Chapter Text
"Um...hello? Ruby? Weiss? Anyone in?"
Jaune had been raised a polite boy or, as other, less kind individuals would have put it, a very stupid boy. He had knocked on the door thrice, pressed an imaginary doorbell on the wall and waited several minutes just in case they were up to some hilarious slapstick antics, but so far, there'd been no answer. It seemed like it was safe to enter, but unfortunately, Jaune's instincts were entirely against him.
Come on, Jaune, just go in!
B-but, it's a girls' room! I can't just go barging in unannounced!
Seriously? You already live with Nora and Pyrrha, for dust's sake. What are you going to do, catch cooties?
But what if it's covered in panties or something?!
Then you'll be a very lucky young man, won't you? Now go!
To Jaune's relief (sort of), team RWBY's room was not covered in women's undergarments...or at least, not at the moment. Instead, what caught his eye was a pair of the most precarious bunk beds he'd seen in his entire life and, if he believed in reincarnation, all of his past lives, too. Was...was one of them being held up by stacked books? Good heavens, they weren't even alive and Jaune still felt as though he was supposed to put them out of their misery. Otherwise, it seemed like the room wasn't all that different from his own team's, albeit missing the gender-dividing curtain of ominousness...or Stephen, as Nora like to call it- er, him.
In any case, he wasn't just here to criticise poor furniture arrangements; Jaune Arc had a very important job to do. With a little flourish, the young blonde produced a delicate white envelope from the pockets of his messy jeans, placing it on the closest bed with all the care of an expert flower arranger after having drunk several bottles of vodka. Still, despite his manhandling of the letter, neat handwriting reading "Yang" made its recipient clear, even if it was on Weiss' bed at the moment. Jaune had to admit he didn't quite understand why Pyrrha was sending a sealed letter to a girl who was right across the hallway from her, but he knew it wasn't his business to pry. After all, it was like his mom used to say: when women go wrong, men go right after them.
Now, all he needed to do was creep out of the room without disturbing the various empty cookie packets all over the floor, and he would be free of any unnecessary drama that seemed determined to follow him like a puppy with very bad character judgement. Unfortunately, just as he was about to walk through the doorway, something silver glinted seductively from the far corner of the room.
"Is...is that Myrtenaster?"
Cautiously, like a caveman approaching the first fire, he made his way over to Weiss' expensive sword, glad to finally get a look at it up close. It was a very elegant weapon, thin enough to pierce a man's heart but robust enough not to break on the way out. Well suited to the Snow Angel herself, as Jaune might've said in a fit of particular bravery and/or stupidity.
He couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to wield such a weapon...
What? Are you insane?!
H-hey, don't get me wrong! I like Crocea Mors, I just want to try something...slimmer! Is that so wrong?
I don't know about morally wrong, but it sounds like a good way of getting your testicles hung above Weiss' mantelpiece.
Ah, but how's she going to cut them off if I have her sword? Eh? Ehhh?
His inner conscience apparently unable to respond to the level of 'logic' Jaune had just displayed, the young man grasped what seemed like Myrtenaster's hilt, pulling it closer so that he could admire the weapon's finer qualities. It was incredibly light, as if he wielded a deadly blade of grass...yet, from what he'd seen of it in action, whatever it was made of could block the strikes of even the strongest Grimm.
You realise that thing is probably worth more than most houses, right?
All the more reason to try it while I can!
Being used to the heavier swings of his own sword, Jaune very nearly a cut a hole in the floor as he attempted an experimental downward strike. However, as he went to give it another shot, a high-pitched voice cut through the air like a well-made paper aeroplane.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?!"
In his eagerness to give Weiss' weapon a whirl, Jaune had carelessly forgotten to close the door, leaving the moment prime for interruption by the one and only Snow Angel herself.
"Put it down right this instant!" Weiss commanded forcefully, accompanying it with an authoritative finger-pointing that wouldn't look out of place in a certain courtroom.
Of course, being thrown straight into panic mode, Jaune put Myrtenaster down in the quickest way he knew how.
He dropped it.
SNAP
"You...you absolute idiot! Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Weiss screamed, grabbing Jaune by the collar and lifting him right off the ground like a disobedient toddler.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Jaune spluttered, his previous bravado quickly crumbling under Weiss' stern gaze. "I didn't mean to drop it like that, and I never thought that it would just...snap!"
For a moment, the two Beacon students were locked in a staring contest, Weiss' light blue eyes pitted against Jaune’s terrified dark blue. Soon, however, Weiss lowered him back to the ground, letting herself analyse the wreck that was now Myrtenaster.
It wasn't all that bad, really. While the miscellaneous material was indeed quite expensive, the real money was in the dust crystals embedded within the guard which, thankfully, were completely unharmed. Unfortunately, what wasn't unharmed was the blade, and thanks to Jaune's awful luck, that had broken off right at the hilt. Which, in essence, left Weiss with what was now a very odd looking wand rather than an expertly designed rapier.
She sighed heavily, sending Jaune a disappointed look.
"What, in the name of dust, were you even doing here in the first place, hm? Isn't the rest of your team in the lunch hall?"
"W-well uh, I was just delivering a letter to Yang and-"
"Ha, a likely story! If you wanted to give something to Yang, why did you head to our room when you knew we were out?"
Jaune blinked.
"I...didn't?"
"What?!" Weiss exclaimed incredulously. "But Professor Port announced that team RWBY would be scouting the Emerald Forest in Grimm Studies! How could you not have known?"
"Ohh, Grimm Studies...yeeeeah," Jaune said awkwardly, darting his eyes from side to side. "I remember thaaat. We were learning about, um...Grimm. Yes."
"You fell asleep, didn't you?"
"Yeah..." Jaune admitted, letting his arms fall in defeat. "Wait a minute, if your team's supposed to be out in the Emerald Forest right now, what are you doing here?"
"I was excluded from the mission because, if you'll cast your mind back to the long time ago that was yesterday evening, Myrtenaster was damaged and in need of repairs!"
Jaune paused, the realisation dawning like a brick to the face.
"Oh," he squeaked.
"Yes, Jaune. ‘Oh' indeed," Weiss commented bitterly, giving him another hard glare. "And now what am I going to do, hm? Do you have any idea how long it will take to import the labour in to get this...this mess repaired?"
Weiss gestured to her 'sword', waving her arms around like she was performing some ancient summoning.
"You can't just rejoin it at an ordinary forge, you know!" she continued. "And don't even get me started on-"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Jaune exclaimed unhappily. "Is there any way I can make it up to you? Maybe pay for the fix or something?"
Weiss gave Jaune a look that spoke volumes; probably lengthy, verbose volumes on basic economic theory.
"Jaune, I don't think you quite get how expensive something like this is to repair."
"Three Lin?" Jaune guessed.
"Higher, Jaune. Much higher," Weiss replied witheringly.
"Five Lin?"
"Oh for dust's sake, just shut up!" Weiss snapped irritably. "The point is, there's no way I'm letting you pay me back in Lin for breaking Myrtenaster, even if you had the money. It'd be like me paying you back with..."
She waved her hand vaguely in his direction.
"I don't know, dirt or something."
"Hey!"
"Did you or did you not take a shower this morning?"
"I did! It was for a whole ten minutes, too!"
"Well you could have fooled me, Jaune. Anyway, I've got a much better idea for how you can get back in my favour. Would you like to hear it?" Weiss asked, a hint of steel in her voice.
"Um...sure?"
"Deep within the Emerald Forest, there's said to be an enormous mansion, hidden in the most ingenious ways known to man, housing what may be the last wild aura font. So-"
"Wait, you mean the mansion?"
"Yes, Jaune," Weiss responded, annoyance clear in her voice.
"The haunted mansion?"
"Yes, Jaune," Weiss repeated, her voice now transitioning to a slightly malicious tone. "And I want you to take me to it. Tomorrow."
"W-what?! Why me?"
"Because you broke my sword! Also, while your combat abilities remind me uncomfortably of a damp paper towel, unfortunately for you, everyone else is otherwise occupied with some kind of baking tomfoolery in Vale."
"And they wouldn't come with you if you asked?"
"I have no doubt that they would, but this is supposed to be a punishment for you, Jaune, not for me. I think I'd rather cut my own ears off than listen to you and Ruby chatter about whatever pops into your inane little heads for several hours."
Jaune thought about the situation, a little worried that it reminded him of the troubles with Cardin Winchester. Then again, Weiss was his friend, and she was only asking because he'd messed up big time. The fact that she was letting him make reparations at all was a miracle in and of itself, really. Still, he supposed it was best to ask what the alternative was.
"And if I don't do it?"
Weiss raised a curious eyebrow.
"Well, if you're really adamant about it, I'm sure Professor Goodwitch would be absolutely thrilled to hear about how you broke into our team room and destroyed my weapon in some kind of sabotage attempt, don't you agree?"
"Hey, that's not why I was in here and you know it!"
"Oh really? All I've got is your word to go on, and even if you are telling the truth, I still don't think there's any way you can logically excuse messing with another student's stuff!"
Weiss had in fact already spotted the letter Jaune had delivered, but he didn't need to know that. Not yet, anyway.
"So what will it be, Jaune? Will you come with me on a little trip tomorrow, or are you just itching to get into the infinite number of detentions Goodwitch is going to pile on you?"
Jaune sighed.
"Weiss, you don't need to blackmail me here; even if I'm not too happy about going to the mansion, I want to make it up to you...'cause you're my friend, right?"
Weiss looked him up and down as one might to a drunk man claiming he used to be an astronaut.
"I suppose..."
"It's settled then!" Jaune announced happily. "Just let me know when you're going tomorrow and I'll, uh, get my stuff together. Can I tell my team where we're going?"
Weiss blinked.
"You could say I've had bad experiences with trying to deceive your team. Tell them if you wish, but do try to make sure none of them tag along. I'd rather not have Pyrrha do all the legwork here, even if I'm sure she'd be thrilled to do so for her, ahem, 'glorious leader Jaune Arc'."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said, you simpleton! Now, why don't you trot off back to the lunch hall, hm? Someone has to clean this mess up, and considering your current clumsiness, I wouldn't put it past you to somehow break Ruby's ridiculous scythe as well."
"But it's not even in the room right now!"
"No, Jaune. No it isn't."
Jaune paused, not quite sure how to respond.
"Oh," was all he managed.
"Mmhm," Weiss murmured, more to herself than Jaune. "Now go on, shoo! Exit! Départ! Other words telling you to go away!"
Despite it all, Jaune left the room with a silly little grin on his face. He'd expected Weiss to cut him into tiny little pieces for even daring to touch her sword, much less break it, but it seemed like she really had become a lot nicer since the beginning of the year. In fact, the next day could even be quite a nice experience! Wandering the Emerald Forest with a pretty white-haired girl in the hope of finding adventure...it couldn't be that bad, right?
Sure, Jaune. Keep telling yourself that and maybe it'll actually become true!
Oh, shut up, brain. No one asked you.