Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hundreds of miles away across an ocean, amidst a fathomless landmass home to darkness and despair, lived an ancient being for thousands of years.

The name of said ancient being, whispered through hidden circles throughout the ages, was Salem.

She had seen kingdoms rise and fall. She had seen civilizations prosper and thrive. She had seen people wage wars over nobility and greed. She had seen famine and disease sweep through Remnant; had seen people die and rebuild. Surely, everything that could be under the sun, she had seen.

But most importantly, she bore witness to all of this while her Grimm were ever-present. 

It was a truth that she had come to accept – that humanity and faunuskind would never find peace, that even with a common enemy, they would endlessly squabble and fight until their dying breaths. Until they all died by her hands.

It was a wise understanding that came after her long years of living. It was a knowledge that eluded that fool Ozma, who still foolishly clung to hope. It was the superior understanding and knowledge that reinforced within her the fact that she was right - that destruction was the only way forward.

That her death, and the rest of society, was the only correct future.

And so it is with great effort that Salem was forced to admit that she had no fucking idea what was going on!

She sat upon her throne within her castle, deep within the Grimmlands where the skies boiled a dark tar and the ground bled red. Death surrounded them at all sides, and yet… for once, it didn’t come from her.

Her followers – Tyrian, Watts, Hazel, Leonardo – were all dead on the floor. The only one who wasn’t lying in a pool of their own blood was Cinder, and that was because she was already off forming her own plans.

And the cause of all this?

One man – a scraggly blond doofus, holding a blood-stained sword in one hand and his Scroll on the other.

And the most infuriating of all? Even after killing all her henchmen without breaking a sweat, that bastard was still talking on his Scroll!

Salem growled.

The blond idiot didn’t even acknowledge her presence, still talking. To. That. Scroll!

“Wha-!” The blond gasped at the call, “Ruby, I’m not that stupid! I’m definitely not charging Salem’s castle alone!”

Salem’s eyes twitched.

The other side of that Scroll spoke, just barely audible.

The blond idiot’s eyes crinkled in delight, “Fine fine, you got me Rubes. And you know what? That’s exactly why I called you!”

Another crackle of chatter came from the scroll.

The blond idiot rolled his eyes. “Rubes, I know you’d be dying to see her. I know I did!”

Salem growled again. Okay, that was enough!

Salem rose from her throne, her Dark magic leaking out and infecting the very air. With breathtaking grace she stalked towards the foolish boy, looking every bit the ancient evil that she was.

“I do not know who you are,” Salem bit out, “But you have made a grave mistake coming here and underestimating me, boy.”

The blond blinked, as if just realizing that she was in the same room as him. The nerve!

But then she saw how he smirked – he had seen her reaction, and at that moment, it was obvious… he was intentionally riling her up! How dare he!

It seemed that, at that very moment, he dropped all the pretences. He lowered his Scroll and met her eyes directly, no trace of fear within them.

“Hello, Salem.” The boy spoke, and his tone spoke of maturity and experience even with the slight twang of a teenager. “Long time no see.”

“You speak as if you know me – and yet, I know not of who you are.” Salem opened her palms, preparing to blast this boy to oblivion. Skilled beyond his years he may be, he was still a human. He was no match against someone like her. “I will remember your visage – but know that I shall also make your death slow and painful!”

The boy rolled her eyes then. “Oh, it’s always the same bullshit with you.” He gripped his sword tighter, and finally he entered an actual stance.

“But then again…” The boy smirked, “I don’t have to be the one to beat you.”

Salem laughed. “Oh, you think that a mere mortal could defeat me?”

“Sure…” the boy smirked, “Let’s go with that.”

The boy then went to his Scroll again, his hands swiping left and right with a fervour almost matching her unnatural grace. Motes of starstruck light zapped off his fingertips at each point of contact, a quaking thunder growing in power. Both him and the Scroll began to glow, first white, and then shifting to red.

The boy’s smirk grew wider, and he began a speech of his own.

“My body houses my soul. In past and present I stand, obeying the laws and bending it at the same time. I exist strengthened by the presence of others, and so I, Jaune Arc, stand both here and then. BY THE LAWS OF NATURE… I CHOOSE YOU!”

He then lifted his Scroll to the skies… and Salem watched as a beam of light descended from the heavens (breaking a hole in her roof) and landed right next to him, made of pure, unadulterated Magic.

“COME TO MY AID, RUBY ROSE!”

The light died down, and out if it stepped out a true, fully trained, 20-something prime-of-her-life silver-eyed warrior.

Ruby Rose grinned at Salem’s shocked and fearful expression. “HEY THERE, JACKASS!”

Salem lifted her hand in panic and tried to fire a blast.

Ruby activated her eyes in less than a second, turning Salem into nothing more than a brittle statue. And with that, Jaune swung his sword down on the former Queen of Darkness, ending the battle over before it even began.

“So… what did you think of my speech?”

“You just pulled it out of some manga, didn’t you?”

Jaune looked affronted. “Hey, come on. It was good!”

Ruby shook her head fondly. “I didn’t say it wasn’t, Jaune. Trust me, with how much Blake hoards the stuff these days…”

They were still in the castle, the adrenaline of- well, it wasn’t really a battle, more like Salem getting Jumped with a capital J, but still! It was nice to actually win without all the pain and drama that they went through the first time around.

Definitely helped that they went off-script and were much stronger than before.

“Heh, I know. I remember.” Jaune tapped his head smartly. “My Semblance, remember?”

“Mmhmm.” Ruby smirked. It really was odd – she was in her mid-twenties, Jaune was much older due to the Ever After fiasco way back when, but here and now he looked just as young as he was when he first started Beacon.

That Semblance itself reflected Jaune’s connection to his friends; and yet, altered by the time he spent so long alone, the feeling of having missed out the best time of his life. That feeling of longing, of wanting to go back home when home was far back in the past.

Speaking of…

“So…” Silver eyes wandered curiously. Salem was dead, most of her henchmen were, too. Though the place lacked a certain raven-haired, maiden-stealing megalomaniac. Ruby guessed the time she – they – were now in. “…This is before initiation, I take it?”

“Yeah.” Jaune rolled his shoulders. He cleaned Crocea Mors clean of the blood and almost collapsed in relief on one of the chairs. For a castle abandoned by time and humanity out in the Grimmlands, it was surprisingly well-furnished. “Got my Aura unlocked by a passing Huntsman, but… going here, fighting them all… Man, I’m still out of shape.”

“So then, what’s the next step?” Ruby asked. She lounged around the room and eventually decided to try sitting in Salem’s throne.

Ruby made a face; for having lived for thousands of years, the ergonomics of her chair were shit. It was merely a flat stone base with flatter stone armrests. No cushions, no padding, and no comfortable design for that millenia-old literal asshole. No wonder she wanted to kill the world.

Jaune swivelled on his chair and turned towards her with a smile.

“It’s just like how I told you over the phone, Rubes; My Semblance worked, and I woke up just a few days after my birthday. I made my way here as fast as I could, while mastering both Aura and Semblance.”

Jaune pulled out his Scroll again and squinted at the date. “But looking at the calendar, well… it should be…”

Ruby sighed exasperatedly but still smiled at her doofus of a friend. “Let me guess. In the end, you woke up after you submitted your fake transcripts? And Initiation’s tomorrow?”

“Eheheh… Yeah.” Jaune rubbed the back of his neck while laughing nervously. “And since, well, Initiation’s tomorrow…”

“You want me to give you a ride.”

“…Pretty please?”

“…”

“With strawberry on top and chocolate chips on the side?”

Ruby smiled exasperatingly. “Fine, Jaune.”

“All right!” Jaune laughed and skipped over to her. At the childish request in his eyes, Ruby rolled hers and knelt down, letting Jaune climb onto her back. Once he was secure, he hung on to her shoulders as they made their way to the top of the castle.

As they stepped out to the cool night air, Ruby snickered when she remembered how shocked Salem looked. And since Jaune was going back to Beacon, there was one thought that rang in Ruby’s mind. “I can’t wait to see how Ozpin’s gonna look…”

“I’ll be sure to send you a picture.” Jaune smirked. “Or better yet, summon you to see it yourself!”

“And bring the rest too!” Ruby laughed. “Oh, it’ll be great!”

“Sure thing.” Jaune smiled back.

They approached the edge of the castle top. A long fall awaited them, but Jaune knew not to worry. Here on his best friend’s back, there was nothing that could harm him. And with his own lived-through experiences, he knew no one could harm them. Not when both sides were only one call away.

“Hold on tight, Jaune.” Ruby said.  Jaune did as he was told and answered back to his best friend.

“Whatever you say, Crater Face!”

They both laughed together, and without a care in the world, jumped off the roof.

Ruby’s Semblance activated soon after, the two were engulfed in her red cloak. And with that, riding on his summon’s back, Jaune made his way back to Beacon while leaving a trail of rose petals.

And this time, without sadness and darkness following them everywhere they went.

A Semblance reflected one’s soul. It was only fitting then, that like everything in his life, Jaune unlocked his too late. How it worked was simple, though, just like him.

He called it Simultaneous Existence. It allowed him to essentially travel to the past, taking over the consciousness of his younger self. With its evolved state, Jaune could bring one thing connecting him to the ‘future’, A.K.A his former present, and using it, he could summon the friends and family he had made there. He could travel back to the future of course, but…

…it wouldn’t be permanent; he’d be dragged back here, because here was where he felt most at home. The sweet memories he held on to during the Ever After. The lights in his heart that kept him pushing during their fight against Salem. His time at Beacon, where everything started and was painfully torn apart from them.

They had won in the end, of course, but even so… it wasn’t home to Jaune. Too much had happened, too much time had passed, for him most of all.

But he was getting off track. After numerous experiments, they found that his Scroll was the best thing to bring; it could still connect to the DustNet of the future, he could still make calls to his friends, and with everyone’s contacts saved, it was also a literal connection to the ‘future’.

And so, when the time came that everything was fixed in place, with all the arrangements made… Jaune said goodbye and went home.

So that’s where he was now: landing with Ruby at Beacon Academy, just off the courtyard before everyone else arrived.

Ruby stood beside her friend and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Initiation’ll be a breeze, Jaune. You’ve got Aura this time! We’re already off to a better start.”

Jaune chuckled. “You’re right, but still… I’m open to surprises.”

“…You’re going to be unleashing the Deathstalker again, aren’t you.”

“Hey, what’s life without a little fun?”

“Now you get to be the troll.” Ruby rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder playfully. “Just don’t get yourself killed, okay?”

“I’ve got it, Rubes.” Jaune said. Mentally, he began counting down the time. The Bullhead should’ve already landed, which meant…

“Speaking of,” Jaune smirked and held up a hand, counting down the seconds. Five, four, three…

“Do you have it all under control, Crater Face?” Two, one.

Jaune closed his hand.

Boom!

Ruby groaned as soon as she realized what – more exactly, who – had just exploded, right in Beacon’s Initiation Day. “Jauuuuuneeee!”

Jaune laughed.

Ruby pouted and put her hands on her hips. “Honestly, you’re so immature, Vomit Boy!”

“Vomit… Boy?” Jaune raised a mighty brow and scowled. “What vomit? I didn’t vomit.”

“You almost did – I saw everything during our flight, Jaune!”

“I did not!”

“You so did!”

“But-! Ah, fine, you win, Rubes.” Jaune sighed. He shrugged and put on a smile for her. With them in Beacon now, it would be some time before he could summon her again. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the consequences – hell with Salem dead there was only mostly cleanup with Cinder and her lot – but it still took Aura for him to do it, and, well…

…Ruby had her own life too.

“Guess I better help you out.” Jaune smiled, briefly tilting his head to where he knew a crater from an explosion now was. “I’ll see you around, Ruby.”

Wistfully, Ruby smiled back. “Take care of her- me? Ah, whatever. And yourself, Jaune.” She waved, “Whatever you need… just call me, and I’ll be there. We’ll all be.”

Jaune nodded. And then, with a wave of his hand, she disappeared as her Semblance dictated; into a bed of rose petals back to the future where she belonged and he didn’t.

Jaune looked around; good, it seemed that nobody saw that, and Ozpin was as oblivious as ever.

Now, to make an… introduction? Re-introduction?

Man, Ruby was right – words were weird.

Ruby Rose was a fifteen-year-old girl, an early admission to Beacon Academy… and someone who didn’t expect to blow up on her first day of school.

She also didn’t expect a kind, blond stranger to help her so easily, as if expecting her little outburst. And that help didn’t stop just at the crater either!

He knew exactly where the auditorium was. He knew exactly how to avoid talking to people she didn’t want to. He even knew where to get a bunch of cookies, reserved for only the staff!

He even listened intently to her geeking about Crescent Rose, and he even gave her suggestions. SUGGESTIONS!

That confirmed it; Jaune Arc was friend material in her book. Maybe even BFF material!

Man, maybe Yang was right - friends were nice.

…But then, as they were split into boys and girls to settle in for the night, Ruby came to realize that she couldn’t rely on her BFF forever. Especially with that Weiss girl marching over to her, Yang, and Blake, her hands on her hips and her expression once more stuck in anger.

“What in the world is going on over here?!” Weiss screeched, “Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?”

And then, both Yang and Weiss locked eyes with each other. “Oh no, not you again!” They both groaned.

Ruby was tempted to butt in, to say yes, people were trying to sleep, Weiss was right! When she felt someone tap her shoulder.

Ruby, reflexively, turned around. As a result, she felt her cheek get poked by an outstretched finger.

The offender – Jaune, crouched behind her! – smiled. “Gotcha.”

“Ah!” Ruby almost jumped back in surprise. “J- Jaune?! How did you get here?! I didn’t even hear you-!”

“Sshhh.” Jaune put a finger over his lips and motioned zipping his mouth. “A ninja never reveals his secret.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. And was it her, or did Jaune send Blake a knowing smile? And was she seeing things, or did Blake suddenly stiffen?

“Now.” Jaune said, and all a sudden her attention was redirected to her friend. He smirked, a trollish expression on his face. “Watch this.”

Silently, Jaune stood up and sneaked up to Yang and Weiss, who were still arguing. He kept his steps silent and his presence stealthy, and it really was such a skill that a boy like him could get up close to them without them noticing.

Or maybe a testament to how fiercely Yang and Weiss were arguing, but Ruby wouldn’t dare put her sister under the bus.

“Erhm.” Jaune coughed.

Light blue and lilac eyes immediately shot over to deep blue ones.

“What?!” They chorused.

Jaune merely smirked again and opened his arms to show around him. “I do think people are looking, you know?”

That stopped Weiss and Yang’s argument in their tracks. Indeed, by now, they had grabbed the attention of both boys and girls alike.

“Tche!” Weiss scowled and walked away, over to her corner of the auditorium. She could see that she was outmatched, and worse still, she was being humiliated! And the school year hadn’t even started yet!

Shooting a glare to pretty much everyone she had talked to tonight, she huffed. “This isn’t over.”

Jaune merely smiled that ever-infuriating grin and waved her off. “Sure thing, Ice Queen.”

Ruby could see that it took everything Weiss had not to blow up on the spot. And oh, Ruby just felt so giddy seeing it! How calm, how cool, how he didn’t seem to mind what anyone thought of him… he really was the perfect BFF material!

Yang, however, didn’t feel the same. This- this Jaune guy had helped her sister, she could appreciate that. But he was getting way too close to her now. Way too chummy for something as innocent as friendship - in just the span of a day? And how did he so easily cross the unwritten line between the boys’ side and the girls’?!

Clearly, something was going on here.

Her lilac eyes narrowed. This Jaune guy was sus. And judging from the way his eyes flickered to her after it had been on Weiss, the way he didn’t even seem to react…

Yeah, definitely suspect.

“That boy will pay…”

“Uhm, Weiss? I do not think that-!”

“Grrrr….”

Pyrrha shut her mouth as soon as she realized her advice fell on deaf ears. Sure, she had been approached by Weiss, and sure, their conversation had gone the way it usually did for Pyrrha… so that was why she had mentioned that boy from last night. To try and make it not something related to her reputation and fame!

But oh, it seemed that she had taken a misstep… She knew how to deal with people enamoured by her fame; she didn’t know how to deal with someone plotting bloody murder!

And now they were just… standing here, not really sure what to do, in front of Beacon’s lockers, when Initiation was about to start soon. This was hardly proper Huntsmen decorum!

“Uhm, Weiss…” Pyrrha said slowly, her hand slowly inching out, “Perhaps you could enlighten me. How exactly do you know this, erhm, what was his name again?”

“He said his name was Jaune.” Weiss gritted out, “Jaune Arc…”

“Yes, this Jaune person.” Pyrrha nodded. “Apart from embarrassing you, is there any particular reason as to why you hate him this much?”

“Why I- Pyrrha!” Weiss gasped. “He embarrassed me in front of the whole student body! Before Initiation even began! Such a thing is unacceptable.”

“Well, yes, but perhaps it was merely a harmless prank?” Pyrrha suggested. It certainly seemed so from her corner of the auditorium last night, and in fact, it was almost more of a teaching moment, she got the feeling.

When she had seen him – Jaune – act, it was without malice, not even an ounce of it. Somehow, someway, Pyrrha had even thought that this Jaune intended it to be something of a teaching moment. Perhaps Weiss merely misread the situation, Pyrrha thought.

And, to her relief, it seemed that her words did manage to calm the heiress down somewhat. “Yes… yes, you’re right, Pyrrha. I shouldn’t let my thoughts cloud better judgment.”

Ah, whether this was due to Weiss’ deference to her reputation or her genuinely listening to her advice, Pyrrha wasn’t sure she wanted to bet on it. But it did let her go back to more familiar waters, even if she didn’t like it.

“So, Weiss, you were saying. Teams, you and I?”

Pyrrha almost flinched when Weiss beamed. “Oh, yes. I do think that such a thing would be splendid! Imagine it, Pyrrha, two of the best girls of the year, together! With your skills and my connections, we’d be unstoppable!”

“That sounds grand.” Pyrrha said, as she always did. Yes, this was familiar waters, and yes, she hated it. Still though, she smiled and nodded as Weiss continued, giving her the illusion that she was already on-board with the idea.

Oh, how she wished she could be, could have, something more genuine…

But that was when a voice cut her out of her musings. A familiar voice. “Don’t you realize she’s already zoned out? Save some words for the rest of us, Weiss-icle.”

Weiss’ cheer died a bloody death. She whirled around to face her nemesis. “You.”

It was only then that Pyrrha got a good look at him; tall, blond, blue eyes and a fairly full build. He had a relaxed posture that screamed trainedskilledexperienced. Her fighter’s instincts were telling her that this was someone who was on par with her, or around that level at least. His eyes held that twinkle of mischief but without vicious harm - just like last night.

“Yes,” the man said, mocking a bow. “Me. Jaune of Arc.”

“What are you doing here?” Weiss hissed. This- this interloper continued to ruin everything! First he had to embarrass her in front of everyone, and now he was butting himself between her and Pyrrha! And he did it all with that stupid, infuriating smile on his face!

“Me? Oh, I’m getting my weapons.” Jaune motioned to the lockers, and ah, yes, Pyrrha realized, they were indeed still standing here, weren’t they? Though, that thought seemed to barely contain Weiss’ irritation. “And, uh, there’s an angry pile of snow in the way.”

Angry? Pyrrha spared the… ‘pile of snow’ in question a glance, and could only think a better metaphor would be ‘volcano’. The redhead stifled her wince, even as some part of her dared to try and defuse the situation.

She also stifled and attempted to choke down the part of her that wanted to chuckle at the heiress’ reaction.

But it seemed that Weiss did still hold a modicum of civility. With a huff, she crossed her arms, stepped aside, and gave Pyrrha a curt nod. Ah, it seemed she realized that she couldn’t remain civil around this man. “Until next time, Pyrrha.” Weiss nodded to her. “Please consider my offer.”

Pyrrha waved her goodbye as she left, even while Jaune seemed to laugh to himself. In fact, as he took his sword and armour, Pyrrha could swear that he mouthed the words ‘too easy’ to himself.

It was then that Pyrrha decided to step in.

“Did you mean to be that mean to her?”

“Wha-!” Jaune seemed to freeze upon hearing her voice. As if he hadn’t seen her there, as if… as if he hadn’t expected it? Or perhaps it was the other way around; was he, perhaps, another one of her fans? Someone who would see only her reputation, someone who would seek to use her and not get to know her?

But then he did something unexpected. Just from hearing her voice, he took a deep breath, he let his shoulders slack, and then he faced her with a genuine smile.

A smile Pyrrha couldn’t place.

“No, not really.” He said softly, “Weiss just needs to… learn to let loose a little.”

“You speak as if you know her.”

“I know… of her.” Weird pause, Pyrrha thought, but nothing too weird. He finally fished his equipment out of his lockers, closed the door, and then faced her again. “I guess that’s something I could say.”

“Ah, of course.” Pyrrha said civilly. If that was his answer, then, it seemed that Jaune would be a lost cause too. If he knew Weiss, then that’d mean that there was a good chance he knew about her too. After all, they were both big stars in their Kingdoms, they had both been reported to be going to Beacon, and Jaune seemed neither Mistralian nor Atlesian.

Shame. It seemed as if her fame had followed her too…

“Hey. You look kind of down.” His voice reached out to her. “Is everything okay?”

“Ah? No, no, everything’s fine.” Pyrrha looked back to Jaune and gave him a smile. Perfect, pleasant; plastic, manufactured. “Anyways… Jaune, was it? I do believe we should part ways. Initiation would start soon, and-!”

“Now hold on just a second there.” Jaune reached out, and so Pyrrha stopped what she was saying. He then put on a big show of rubbing his chin, looking at the ceiling and humming. “Now, I’ve heard that Ozpin wants to pair us into teams. Partners. And, well, I am looking for someone to partner up with me…”

Same old, same old, Pyrrha thought. But she had given Weiss the benefit of the doubt first, and it’d be hypocritical for her not to give Jaune the same chance.

“I was planning on letting the chips fall as they may.” Pyrrha said.

And again, Pyrrha found herself surprised. Jaune didn’t act surprised, shocked, or even scandalized. No, he seemed relieved. And oh no, were those tears coming out of his eyes?

Pyrrha blinked; and then, it was gone.

“Well.” Jaune said. “I suppose I can’t refute with what a fair maiden like you has to say.”

Pyrrha blushed. She got compliments from pretty much everyone around her, but from Jaune, it felt genuine. And… and he hadn’t pushed, had he? He had given her space, and that was much more than what she had received from numerous fans; from Weiss to, even.

A flower of hope began to blossom inside her heart. Perhaps, then, that she had been mistaken? Perhaps she had jumped to conclusions?

Pyrrha decided to test the waters.

“But even so…” Pyrrha let the words draw out, “I do appreciate good partners too, Jaune. Someone strong, someone kind, someone who I could depend on.”

“Someone strong, huh…” Jaune trailed off.

‘This is it.’ Pyrrha thought, as clear a hint as any. If he reacted to this as so many Huntsmen do, then she’d know if he was truly familiar with her or not. ‘Prove it to me.’

“Well, if you want someone strong, then I think Yang’s over there.” Jaune thumbed over to the exit of the locker rooms. “But if you want someone you could depend on?”

And then Jaune did it. He laughed, and said the magic words.

“Well, at least you could tell me your name first!”

The way he said it. Genuine. And after years of living under the spotlight, Pyrrha knew exactly what was and what wasn’t. He didn’t know. At the very least, he didn’t know of, or didn’t care for, The Invincible Girl.

That was enough. That was more than enough!

“Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos.” Pyrrha offered Jaune her hand. “And you are Jaune Arc, yes?”

She wasn’t surprised anymore. She wasn’t surprised when he took it. She wasn’t surprised when his eyes and body didn’t indicate that he knew of her fame. She wasn’t surprised when he responded to her question with a quip.

“Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue.” Jaune smirked, “Witches hate it.”

Ah, a jokester, then? Well, Pyrrha couldn’t complain.

She giggled softly. “Well, I’m sure that Weiss does.”

Jaune laughed again. “Now you’re speaking my language!”

Okay.

That was… a lot harder than he had first thought.

Seeing her again, in the flesh like that… for a brief moment, Jaune returned back to that loneliness in the Ever After. That isolation, that loneliness, wallowing in his regret and guilt. It still stuck to him to this day. It had even followed him to yesterday too, it seemed.

He tried so, so hard not to break down in front of her. He did his best to give her all the right signs, all the signs he wanted to show her so badly. A part of him felt guilty, as if he was manipulating her. But was it really that, when he had used that exact same strategy with everyone else here?

To note, they were:

a) to help Ruby get out of her shell,

b) to help with Weiss’ stubbornness,

c) to help Blake with her Blake-iness,

d) to mess around and tease Yang,

and of course, the two most important,

e) get Nora and Ren together-together, and

f) Pyrrha.

He already solved this world’s problem; Salem was out, at least for the next few years or so. And sure, Raven was still out there, as was Cinder (he didn’t have time to intercept her when he was bum-rushing Salem), not to mention the White Fang. That gave him some leeway to act, right?

Besides, this was what he wanted. He was far from being ungenuine towards his friends.

Jaune calmed himself down with that line of thought. Yes, yes. Everything would be alright, at least for now. And y’know, speaking of friends…

“I wanna see my BFF!”

“No, Rubes, not now!”

“AWWWW!”

Yang tried her best to hold her sister back from shouting over to that Jaune guy. He hadn’t seemed to have noticed them, thank god, and Yang would very much like to keep it that way.

She had seen his type before. Smooth-talking, easy confidence but not over confidence, guys who knew exactly what to say. Ruby wasn't a social girl, and yet look at what a few minutes with Jaune had done to her!

Yes, Yang knew his type well; the type who would so easily break girls’ hearts. There was no way she was letting her sister be in a team, much less partners, with someone like that!

She kept her hands placed right on Ruby’s shoulders as they and the rest of the prospective student body gathered on a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Headmaster Ozpin then began his speech, saying things about their objective in Initiation, about team placement, about partners, how they’d be determined today, but it all seemed to go in her sister’s ears and then right out.

After all, she was still squirming against her vice grip. “Yang, lemme-! If I can just get close to Jaune, make eye contact-!”

“Aw hell no!” Yang whispered. “Rubes, trust me. That guy’s no good!”

“He’s a friend. One I made myself!” Ruby pouted.

“No you didn’t.” Yang denied. “He approached you, and then he showed special interest. And then he knew everything you wanted to hear. And then you made him your BFF! Ruby, doesn’t that sound suspicious?”

“You were always telling me to get out of my shell, and now when I am, you’re blocking me? Ruby stomped her foot. “I don’t understand you sometimes, Yang!”

Yang bit her tongue. That was true, and it was her who left with her Signal friends when she first touched down at Beacon. But still…

“Bad touch Rubes. Bad touch,” Yang stressed. “Stranger danger!”

“Wha- I’m not six!”

They were quite engrossed in their conversation, keeping at it as they made their way to the cliff’s platforms. Secretly, Yang was glad that it continued that way. At least it took Ruby’s attention from Jaune. Furthermore, it also allowed her to see if the blond bastard was paying attention to them, too.

Yang noted that he wasn’t, with his eyes laser-focused on the looming Emerald Forest as he stood on his own platform.  More than that, he was also on the whole other end of the row. Good.

…and he was also talking to his Scroll, of all things, right as Initiation was about to begin.

That took either balls or stupidity. Either way, neither were good for a man for Ruby.

“Hey, Yang, are you listening to me? Yang!”

Yang shook her head and gave her sister one last ruffle on the hair, right before Headmaster Ozpin began his countdown.

“You’ll appreciate me later, sis.”

“Ugh! Fine.” Ruby crossed her arms and faced the Emerald Forest proper, mirroring her sister. She knew that at times like this, her elder sister wouldn't listen to reason, so she’d have to seize what was hers herself! She was a big girl, after all!

Ruby steeled herself as her legs tensed, and then they were off. Beacon’s initiation had begun, and she laser-focused on her objective as she flew through the skies.

Get into Beacon. Get partnered with Jaune. Get to know her BFF better, and then save the world! So laser-focused she was on her objective, that she didn’t notice a quiet pair of amber eyes looking, observing, at everything around her.

Blake flew through the skies too, as did many of the students in Beacon, thinking to herself that more than just initiation… this year’s students seemed to be interesting. Especially with that Jaune fellow, who she had seen sneaking glances in the momentary lapses that Yang girl had.

Yes, she agreed to a degree with the blonde bombshell. Jaune certainly was someone who needed to have an eye kept on. His skills, his manner of speaking - just what did he really know?

Wow, Jaune really did seem to attract quite the amount of attention, doesn’t he? He hadn’t even said anything, but it was clear that those siblings were arguing about him - once again, in front of everyone else. And he hadn’t even done anything this morning!

Be that as it may, Pyrrha certainly wasn’t going to let the chips fall as randomly as she had hoped.

…

What? She was allowed to lie once in a while!

And so she made sure to land quickly, using her own landing strategy, the very thing Headmaster Ozpin had advised on. She balanced herself on the branch she had landed on, aimed her scope at the falling Knight she had claimed for herself, and smirked.

‘That’s the one.’

She transformed her rifle into a spear and drew her hand back. Hang on tight, Jaune-!

Thunk!

Pyrrha stopped in her tracks when she heard, then felt, something whizzing below her and then piercing her sash. She looked down; it was a sword, pinning her to the tree, the very same plan she had-!

Poke!

Pyrrha’s train of thought stopped. She turned around and faced the very person who had poked her cheek.

“Hey there, partner.” A pair of blue eyes - the very ones she had been aiming down her scope for! - crinkled in delight against her emerald pair. “What’chu looking at?”

“Bwuh-!” Pyrrha turned back to where she was aiming, transforming her spear and aiming down its’ scope and-! Wait, she had just seen him fly-! How was he here-! How fast-! How-!

“So, uh…” Jaune’s voice knocked her out of her thoughts again - and it had come from a different position too. Surprised, she looked down and saw that Jaune was already waiting for her at the base of the tree with his arms crossed.

His stealth, his speed, his-! Agh!

He smiled at her; it was genuine, but it was also as if he was in on a joke she didn’t know! “You mind getting down from there? I do need my sword, and I need the person who’s filling in a spot on my Team too.”

Pyrrha closed her eyes and resisted the urge to sigh. These… all these contradictions, the surprises - they were driving her mad. But to her surprise, she found that she didn’t mind it one bit. Better to be driven up the wall rather than dying of boredom.

The redhead waved her hand and used her Semblance to dislodge Jaune’s sword. Once she was unpinned, she jumped down the tree and used Polarity to return it to the owner, to which he caught it one-handed with an easy smile.

She hated it. She loved this.

Pyrrha settled on a thin smile. “So, Jaune. Any plans?”

“I’ve got a couple.” Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors and rested it on his shoulder. So easily casual. “Just stick with me and I’ll assure you - we’ll get through this.”

Pyrrha’s smile got just a bit wider. “I’ll hold you onto it then.”

They were standing in front of a cave. A very dark, very damp, and very ominous cave. A cave Jaune had led them to. And now, the man in question was…

“I need to use the bathroom.”

…testing the limits of her patience.

Emerald orbs filled with concern (whether it be for her partner’s safety, or his mental state, she wasn’t sure) glanced to the cave entrance and back. “In… here? Do you-” Her eyes flickered aside. “There are bushes over there if you really need to.”

A hand clamped on her shoulder, steady and meaningful. “Pyrrha, do you trust me?”

Well, so far, most of his interactions involved sly humor, witticisms so clever they seemed practiced, an audacity to rival the power of the sun, and riling Weiss up. But underneath it all, there had been a glimpse of something purer, raw, in his care for the few people he’s seemingly made friends with.

And so despite what common sense would have made her do, she nodded. “Yes.”

Jaune smiled, and for a second, it was a bright and brilliant thing. So much more than his easy smiles everywhere else.

It made something flutter within her.

“Knew you’d understand!” He began to walk into the entrance. “So trust me on this one - this cave is the only place big enough to hold the unholy load I’m about to punish it with.”

Whatever pleasant buzz Pyrrha felt crashed and fell. It seemed like she’d expected too much of her new partner. She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “Fine. Make it quick, please.”

“Thanks, partner.” Jaune flashed her a grin and a thumbs up, and just like that, he was off.

Pyrrha breathed in, then out. Jaune had proven himself to be skilled during their brief time here. He had successfully shown her the best paths to avoid the Grimm, and any that did pop up were eliminated before she had even a chance to draw her weapons. Truly, he had been dependable so far, just as he said.

But on the other hand, he also constantly seemed relaxed, as if he didn’t have an ounce of care in the world. To Pyrrha, who was taking this very seriously, it was a bit of a whiplash. It was like he was taking the piss out of the whole initiation.

…Well now he was, but that wasn’t the point! Bah, who was she to complain? She didn’t know anymore. It was just like her to complain when things were going her way, for once.

Pyrrha looked back to the cave. Jaune said that a relic was here. He said it with absolute certainty, and he had a good track record so far, so Pyrrha was inclined to believe him. But the way he spoke about it, and her instincts upon seeing the cave first-hand, indicated that something wasn’t quite right.

A contradiction. As was so common with her new partner.

How…

Pyrrha’s eyes flashed despite it all.

‘How exciting.’

Meanwhile, as Pyrrha got over her little moral dilemma, Jaune made sure to find a good spot to hide himself - no cameras, no Grimm or students, no nothing - and pulled open his Scroll. A few beeps, a few calls, and sure enough, he had what he wanted.

Fwoosh! A silent ninja landed in front of him, one with black-and-white motifs, striking amber eyes, and a pair of cute cat ears sprouting from her bob cut hair. She was accompanied by a blonde biker- bruiser, her fists clenched and ready for a fight, as well as their shared white-haired teammate,who had a scar over her left eye and was wearing a dress elegant as demanded of Atlesian high-society. But most of all, they looked much, much older than how any student should.

“Status report.” Jaune said. “Team composition is…”

“RWBY and JNPR.” Weiss, CEO of the SDC, said. “Like always. Like you wanted.”

“Ozpin doesn’t really vary stuff, does he?” Yang, one of the strongest Huntresses in Remnant, put her hands behind her head and yawned. “Gosh, all this walking around’s putting me to sleep.”

“That’s the nature of surveillance jobs, Yang.” Blake told her partner calmly. She then turned to their ‘summoner’ with a curious gaze. “Ruby told us. This is… huh. So this is the cave where that Deathstalker came from?”

“Baby, you know it.” Jaune ran a hand through his hair. “I’m thinking of setting it loose. I’ve been thinking, and…well, our initiation would’ve been pretty boring without it, right?”

“Speak for yourself.” Weiss huffed. “Ruby’s a handful, as she is.”

“Aw, but you still care for her, don’t you?” Yang teased.

“T-that, well of course I do! Come on, Yang…”

“I’ll make sure to keep that in mind, Blake.” Jaune nodded to her in thanks.

Weiss turned to Jaune. “So you do have a plan…”

“Well- not much a plan, but more… hm. Method of engagement?”

“Seems fun.” Yang chuckled. “Mind if we can hear it, then?”

“...Eh. It’ll be better if you guys watch. Explaining’ll take too long.”

“Fair enough.” Yang shrugged. “Then record a video, ‘kay? Send it to us after. Oh, oh! Especially Blakey’s face when you mess with her. Ohh, this’ll be great blackmail!”

“I’m right here, Yang.”

Jaune gave a hum of approval, ignoring Yang’s laugh and Blake’s exasperated gaze. He waved them goodbye, one they managed to return too after a break from their dynamics, and then poof! With a tap of his Scroll, they were gone.

Jaune didn’t waste any time, wiping sweat from his brow as he tapped away at his Scroll. Oof, it seemed that summoning multiple people hit his Aura reserves quite hard. But that did little to deter him from summoning the next person.

Flash! “What’chu need me for this time, bestie?”

“Hey, Rubes.” Jaune smiled as he greeted his best friend. Really, looking at her like this, 27-something years old while having just interacted with the past version the other day, all of it was still quite the experience. And speaking of experiences…

“I want to give them a show.” Jaune explained. After, with his hands waving around him, he then explained his plan. And when she heard how it all was, especially when Jaune finally finished, she couldn’t help but groan.

“I’m gonna be doing all the work, aren’t I?” the reaper said.

“Not all of it.” Jaune placated her. “After all, we’ll need some bait! And revealing my hand, our hand, too early doesn’t seem to be that good of an idea.”

“Yeah yeah. Oz’s still a bit paranoid around this time.” Ruby said, “But he will know, though. How long do you plan to keep this up?”

“We’ll think about it as time goes on.”

“How very Jaune of you.” Ruby rolled her eyes, but she smiled nonetheless. Stretching, she heard her muscles pop and moaned.

“Okay. Time to get back in action.” She unfurled Crescent Rose Mk. II from her back, an evolution from the old model with Focus Dust rounds; courtesy of the new SDC’s funding, of course. “They’re not gonna know what hit ‘em!”

Jaune offered her a slight nod of gratitude. “Thanks, Rubes. Always.”

“No problem!” Giving her fellow leader a two-fingered salute, she then activated her Semblance and disappeared into the depths of the forest, watching from a distance for her ‘time’.

With that, Jaune pocketed his Scroll and made his way back to Pyrrha. To his amusement, he found his partner with her arms crossed and her feet impatiently tapping.

She met him with a glare. “You certainly took your time.”

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I had a rough breakfast. Turned to a number two.”

Pyrrha’s face scrunched up. “I did not need to know that, Jaune.”

Jaune resisted the urge to snicker.

Oh, how he missed this.

They made their way inside the cave, then. Making a torch wasn’t that hard for either of them, and this time, Jaune made sure to have one for each of them. Along the way, Jaune made sure to shine his half of the cave, while Pyrrha covered the other.

“Hm…” they went deeper, and Jaune came across those old tribal markings that remained, both then and now. He cracked a smile. “What are these drawings? Come on, my sister could draw better than that, and she’s six!”

“They most likely did not have the time nor the tools as we have now.” Pyrrha answered. “Regardless, markings such as these most likely serve as a warning. We should head back.”

“Aw, but I just made these torches - for the two of us! Humour me for a bit here, Pyr.”

‘Pyr?’ Oh, she had a nickname now? From what she knew of friendships, wasn’t this too quick? And humour? Ugh, couldn’t he take anything seriously for just one moment?

Nevertheless, Pyrrha relented. Again. She turned back to the cave with an exasperated gaze. “Just be careful.”

“I always am!” Jaune replied, chipper.

They delved deeper. With the advantages of two torches, they got to see further ahead, to see a black shape forming in front of them, along with a golden tip that seemed to be hanging in mid-air.

“Is that the relic?” Pyrrha whispered. Had Jaune done it again - lead them straight to the objective with unnerving efficiency?

“Hm…” Pyrrha could see that Jaune was the cautious one now, putting his free hand on his sword’s hilt. That encouraged Pyrrha to do the same, hearing her partner say, “Let’s approach. Slowly.”

They did, and then they could see the black shape grow into a familiar creature. A sight that sent a chill down Pyrrha’s spine.

“Deathstalker.” Pyrrha whispered.

It was sleeping, sure, but the light was sure to awaken it if they didn’t do something about it. Even more terrifyingly, it was armored, meaning that it was quite ancient; and the older a Grimm was, the harder it was to fight.

Pyrrha turned to her partner, no small amount of panic in her tone. “Jaune, we need to leave-!”

But Jaune didn’t seem to be paying attention to her. Instead, he unsheathed his sword, slammed it on the ground - creating a loud clang! - and made himself shine even brighter with his Aura.

“HEY! JACKASS!”

Pyrrha’s eyes widened, as did the Deathstalker’s eyes began to flutter open.

Jaune smirked. “Didn’t your mama ever teach you it’s not nice to sleep past noon?”

It fully awoke, before roaring with almighty rage.

Pyrrha found herself roaring as well.

“JAUNE! YOU IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!”

“Did you hear that? That sounded like-!”

“Jaune Arc, yes.” Blake finished, just as her new partner finished her furious whirl to face the sound. They weren’t referring to the initial scream, though. No, instead they were referring to the loud-ass sounds of oohs, aahs, and laughter that followed after.

Honestly, Blake wasn’t surprised that Yang was already that attuned to Arc’s voice. She did seem to be protective of her sister - if a bit overprotective - but on keeping an eye on Jaune? Yeah, that was one of the first things that they agreed on.

However, were those good grounds for a future partnership? She didn’t know just yet.

Yang banged her fists together. “I swear, if he met up with Ruby…”

“Why are you so worried about that?” Blake asked. “She got into Beacon, right? She should be able to handle herself.”

“That’s not what bothers me, Blake.” Yang shook her head. “That Jaune guy, I’ve seen his type before. I don’t need my sister getting close to some- some swindler!”

“Is he that, though?” Blake responded. From her eyes, it didn’t seem like he was a mere swindler; the White Fang tended to accept all kinds of criminals, and no mere conman she knew of had the perceptiveness Jaune showed. He must know something.

Yang, though, didn’t seem to have the same exact concern.  “Oh, one hundred percent. Those kinds of guys are a dime a dozen back at Signal. They never paid attention to Ruby, though, since I was there.”

Both because of her status as the strongest, and also the fact that everyone knew better than to mess with her little sister. It was worse here when she was yet to prove herself, and because she knew that she wouldn’t be able to be as protective as she had been before anyway.

“You’re gnashing your teeth again.” Blake sighed. Her partner blinked, red eyes flashing lilac as she inhaled and calmed herself. Huh. Was that her Semblance?

“You’re right, we should focus.” Yang clapped her cheeks and gave her a smile. “Thanks for that, Blake.”

“Mm.”

“Now. To find Ruby. Find Ruby…”

CAW! CAW!

“Loook ouuuuuuuuttt!”

“Uh…” Blake pointed upwards, to the source of that new voice and the caw they had heard as well. “I don’t think you’re gonna have to search long, Yang.”

Yang looked up, following Blake’s finger. Indeed, she saw her sister falling from - was that a Nevermore?! - and accompanied not far by that Weiss girl. Did Ruby get her as a partner, then?

“Ooof!” Ruby groaned as she landed on her sister, and Weiss on top of Blake. The Heiress didn’t seem pleased at her chosen landing, and neither did Blake seem to be thrilled being a cushion.

As for Yang, though, she hugged her sister tight and kept her close. “Oh, I missed you! Tell me, you haven’t met Jaune yet, have you?!”

“Yaaaang, you’re embarrassing me in front of my new partner!” Ruby blushed - though she returned the hug quickly - before pulling away.  “And no, I haven’t met Jaune yet.”

“Not for a lack of trying.” Weiss muttered, “Though thankfully that dunce is nowhere to be seen.”

Blake spoke from below her, her tone sharp and vexed.  “Get off of me.”

They all collectively gathered their bearings and got on their feet. Ruby rubbed her head, grimacing. “Ah, I didn’t expect to fall from the Nevermore that early.”

“Oh?” Blake raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I dunno. It just felt like- like it was hit by something which forced it off course.” Her eyebrows scrunched up, “It felt like a… sniper bullet? But it couldn’t be…”

“Regardless.” Weiss pat herself off. “I do believe that we can finally proceed. Ruby and I haven’t, but perhaps the two of you have grabbed a relic?”

“No.”

“Nada, Ice Queen.”

Weiss’ eyes narrowed at her nickname. “Great. Then we must get moving, before the Nevermore recovers-!”

She was interrupted when a ginger-haired, Ursa-riding girl burst into their little clearing, tearing down the trees that had stood in her way, shouting, "I'm Queen of the Castle! I’m Queen of the Castle!”

The Ursa didn’t seem to last much longer under the girl’s madness. It crashed into the ground with a whimper, which finally prompted the girl to get off of her prey. “Awww, it’s broken.”

Her partner - at least, everyone assumed so - arrived after her, raven-haired with a streak of pink that accented his tired magenta eyes. “Nora…”

“Renny! You kept up!”

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang shared glances. Comparatively, Weiss and Ruby’s arrival seemed a tad bit more normal, that was something that they could agree on. What Weiss said was right, though; they needed to get a move on, to finish Initiation, and that meant finding the relics. Question was, would they be interrupted again-?!

A Deathstalker’s screech cut their hopes short. It stomped - stalked?  - stomp-stalked, into their view, its white bone armour and fierce demeanour a mark of its age and danger. It had its eyes trained on a fellow Huntsman-in-Training to-be - the very same man that had been the center of all their attention.

“Jaune!” Ruby cheered.

“Jauney.” Yang grit a smile.

“You…” Weiss snarled.

“Jaune…” Blake trailed off.

“Jaune?” Ren asked.

“Nora!” Nora smiled.

Jaune smirked as he skidded to a stop before them all. He faced the Deathstalker with a smile and bounced in place, one hand on his sword and the other free.

His cheer, however, almost froze.

“Oh, Jaune…!”

Jaune had the decency to at least look sheepish. He directed his gaze to his partner who finally caught up with him, her hair a mess, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes dilated for too many reasons for him to name.

And her tone, oooooh, he had never heard such a frustrated, pain-promising tone from her in his life.

Well, second time’s the charm, as people often said.

“Eh, sorry Pyr! But hey, at least he didn’t hit you at all, right?”

“You…” Pyrrha struggled to retain her composure. “I didn’t need you to act as bait for that!” She had been worried, she was angry, she had to run and catch up, she was- was- Agh! Her partner was so infuriating! Couldn’t he take anything seriously?!

He gave her a sheepish smile again. Her heart skipped a beat.

At this point she didn’t know if it was a good thing or a dark foreshadowing for a heart attack!

The Deathstalker roared again, recentering everyone’s attention back on it. That, of course, included their resident knight.

“Aw, come on. That all you got?!” Jaune taunted the Deathstalker.

The Deathstalker roared again.

Jaune smirked. “Whoa ho hoh! Oh, easy there, little fella. Hey! I remember a little scorpy just like you!”

The Deathstalker clearly didn’t appreciate this and launched its tail right at Jaune. Jaune sidestepped easily, the tail’s poison tip planting itself on the ground where he had just been.

“Ooof, agitated much? Guess that cave wasn’t a good cage for a cute little pet like you, huh?” Jaune then entered a pose  - because that was what it was, far from any fighting stance that Pyrrha had ever seen in her career!  - and smirked.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to teach you some manners. You, and that birdie over there.”

Jaune opened his arms and taunted his enemies both above and below.

“Come on, girl!”

The Deathstalker charged right at Jaune. It swung its pincers at his body, trying to clip his body in two. Jaune deftly dodged the attacks, his steps almost like a dance and his grin ever present. With Jaune’s elegant moves, its own frustrations at missing every attack, it all resulted in the aggression of the Deathstalker seemed to grow with every passing second.

But the Deathstalker wasn’t the only Grimm around.

The Nevermore cawed again, launching its feathers at Jaune’s every position. Again and again, Jaune danced - and yes, his hips were swaying, it was definitely a dance - through all the attacks, using every single millimetre of space and milliseconds of time he had to make sure he left unscathed.

And no, Pyrrha was not looking and blushing!

Thank God he didn’t seem to realize…

“Hahaha! Oh, this is fun!” Oh, those hips were a’ swayin. He didn’t seem to mind the danger he was in, or perhaps he didn’t think any of this was a danger at all? In response, the Deathstalker lunged its tail, its golden tip glinting and heading right for Jaune’s head.

Jaune smiled, stopped his dance number, and pointed at the approaching tail tip.

BANG!

Some kind of shot from nowhere hit the tail mid-attack, forcing it back and causing the Deathstalker to screech. It tried using its pincers again, eager to cause some form of damage!

But then Jaune pointed at the pincers again. Once more, shots from nowhere hit the Deathstalker mid-attack, as if protecting Jaune from any form of danger. Blake could see the way his eyes faintly glowed with each and every ‘counter’. Was that his Semblance, then? That seemed to be the only possible explanation.

Casting a look around, she saw some form of dawning realization swoop over the rest of the accumulated students. Yes, they were most likely thinking the same thing.

Another caw from above. The Nevermore decided that it had had enough of being in the skies and swept low, its beak open and ready to devour Jaune!

Jaune kept his smile and pointed a finger gun at the Nevermore. As he did so, a red blur shot out from the trees, as vibrant as a paint stroke and as fast as a burst of flame. It crashed against the beak and denied the Nevermore its attack, before then disappearing into the trees again.

As if it never existed.

But Ruby had seen it. She had seen it well, and so why then did it look so similar to her own Semblance? But it couldn’t be. She knew that, so that left the question everyone was asking.

“What the hell is going on?!” Weiss screeched.

Ruby, however, had stars in her eyes. Because one thing was certain: “THIS IS SO COOOOOL!”

Yang groaned, while Blake kept a lookout. Nora was cheering Jaune on, Ren had taken this time to lean against a tree and rest, and Pyrrha…

…Pyrrha was blushing up a storm. Her feelings were mixed. She didn't know if she should be angry or thrilled, if she should be embarrassed or proud. But one thing was clear.

She liked this thumping in her chest.

Amidst his playful chaos, he sent her a wink. Her partner winked at her. Once more, Pyrrha didn’t know how to feel. ‘AAAAAAGHHHH!’

Jaune’s finger gun was going everywhere now, pointing at the Deathstalker and the Nevermore as that red blur shot out from the trees again and again. As that part lended credibility to the Semblance theory, he had also begun attacking, his other hand swinging his sword with perfection in each attack.

Each attack accompanied by a laugh. Each damage he did to the Deathstalker’s armor, so quickly and effortlessly done, accompanied by the grin of someone who didn’t have a care in the world.

The red blur. The shots. The swings of his sword. He was untouchable, impenetrable, invincible. He could drag this on for forever, Yang realized, the Grimm were completely at his mercy. And so was their attention - so rapt and taken without effort.

He shot her a grin, then. “What’re you doing over there, blondie? Wanna come and Yang around?”

Yang grit her teeth. Oh yes, he was definitely The Type ™.

“And you… Blake, right?” Jaune smiled at the ninja in question, “Why’re you looking at me like that? What, am I really as interesting as Ninjas of Love?”

Blake sputtered. Hey, how did he know about that?!

Click! Before she had even realized it, her shocked face and Yang’s gritted teeth were immortalized in Jaune’s Scroll.

“Eh.” Jaune gave the image one healthy squint, then shrugged. “I guess a photo’ll have to do. A promise’s a promise, after all.”

Yang roared, her Semblance flaring to life and her lilac eyes turning red. “OKAY, THAT’S IT!”

“Why yes, Yang, that is it!” Jaune smiled. He pointed a finger gun to her, then to the sky above.

“Let’s get this party over with!”

 Before Yang could take a single step to wipe that smug grin off the blond ass’s face, a rocketing blur collided with her. All she’d registered was red, and of the sensation of being picked up and dropped somewhere by a semblance was familiar.

The next thing she knew, she was careening toward a very angry grimm bird.

Wind whistling in her ears and whipping up golden hair, Yang’s reddened eyes twitched.

“Well guess what, birdy-”

Nimbly, huntress instinct twisted her mid-air, maneuvering control at high speeds. Ember Celica came down in dynamic barks to readjust her trajectory until she faced the deadly bird head on. It screeched in challenge and accelerated its dive for her, beak parting to swallow her whole.

“-I DON’T LIKE YOU TOO!”

With a shotgun round, Yang dodged upward, going above the open mouth in the last second. Now above it, her hair blazed a golden halo that shadowed burning crimson orbs glaring balefully at the grimm.

“EAT THIS, JAUNE!”

With a yell full of rage, Yang slammed a brutal fist down at the back of the Nevermore’s head. A second of silence, then the resulting shockwave boomed in their ears as the massive grimm bird began plummeting from the heavens.

Ruby’s jaw dropped.

Weiss begrudgingly acknowledged the brawler’s strength, and then nodded in approval at sending a massive Nevermore at her mortal nemesis.

The recipient of said Nevermore however, grinned madly. With a twirl, Jaune dodged another pincer, and jumped over its follow up, his moves as fluid and careless as ever while keeping his blue eyes locked on the bird.

“Nora!” he shouted. “Bombs away!”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “How’d he know you use grena-?”

“YOU GOT IT, FEARLESS LEADER!”

Shooting the mad blond a thumbs up, Nora launched herself forward with an explosion. Mid-air, she spun around and transformed her hammer back into a grenade launcher. With great enthusiasm, she launched screaming volleys of grenades rocketing for the distracted Deathstalker.

The massive grimm screamed as each explosion rocked its frame. It whirled from the dust kicked up with a terrible roar, snapping a pincer at the air Nora barely vacated.

While the grimm was distracted, Jaune slipped away to the rest of his friends, who stood armed and ready. “Okay guys, I’ve got a plan.” He jabbed a thumb back, “Just keep that thing distracted while Pyrrha and I finish the rest.”

“And what about the Nevermore?” Blake asked.

His grin widened, and he gained an almost mad gleam in his eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll be killing two birds with one stone.”

Ruby nodded excitedly, but resolutely. “Right.” She turned to her partner. “Weiss, do your glyph thingies and give Yang a landing platform. Blake, help me back them up!”

“What gives you the right to-” Weiss cut off as Ruby and Yang’s black-haired partner began running past her. “Hey!”

Blake barely regarded her as she shot back, “Get going, Schnee! Or is getting baited by a blond all you can do?”

Weiss’ left eye twitched.

Baited? BAITED!?

Her teeth ground together in impotent fury, and she refused to acknowledge her face reddening in anger.

“I’LL SHOW YOU BAITED!”

Pyrrha watched as the furious Schnee stalked off into position. Honestly, with how easy Weiss was to rile up, she briefly worried about the girl holding a grudge later on for the lack of control. Still, she was cooperative enough and aside from the momentary annoyance, she was serious when the situation warranted it.

“Ahem.”

Pyrrha breathed in, deeply, savoring the sensation of air filling her lungs as she turned to her partner. He stood with both hands on his hips and the brightest grin imaginable. Despite his lackadaisical attitude, it was so honest that she felt her heart stir.

But then the things he put her through as she chased him all the way to the clearing came back, and she mentally dropkicked her heart aside.

At this point, her smile came out twitchy and, maybe just a little peeved. “Yes, Jaune?”

Jaune pointed to the descending Nevermore. “Pyr, I need you to throw me at that.”

He needed her to throw him at… “What?”

Blue orbs blinked - a curious expression forming. He repeated slowly, “I said, I need you to-”

“I know what you said!” Pyrrha quickly waved him off. She did not need to hear him trying to explain it like one would to a child. “It’s just - what kind of plan is that? What are you gonna do?”

“Trust me, Pyrrha.” She resisted the urge to twitch at that. “I’ve got it all under control.”

Breathing in again, she levelled him a deadpan stare. Even then, Polarity flared to life as it explored the metal of Jaune’s chestplate.

She sighed, “Alright then.”

Jaune smiled like a child at a candy store and bunched his legs down, tensing his knees in preparation. Her lip upturned slightly, and she hid it in the action of getting into her own javelin throwing stance.

“Get ready.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be!”

On that signal, Pyrrha’s form crunched, before exploding into a mighty throw.

Jaune, in Polarity’s grasp, was flung into the sky on a crash-course for the grimm bird.

The Nevermore howled in hungry victory as its prey came closer than ever.

Jaune grinned, a truly devil-may-care expression, as he approached what would have been certain doom had he been any less skilled. As it was, as soon as it got close and it parted its maw wide open for the kill, Jaune twisted midair and caught the outside of its mouth with a hand.

He let his velocity pull him back, and yanked only on the feathers for grip once he was behind its head. With a grunt, he pulled the rest of his body down until both legs sat squat on either side of the Nevermore’s head.

The grimm’s crimson eyes widened in rage.

Pyrrha felt her jaw lowering in disbelief. “H-He’s… riding it?”

“That buffoon is going to get himself killed!” Weiss screamed off from the side. “Which is why I’m encouraging him to continue. Go Arc! Keep at it and we’ll soon be rid of you!”

Jaune merely cackled like a madman, bunching feathers in both hands like the reins of a horse and yanking the head in a different direction. “Not today, Ice Queen!”

Weiss growled loudly. How. How could it be possible for a single man to be so unbelievably infuriating. Even in the midst of a literal ride of death, he spared no opportunity to call her names. Jaune Arc’s affability was nothing short of an anomaly that needed to be studied - that, she was certain.

Nevertheless, as the blond dunce had his joyride, she set her icy sights on a different blonde jokester currently falling through the air.

“You better be grateful for this,” she muttered lowly.

As Yang fell, a blue glyph whirled to life below her, forming fully in time to catch the girl and break her fall safely with the aid of a little gravity dust.

“Woah!” Yang steadied herself and balanced with both arms out. “Thanks for the save, Weiss-cream!”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”

On the other side of things, Ruby and Blake both wove above and below the deathstalker. Their faster speed allowed them to cut in with their bladed weapons and retreat before the massive beast could fully react in time. The deathstalker roared in both hatred and agony, as whenever it wasn’t speedsters harassing it, it was the wily ninja and the mad bomber who beset it with explosions.

For the first time in the fight, Nora’s wild smile gritted in frustration. “Bombs aren’t getting through its armor!”

“Neither are our blades!” Ruby hollered. “That bone armor is too thick for our weapons to slice through. What we’ll need is a pinpoint strike with tons of force.”

“Which is what I assume Jaune is setting up,” Blake noted, sparing a side-eye to the Nevermore...

Amber eyes blinked in astonishment, and she bodily turned and gaped as Jaune Arc performed a barrel roll and a flip. He wasn’t just riding it - he was piloting the damned grimm like he was a bullhead stunt pilot. What the heck?

Her initial impressions of the blond only seemed to be growing weirder as time went on. What she assumed was a lackadaisical and quirky individual, with a penchant for mischief, was very quickly turning into a full-blown madman. Because who in their right mind willingly threw themselves at a massive Nevermore, just to perform stunts with it?

Well, she found her answer today.

Nora’s grenades kicked up another cloud of dust around the deathstalker, obstructing it from view. It spun around, sweeping gusts of muddled air away in search for the annoyances.

As it did, a shape broke out. Ren ducked under the massive tail and regrouped with the rest of them.

“We’re not doing enough damage,” he noted, with a drawn-out exhale. He panted for a second as he composed himself, dark hair gleaming faintly with sweat. “Is Jaune getting his end ready?”

“Yes,” Blake nodded, with a cringe. “For a lack of better words.”

Pink orbs glanced up and immediately, Ren’s brows furrowed. “He’s… He seems to be having a joyride.”

Ruby stared with stars in her eyes. “Jaune’s so cool…” she whispered.

“He’s clinically insane, is what,” butted Weiss. She stared indignantly for all of a second before making her way toward the deathstalker, her rapier’s revolving chamber glowing faintly with activated power. “And get out of my way.”

Ruby yelped and hopped away from the heiress’ path before the white-haired girl could plow her down. Weiss stopped a pace away and looked to where the deathstalker finally sensed them and began its charge again.

Weiss’ face wrinkled in disgust, and with a pirouette, a glyph spun under her feet, shining with a cool blue glow. Her icy eyes stayed locked on the charging beast of death with cold contempt. Before the grimm could get close, her rapier came down, slamming into the glyph, where ice burst forth in a crystalline construct that snaked toward the deathstalker.

It raced the distance, and froze over the deathstalker’s legs and pincer, hindering it from moving.

As it twitched, olden muscles straining to push through hard ice, Weiss and the rest of the gathered students set their gaze upwards, as an altogether different beast’s roars echoed ever closer.

Jaune tugged on a bunch of feathers again, grinning madly past the whipping wind as the nevermore corrected course toward their destination-slash-target. The grimm below him bucked for control but he stamped that down with a meaty slap to the noggin.

“Hey!” he shouted. To the grimm, more than anybody that could hear him. “I’m the captain of this ship! And it looks like…”

Down below, murmurs broke at the impending sensation of doom that began to wash over them. Eyes stared as the massive nevermore accelerated, screaming in fury all the while. For a reason made clearer as the seconds went by, they tensed in anticipation.

“Um,” Blake swallowed. She turned to a tall, gaping redhead, emerald eyes failing to shine with comprehension, “he’s your partner, right?”

Absentmindedly, Pyrrha nodded.

“Is he insane?”

Dumbly, a hand came up to correct her facial expression; working her jaw back into place. Goodness knows what the sponsors would think if they saw her. But Pyrrha felt like she’d rather be dealing with the annoyances of fame than trying to understand what her partner’s strategy was.

“You know what.” She rubbed her chin. “That is a good question.”

Blake gulped again at the implications of that, while Weiss tutted wordlessly with an eyeroll, as if the conclusion was as clear as day for her.

Though considering every single one of Weiss’ interactions with Jaune for the past day, it wasn’t like that was any question.

“He’s approaching,” Ren intoned tensely, snapping them all back to attention.

“...LAND HO!”

The collective teenagers ducked as Jaune descended the massive nevermore at speed. A figure jumped off at the last second - presumably the Arc himself - while the giant enemy bird crashed into the struggling deathstalker beak first.

A roar so wrong and loud tore through the air. It forced them all to cover their ears as they winced at the volume. At the velocity the nevermore travelled, it pierced the deathstalker’s armor like butter, and obliterated the ice that held it captive. It ripped past the icy shackles, and the speed forced the massive bodies to skid through the ground. They tore up gouts of grass and soil as they rolled through the ground, stopping only after shattering the trees leading into the forest.

But where was Jaune now!? Gosh darnit! Though her partner was exceptionally - exceptionally - quirky, Pyrrha still found herself worrying for his safety in the wake of things. Her eyes scanned the air, searching for him.

There! He freefell casually. Easily. Jaune paid more attention to the grimm with a satisfied smile more than he did breaking his fall.

“Now, Weiss!” He pointed to a figure crouched with tensed muscles. “Release the Yang!”

Below, the Schnee heiress gritted her teeth at the perceived order. Nonetheless, she complied when the glyph under the brawler’s feet began to glow a shimmering pale yellow.

“Heh,” Yang chuckled, shooting Jaune something akin to a grin for the first time since meeting him. “I see what you’re doing. Consider yourself exempt from the Xiao-Long fists of fury this time, Jauney.”

Jaune returned the gesture with a wink and a laugh, watching as the glyph glowed brighter.

The ominous symbols whirled, they glowed brightly under Yang’s feet. With the massive grimm, wounded heavily and immobilized, struggling to get back on their feet lined up like targets, and the whatever-power-thingy Weiss setup, Yang felt like she couldn’t be blamed if her smile turned just a little feral.

Just a little… unhinged.

She felt power flow into her, altering her perception of motion and time. All of a sudden, the world slowed - like the frames of a film slowing down to perceive each and every snapshot in perfect clarity. Dust rose, wind swept her hair, creatures of darkness cried out in bloodthirsty fury…

-she bunched her legs, letting aura coalesce as her semblance burned to life-

…and Yang Xiao-Long felt like she’d been given every birthday at once.

One instant, a girl with hair spun gold sat above a runic circle.

The next instant, a meteor screamed through the distance between the glyph and the elder grimm.

Fist cocked, knuckles clenched like stone brimming with burningragepower. Yang had only a single instant to savor the euphoria of feeling as she braced herself for impact.

“FUCK YEAAAAAHHH!”

One instant, two powerful, albeit heavily injured grimm struggled for purchase on any surface, willing themselves out of their compromising disadvantage and tearing at the bit to decimate their attackers.

The next instant, their forms blurred into indistinct black, as a glorious boom of gold annihilated everything around them.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

It was a deafening roar. It was a tectonic explosion. It was a magnificent, terrifying, spectacle transcending all human expectation.

It was beautiful.

Storm-gale winds whipped the surrounding area. It buffeted the grounds, the trees, the students. Chunks of debris flew by in large, deadly weights, enough to crush whatever stood in its way as the shockwave threw it all about.

Nearby trees shattered instantly, and those that didn’t were torn from their roots and flung up into the air.

The crescendo of the explosion reached such a height that it rang a shrieking frequency in their ears. Pyrrha hunkered down under a small outcrop of rock and soil, form tucked tight, clamping her ears shut lest her eardrums explode. Chunks of soil and rock flew by at speed overhead, followed by gusts of dirty smoke tearing through the air. Beside her, she caught the forms of the other students, curled in fetal positions and arms up to protect their ears, like her.

The tremors shook the ground, like a thousand goliaths stomping down on the earth in unison. She could feel it, deep down in her bones - the pure and raw trembling of the world as its foundations were tested.

What in reality was a couple seconds felt like hours to the students near the blast zone. Pyrrha wondered if the headmaster and the rest of the teachers were seeing this. She wondered what they’d say. Would they shudder as the raw power of the next batch of students unfolded before their eyes in a magnificent display, or would they scream in agony at the upcoming repair costs for every bit of the clearing that was just blown up?

It was probably both. No, definitely both.

Soon, it all came to an end. The bright glow of the initial explosion died down like embers, and the whistling winds slowed in their fury. The ringing in her ears persisted, and she expected it would last for a little while longer. She waited a few seconds, not trusting the environment to be entirely safe just yet. Small pieces of rubble continued to fall and flutter, and they all waited until the tinkling of falling rock perished to silence in the former clearing.

Quiet. Stillness.

Not entirely, as motes of dirty brown and black hovered through the smog that lingered. Pyrrha peeked her head out from their ruined outcropped and her eyes widened immediately.

Destruction. Total and utterly. What used to be a spanning green dotted by grass, trees, and the ruins where they’d collected the relics was now a massive, bowl-shaped hole. It was a scar on the world that ripped massive gouts multiple feet downwards. Even now, unstable rocks fell with airtime as they dropped from the edges of the gaping mouth.

Not even the black motes of the elder grimm remained. Grimm bodies dissolved on death, but they still had a visible and tangible volume to them. What did it say about the power used to annihilate them when not even that survived the explosion?

As Pyrrha took in the sheer scale of the destruction, she heard before she saw her partner step up. He planted a foot on a mound of dirt and whistled. “Wow. Ten-out-of-ten explosion in my books. Honestly, why haven’t we ever tried this before?”

She felt she ought to raise an eyebrow at the wording, but she was too busy gaping at the clearing they’ve just laid to waste in utter travesty. She shuddered inwardly. If it ever got out that she was involved in this…

Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t contributed much to either fight. Nor had she had a hand in planning any of this. Pyrrha would grapple on to plausible deniability and wring it like a lifeline.

Beside Jaune, Ruby flopped over and groaned, cradling her skull. “Owie. If I didn’t have aura, I’d be having more than just a pain in the head.” She shook her head lightly, wincing at the pain but powering through to peer into the crater. “Where’s Yang?”

Startled, Pyrrha searched down the dirt-laden pit as well. The other gathered students joined and soon they were a whole cabal of eyes scanning past smoke and debris for their missing member.

Eventually, Blake pointed to a figure breaking the smog. “There - something’s moving.”

Everyone followed her finger, to a blur of black pushing past smoke. With bated breath, they observed the moving body, until finally, it broke through.

“Yang!” Ruby hollered.

Blake cupped her mouth with both hands. “Yang, are you okay?”

Ren hummed. “She’s alive and walking. Thank goodness.”

“That was awesome!” Nora whooped.

“Good job, Yang!” Jaune shot the blonde a thumbs up. “You did great!”

“Oh… shut yer’ trap…”

It was then that they realized Yang’s entire posture.

Weiss’ brows furrowed. “Looks like that explosion took more out of her than she thought.”

Yang Xiao-Long stood shakily, crookedly leaning on a leg for support and propping an arm down on a knee. Her clothes, a previous medley of brown and oranges, singed and frayed at multiple edges. Her yellow mane of hair blackened at a few ends. Sweat clung to her in a sheen, and looking closer, her gaze felt a little unfocused.

A wiggly grin sprouted on her face. “Hey! What’re you guys lookin’at…? I”-she wobbled-”had a blast…!” She pumped one arm and twitched. “Hah!”

Lilac eyes rolled up, and the girl toppled backwards. She fell in a thump and kicked additional dust up.

The gathered students gaped. At the fainting girl now snoring, the destruction, the entire day, Pyrrha wasn’t sure.

All she knew was that she felt the undeniable urge to smack her partner up the head for absentmindedly humming.

“Huh… Y’know, there’s a quip somewhere about this. I just can’t remember what exactly- Ow!”

Jaune rubbed the backside of his head, shooting her and her raised palm a wary glance.

She couldn’t resist it.

Initiation was a cinch after that.

Nevermind that Ozpin had, once upon a time, insisted that the main objective was to retrieve ‘relics’. That explosion had also worked as a warning to other Grimm, as if saying ‘get the hell off my property!’. And like good punks, the monsters knew better than to mess with an irritated veteran with a gun in his hands.

Well. It was more like a Scroll for Jaune, but the sentiment was the same.

He did a little magic trick (heh), a little sleight of hand, and voila, he had those relics in his hands. They hadn’t even taken a step after Blake reminded them of all that, and yet Jaune had already begun eagerly handing them over to all of them, with the same order as best as he remembered.

The cat Faunus couldn’t help but wonder, just how had he done it all? She had seen him hunker down with them. And if she hadn’t been keeping an eye on him, than she was sure as hell that Pyrrha would’ve!

And oooooooh, the look that the champion was sending her partner.

Jaune grinned at Pyrrha’s irritated stare. She snatched her relic off Jaune’s hands, and it only caused him to laugh even more in turn. Of course, he hadn’t been the one to get them. Future Ruby had, but nobody needed to know that.

Aw, seeing her pout like this was so cute!

They marched back to Beacon proper quite easily, then. With no Grimm, no other Huntsmen-in-Training team willing to even entertain the thought of accosting them, they were practically taking a leisurely stroll. The only problem was carrying Yang back, and, well, Ruby seemed to be giddy enough from the excitement to not be weighed down too much by her sister’s…well, weight.

And through it all, time had seemed to be a blur for Weiss. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of everyone in Beacon, to be assigned to her Team for the next four years. Of course, beside her was her partner, Ruby Rose. She was still quite giddy, bouncing from place to place with little sparkles in her eyes.

To her left was Blake Belladonna. The mysterious girl who had piercing eyes but hadn’t said much throughout this whole ordeal. It was just a bit harder for Weiss to pin down her personality, but as long as she was skilled, fell in line, and respected others - which she had seen, at least, during Initiation - then she couldn’t be too bad. Case in point, the exasperated look the ninja sent her way when Yang snored against her shoulder.

Yang Xiao-Long… who was leaning heavily against her partner; the source of her new Team’s infamy, out like a light for their induction ceremony! She was just so- so wild, and that strength had been totally uncalled for! While yes she had helped it, she certainly hadn’t wanted her Team to be stamped with a reputation of chaos-inducing delinquents before they were even named!

Yang snored again. “Nighty-nighty, Weissy…”

Weiss’ eyebrow twitched. The puns certainly didn’t help either! Oh, what was she going to do with her Team-!

Ozpin spoke. “Congratulations, Team RWBY… Led by Ruby Rose!”

Weiss paused as Ruby squealed. The noise woke Yang up, who was then swiftly hugged by her sister as Blake clapped politely in the background.

Meanwhile, Weiss’ world shattered.

…What?

No no nonono! This couldn’t be happening! She was supposed to be Team Leader, her! Weiss Schnee! She had been looking forward to this, the one light at the end of the Hellish Initiation tunnel! Now, even that was taken from her!

She replayed the initiation back in her mind as her Team got off the stage, herself practically dragged off by her ecstatic partner. While yes, Ruby had shown a somewhat acceptable degree of leadership during the Deathstalker-Nevermore fiasco, it was nothing that Weiss couldn’t figure out herself! In fact, if she had had her way, then they would’ve used a method that was much more discreet than- than a literal ten tonne Dust Bomb! She would’ve- she would’ve-!

A realization hit Weiss as the next Team got on stage. She never got the chance to show what she would’ve done, and as such the Headmaster didn’t know her own capabilities… all because of him. The man on the stage and his own team.

Jaune-fucking-Arc.

Ruby waved a hand in front of her seemingly catatonically frozen partner. “Weiss? Are you listening? We’ll head to our dorms after this! Weeeeeiiiiissssss!”

She only got a mere nod in return. Ah, whatever, at least she got to be Team Leader! That was awesome, almost as awesome as just how cool all of Initiation was! And if the rest of her time in Beacon was this- this awesome, then she couldn’t wait!

Case in point was her BFF, standing over there at the stage with his team. He had a big smile on his face, and he gave her a thumbs up. Ruby returned the gesture eagerly. She didn’t notice the way Weiss seemed to twitch at that too… too absorbed in her friendship with Jaune.

Weiss tried to calm herself. Despite it all, Jaune Arc did eliminate those Grimm. He was competent, infuriatingly so, but she just hoped that Ozpin would feel the same way as her. That he was a skilled fighter but lacked common sense. That he deserved his spot in Beacon, but not as a Leader.

Yes, yes. Ozpin would side with her, it was the only thing Weiss could count on. She was sure that Pyrrha would be made so, and then she’d be able to work together with the champion to steer their two teams to the right path. They could curb their dolt partners’ influences, this was the only thing Weiss had left! Pyrrha would listen, she would,  and-!

“Team JNPR… Lead by Jaune Arc!” Ozpin declared.

“Aw yeah!” Jaune pumped a fist to the air. Nora laughed and hugged her ‘Fearless Leader’ as she called him, while Ren gave him a pat on the shoulder. Jaune returned those with smiles before then turning to his partner, who had a polite smile on her face. Her trademark, I’m-doing-this-because-I-have-to-not-because-I-want-to smile.

Jaune raised a fist to her direction. He knew that he quite got on her nerves, but despite it all, he did want to have a genuine partnership with her. It was one of the main reasons he went back here, went back to her.

And so, he did this all with a shy smile.

Genuine.

Pyrrha looked away with a humph, her smile disappearing as she crossed her arms. But then she untangled one of them, and met Jaune’s fist with her own. She purposefully killed the blush that would’ve crept up her cheeks and suppressed the rush that her heart felt.

However, Jaune’s smile that turned even more blinding made it harder than she initially thought. Nora didn’t help either, laughing aloud and enveloping them all in a, well-

“JNPR GROUP HUUUUGGG!”

Pyrrha’s eyes finally closed in delight, even as she was closed off in all directions. Her expression of joy was echoed by her teammates, though Ren’s face was growing increasingly blue.

“Nora… can’t breathe! Nora! Nora!”

The rest of the crowd clapped in polite applause. Weiss could barely even manage that. Her plan had shattered once more. It seemed that despite the champion’s reservations, she did still genuinely enjoy the company of her Team, of Arc.

Ruby waved her hand in front of Weiss’ face once more. “Uh… buddy? You okay there-?”

Weiss crumpled to the ground and sobbed.

No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!