked somewhat bemused at the third person sitting with them.

Velvet Scarlatina looked up with a bright smile.

"Hey Yang! Hey Nora! Nice to see you!"

"Nice to see you too," Yang said, "What's up?"

Velvet beamed and gestured to the homemade pastries and sandwiches now sitting on the table.

"Well, uh, since Cardin and Jaune are friends, I was thinking that maybe we could be friends too?" She suggested. "I-I mean, you are Jaune's girlfriend, right?"

Yang blushed.

"Uh... Well..."

"Yes she is!" Nora said cheerfully. "Though so are Pyrrha and Ruby!"

"Nora!" Yang hissed through bright cheeks.

Velvet gaped and went bright red. Weiss and Blake looked amused and both concealed it.

"O-Oh?" The rabbit Faunus asked.

"I also think Weiss is tsundere over him, but I guess it's just REALLY complicated!" Nora chirped, leaping over the couch and landing next to Velvet with a happy bounce.

"I am NOT tsundere," Weiss grumbled, nibbling on a pastry, "These are very good."

"Thank you, Weiss," Velvet said gratefully.

"She's used to Faunus made treats," Blake snarked. Weiss glared.

"My cake butler is human! And if he was a Faunus, I would pay him fairly!"

Nora beamed as she grabbed a sandwich, bit into it... And moaned.

"Ohhh... Maple syrup bacon?! How did you know?!"

"Um, I-I smell syrup on you every day," Velvet said modestly, "I thought you'd like them!" She smiled at Yang. "Come on!"

"Er, sure," Yang said, closing the door behind her and sitting opposite Velvet and Nora. Velvet smiled warmly at her.

"So um... You are his girlfriend?"

"It's complicated, but we're not a harem or anything," Yang said.

"At least not yet," Blake said dryly.

"BLAKE!"

- - -

Getting back into fun comedy feels good.