Chapter 4: Getting the Yang of it (Patreon)

Jaune stood at the bullhead pad watching the silver ship flying through the sky like a great bird, coasting closer and closer to Beacon through a pale blue sky.

He idly adjusted his black buttoned shirt, leaving several open at the top, his sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms, pale white jeans tucked into the brown boots that he had gotten in Haven. The rest of the clothes were purchased at the mercy of Professor Peach because he still was figuring out Lien, and he hadn’t been able to say no when the Professor had asked him at breakfast the other day.

He had been told the other students would be arriving today, and he found himself curious what they would be like.

That part was mostly driven by the horrific fact that Glynda had informed him he would be partnered with three of them and living with them.

In the past week of his existence, Jaune had grown used to being by himself. He even found he preferred it.

Since he was by himself, he had been able to take as many excursions into the Forest as he wanted and, at one point, had actually spent a full 48 hours there when Glynda had gotten too busy to teach him.

No sleeping, no eating.

Embraced in the thing he was starting to realize made his somewhat colorless existence warm.

A solemn truth.

Numbers go up.

You Have Leveled Up!

Class: Knight

Strength: 28->30

Dexterity: 17->18

Intelligence: 17->18

Vigor: 26->28

Soul: 48->52

You Have Leveled Up!

Class: Knight

Strength: 30->32

Dexterity: 18->19

Intelligence: 18->19

Vigor: 28->30

Soul: 52->56

As the numbers had gone up, he felt himself getting stronger and stronger, and he had realized it wasn’t linear quickly after he had channeled what he thought was a normal amount of Aura to his arm only to put his fist through the next Grimm without even trying.

Grimm blood apparently did not really taste like anything.

32 Strength meant he could lift a fallen tree one-handed without the assistance of aura. With aura and especially considering his soul stat, he had shattered a boulder with a negligent, frustrated punch.

His skills were the scary part.

Hunter Sword Arts: Level 55/100

Hunter Shield Arts: Level 40/100

Hunter Aura Arts: Level 60/100

He was good, far too good. It now made sense when he fought. Like he was rediscovering things; even though those were his skills, it wasn’t quite right. He still had to relearn them with his mind.

His Aura control was far more refined, and he could feel the new movements being added to his head.

A part of him was nervous about how he would compare to the incoming Hunters, though. He'd had his current existence for the better part of two weeks, but he was told most Huntresses and Hunters trained for most of their lives.

What had happened to him up to this point in his life was still a mystery.

And he didn’t even want to think about the schoolwork. While that was apparently also a skill, he didn’t like it much, and even with the promise of an increase, it was a poor benefit for studying.

The ship coasted down to land on the platform, and a ramp extended, and Hunters and Huntresses, though mostly Huntresses, exited the ship.

He did spot the occasional Hunter, including a tall orange-headed boy who had a scowl seemingly permanently sewed onto his face that made him look oddly like how Jaune had felt when he swallowed the Grimm blood.

Something warm stirred in him, and he realized he had smiled in something he recognized as amusement.

The orange-haired boy didn’t see him, and he continued walking toward the auditorium that they were all supposed to be in, though Jaune caught how his sneer deepened as it landed on the students Jaune recognized as Faunus.

There was a brown-haired girl with bunny ears talking to another brown-haired girl with dark aviators and a green beret off to the side, as well. Jaune noted he had seen them exit the bullhead, though they didn’t seem to be following the other students.

The girl with the beret seemed to have more confidence in her posture than any of the students that Jaune saw, and after a moment of curiosity, he flexed his aura to his ears.

“-telling you, Velvet, this is your year! Take a good look at these First Years; they have no idea what’s going on, and they actually have men! Just pick one, and we’ll make it happen-“

Jaune let the aura fade away, returning stoically to people watching. He hadn’t wanted to hear that. He really hadn’t wanted to hear that.

Oh, that black-haired girl with fascinating crimson streaks in her hair, dressed in a dark black gothic outfit and skirt, had tripped over a white-haired girl’s, who was sort of a reverse mirror image of her, equally white suitcase, and some vials had spilled out.

That must be the dust thing Professor Goodwitch had talked about.

Jaune smiled to himself, proud he had figured it out from context.

Oh, now the white-haired girl was yelling at the black-haired girl.

Jaune’s eyes widened as he realized he did recognize the black-haired girl, that whole thing with the Roman Torchwick guy.

He didn’t actually know her name now that he thought about it.

Was that bad? They had fought together.

His sixth sense was nagging slightly at him as the white-haired girl gesticulated in an amusing manner, holding a vial of the dust.

Something dangerous was occurring, but for the life of him he didn’t know what.

Should he interfere?

Professor Peach had said that it was impolite to interrupt people, but wasn’t that kind of-

Kaboom!

The air around them erupted in fire, cracking against the force of the explosion.

Well, he guessed that answered that question.

The smoke slowly cleared, revealing the black-haired girl lying on the ground and the white-haired girl, who was covered in soot, now standing with an empty vial. The white-haired girl looked astonished before growling, stomping her foot, and storming off with her suitcases.

He noted that another black-haired girl, though she didn’t have red in her hair and instead had a bow on her head, was watching the ongoing proceedings, a small expression of disdain curved on her face.

Jaune watched her seemingly war with herself as she glanced at the collapsed form of the other black-haired girl.

He really needed to find new descriptors for people; his eyes flickered down on each of them before he returned to their faces.

No. That was far too dangerous.

She visibly hesitated before she then walked away slowly.

And now the black and red girl was just lying on her back, and the landing pad had seemingly cleared of all the arrivals in surprising efficiency.

Was he… Was he supposed to do something?

Maybe he should have picked ‘One of the People’ instead.

Jaune considered that for a moment before he shook his head. Nah, combat sense was way too cool. Plus it wasn’t like social skills were going to keep him from dying repeatedly. Something he was now sure from his reading was supposed to be permanent.

Still, she really was just lying there, seemingly defeated, and while her arms were covering her eyes, he got the distinct impression she was upset.

Well, it wasn’t like he could make things worse.

Probably.

He found himself standing over the girl at a loss for words, and given she was covering her face, it didn’t seem like she had noticed him.

“Uh, hi again,” he said quietly.

The girl removed her hands and looked at him, and then her cheeks reddened catastrophically, “Oh, Brothers, you’re the guy I attacked!”

Jaune nodded in confirmation, “Yes,” he confirmed, smiling as he realized she did indeed remember him.

“Kill me,” the girl groaned, gripping her cheeks, “Everyone’s already going to hate me.”

“Uh,” Jaune shook his head, “Death is no fun, I promise you,” even for people who it didn’t stick on, and wasn’t that a strange discovery when he figured out what was happening to him wasn’t normal.

The girl groaned again, and Jaune realized he needed to try a different tack.

“Um, so do you want to keep lying here?” he asked curiously.

The girl shot him a silver-eyed glare. “What?” she said blankly.

“It’s just,” he really was no good at this, “The first years are supposed to head to the auditorium.”

The girl shot him a look as if she was asking wordlessly if he was dim.

Which hurt his feelings a bit, but on the other hand, was she wrong?

“I just,” Jaune rubbed his head awkwardly, pushing his blonde hair back from his face, “I think that you should go to the auditorium because I know things aren’t going-“ he searched for the right word, “Great, but you won’t know if things get better if you keep lying here.”

The girl looked befuddled and then, against all odds, she let loose a giggle, “I know I have no room to talk, but you’re kind of an awkward guy-“

She stopped and looked at him expectantly.

Jaune looked back at her expectantly.

She grimaced, “Uh, what’s your name?”

“Jaune Arc, so I’m told,” Jaune smiled pleasantly, or at least he hoped he smiled pleasantly.

The girl sighed, but a small reluctant smile had made its way onto her face, “Ruby Rose, nice to meet you.”

Jaune nodded before frowning, “But didn’t we already meet when you-“

“I thought we were past that!”

-

Ruby Rose was having perhaps the strangest day she could recall in recent memory, and that included the Dust Robbery from several nights ago.

She had been, and still was, nervous about entering Beacon, and the angry white-haired girl had been awful, but the guy from yesterday, Jaune, had shown up again with absolutely no grudge whatsoever.

Like she had tried to stab this guy with Crescent Rose, but he barely seemed to even acknowledge it.

He was also rather quiet, she noted.

She wasn’t sure if it was quiet; she was allowed to break either. He didn’t seem to dislike talking, but he had this quiet air to him like he wouldn’t even know what to say if she did talk to him.

But she had to try; he had come up to her at a bad point, and she couldn’t go back to Yang with minus one friend already because the angry white-haired girl was definitely that, so maybe this would make it neutral.

“Uh, so,” she glanced at his waist, “I like your weapon?” She couldn’t help the trailing-off questioning nature, but it was still a step forward.

Jaune looked at her and smiled warmly. “Thanks,” he replied simply and then went back to leading them down the path.

Wow, that was bad.

“So where’d you go to school?”

“I didn’t,” Jaune replied.

“Oh, so you trained on your own! That’s cool! What Huntsman did you apprentice under?”

Jaune frowned, and Ruby’s heart caught as his eyes seemed lost for a moment, before he shrugged lightly, “I don’t know.”

Ruby’s lips twisted down; this guy really was shutting every conversation topic down, but it was almost like he didn’t know he was doing it and that last thing-

“How do you not know?” Ruby asked.

Jaune smiled at something, then turned to face her as he began to walk with more purpose. “I don’t actually have any memories longer than a week ago,” he said cheerfully, and then they stepped into the auditorium behind a crowd of other students.

“It was nice meeting you,” Jaune said pleasantly and then held out a hand expectantly.

Ruby looked at the hand, back to his face, back to the hand, gently grasped his hand, and then he shook it firmly before walking away.

Ruby watched after him, her brain turning over, attempting to make heads or tails of what she had just been told, what the-

“Ruby!” Yang called out, and her head spun to see the bright blonde smiling form of her sister waving at her cheerfully, and all her irritation and anger surged back into her mind.

“Yang!” she growled out.

She triggered her Semblance and the world blurred for a moment as she came to a stop in front of Yang.

“You abandoned me!”

Yang grinned unrepentant, “I gave you a sisterly nudge!”

“I exploded!”

“Melt down already? Yikes.”

“And there was this really weird guy, I mean he was nice but-“

“Oh, brothers, you talked to a guy? Point him out to me, I want to see him,” Yang looked around her, face caught between excitement and anger, “Please don’t tell me he’s cute, I won’t know whether to hug or strangle you.”

Ruby was going to stand on business; she really was. Yang had scared enough of her friends away, and though yes, it was strange- it was a guy at a school for Huntresses- she didn’t even have the moment to do so.

“You!” The angry white-haired girl was back!

“Hold it,” Yang raised a palm, and despite all indications that Ruby had of her personality, she blinked wide blue eyes in confusion.

A long moment of silence passed before the white-haired girl blinked and then became even more furious, “I will not hold it! She caused us to explode!”

Yang shook her head, bewildered, looking at Ruby, “Wait, you’re kidding that wasn’t a metaphor?”

Then Yang pumped a fist into the sky, “My baby sister rocks,” she grinned victoriously.

Ruby groaned, burying her face in her arms in absolute despair.

Weiss’ mouth fell open, and she glanced to Ruby in a strange moment of horrified empathy that was far too personal for Ruby to understand.

“Look,” Yang raised her hands into the air like she was going to make anything better, “Ruby is the best at what she does, which usually involves explosions. From that perspective, you should be grateful for an up-close demonstration.”

“Explosions?” echoed a nearby red-headed girl looking around widely while the calm-looking girl with long black hair tied in a braid, a blade hanging at the end of it, looked vaguely concerned.

Ruby felt her sanity slipping even further, until a sudden, familiar masculine voice drew their attention. “I think Glynda wants to begin,” he said.

The three girls stared at Jaune, who had appeared through the crowd with a small, sheepish smile on his face, nonplussed.

“Who’s Glynda?” Yang asked, smiling winningly in a Yang way at Ruby’s new friend, causing her stomach to twist slightly.

Jaune frowned, then pointed at the stage, and Ruby, Weiss, and Yang turned to see a stern, platinum-haired woman staring at them coolly, emerald eyes hidden only partially by glasses that, for now, held something cool.

“If everyone is ready to begin?” she asked, her voice frigid in the now-silent room. Ruby realized she must have been attempting to create said silence for at least the last minute.

Jaune grimaced, “Sorry, I was trying to get your attention,” he admitted.

Ruby felt herself shrink down even further.

Glynda merely raised an eyebrow, then continued, “As I was reminding the students my name is Professor Goodwitch,” there was a certain resigned pointedness to her cool words which made it even stranger because certainly she was going to call out a student who had called her by her first name, “now Headmistress Ozma will say a few words.”

Or she wasn’t?

A white-haired woman in a green pantsuit stepped forward, resting her hands behind her back,

“We stand here today, and I remark only that we stand here amidst the achievements of Huntresses and Hunters who have gone through Beacon. We do not exist without them. You may have seen the statue outside of Aurelius and Hadrian Arc; we keep it in memory of those brave enough to push beyond the limits of their souls. I will ask you to think of them when times are dark, to show you what Heroes still can be.”

Ozma looked at them for a moment before a small smile curved up her face, and then she walked away.

Glynda took the stage again, “You may store your gear in your assigned locker; your luggage is being held next to the ballroom if you need it. Dinner will begin to be served at 5:00 pm.”

She looked down, her eyes focusing on something in the crowd before they flickered away. “That is all.”

Jaune pushed his hair back, seemingly in thought. “Well, that’s a bit grim, isn’t it?” he mumbled quietly, almost to himself, in a way that reminded Ruby of herself.

Yang’s neck whiplashed as she looked back at Jaune. “Was that a pun?” she asked cautiously, and suddenly her hands were on Ruby’s shoulders almost protectively, but who was protecting whom Ruby had no idea.

Jaune looked at Yang, cocked his head to the side, and frowned, looking confused, before his eyes widened. “Oh yeah,” he grinned, shaking his head with a smile, “I guess it was.”

Ruby’s cheeks colored slightly against her own will, the smile sending something warmer than she knew what to do with through her.

Yang looked surprised before a small, almost unwilling smile crossed her face, and she smoothed it to her typical grin as she stood up, though her hands were gripping far too tightly onto Ruby’s shoulders.

Students were beginning to filter out of the hall, and Jaune turned away without another word, following them.

-

How did one make friends? Or at least people that wouldn’t hate you?

An arm came from nowhere, wrapping around Jaune’s neck, and he turned to see the tall red-headed boy from earlier.

“Holy shit dude, you ripped into those bitches,” he chuckled.

Something instantly set off in Jaune’s mind. “Don’t use that word,” he said shortly, “They were fine; they just didn’t realize Glynda wanted to talk.”

“Dude,” the red-headed boy looked befuddled. Before groaning, “Don’t tell me you’re one of those poor guys who think that woman gives a fuck about us beyond our ability to give them a kid.”

Jaune couldn’t help but roll his eyes; it wasn’t like he knew much, but that viewpoint was pretty extreme considering what he had seen so far. He sincerely doubted all women saw men like that.

He guessed a couple could, but the vast majority?

“I’m Cardin, by the way,” the boy grunted. “I became a Hunter to show other men we don’t have to hide in fear, letting ourselves be governed and dominated by women.”

Jaune stopped, looking at Cardin, unable to keep the interest out of his tone. “Really? I thought it was because if too many of us died against the Grimm, the Humans and the Faunus would go extinct.”

Cardin blinked and coughed, and then shook his head, “They may use that as an argument, but you can’t truly believe-“

Jaune frowned; Glynda had told him the facts as she understood them. While he could only assume she also had a bias, it didn’t seem at least as virulent as Cardin's. It wasn’t quite that he wouldn’t believe Cardin, but his own evidence didn’t necessarily align with Cardin’s viewpoint either.

Cardin hadn’t continued, seemingly stuck there, confused. “You really believe that?” he shook his head.

“You’re such a fucking simp,” Cardin then began storming off, but he had to walk faster so it looked a little ridiculous because Jaune was still walking at his normal pace toward the cafeteria.

Jaune didn’t bother to slow down; what a weird guy.

Walking into the cafeteria, Jaune blinked as he remembered his goal had been to eat with Ruby as a potential first friend. Well, attempt to make a friend. The books he was reading made the process sound truly extraordinary.

So he was beginning to suspect that people didn’t actually make friends by monologuing at each other after battling to the edge of death.

But at least if you didn’t like the dialogues about hope and friendship, then the art was decent too.

But he had just kind of walked here, and while he supposed he liked eating, he didn’t particularly want to do it by himself; something about it seemed kind of sad, especially when he didn’t really need to eat.

But he had at least managed the handshake he had read about, so he was pretty confident he had nailed it.

But he still needed to kill time, and Headmistress Ozma had told him he probably shouldn’t go down to the Forest the night before initiation.

So he guessed it was back to reading even though he was pretty sure the chances of him actually getting within a hundred years of the present were out of the question tonight.

History: Level 4

History: Level 5

History: Level 6

Jaune looked to the window to see that it had faded into early morning again and stretched his body out for a moment, sitting quietly in his library corner within the confines of the large fluffy green beanbag chair he had procured for himself.

Stretching for a moment, he went to put his book back and then got ready for the day, showering and then immediately going to the locker rooms, though it wasn’t like he needed to, considering he kept Crocea Mors at his hip nigh constantly.

It was also why he didn’t interfere as he saw a tall red-headed girl with a soft but sort of placid smile on her face standing in front of his locker with her arms crossed, listening to the white-haired girl from yesterday.

He made a note to himself that he needed to start listening for people’s names because he wasn’t sure how long he could keep identifying people by hair color, and the other traits about them seemed to be, mayhap, a bit rude to focus on.

He almost made it past them before the white-haired girl’s eyes landed on him and her scowl flushed through her face, “And you! What possessed you to call a Professor by their first name?”

Jaune blinked, looking at the white-haired girl, and then double-checked she was talking to him by glancing behind him.

“Who else would I be talking to?” the girl sighed, raising an eyebrow at him.

Jaune shrugged, kind of hoping the conversation would end. He had discovered that people rarely tried to talk to him for long if he didn’t talk back.

Sometimes, like with Ruby, it was because he didn’t have anything to say, but he couldn’t deny this was kind of amusing.

This girl was gorgeous, like freshly fallen snow, though now that he thought about it he couldn’t ever remember actually seeing freshly fallen snow. She was also rather small, Jaune realized; he towered above her.

They were both still staring at him, so it looked like the first part of his plan was a bust.

“I met Glynda a while ago,” Jaune said, “I didn’t really mean to call her by her first name; it just kind of slipped out.”

After he admitted his honest mistake, the girl didn't seem soothed.

“What even?” the white-haired girl shook her head, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Jaune began to slowly edge away. “If that’s all,” he smiled pleasantly and began to walk away.

“Wait!” the girl exclaimed, and Jaune paused. Given that he was facing away, he allowed himself to roll his eyes before he turned back to her. He didn’t want to be rude, but he hadn’t killed a Grimm in about twelve hours, and he was a bit anxious to get back into it.

“We really should be going out to the cliff,” Jaune said, turning around.

The girl hesitated, shaking her head, looking completely befuddled. “I just- that’s it.”

Was he missing something?

Professor Peach had mentioned something about introductions with people you didn’t know.

Was that what he should have done?

But they hadn’t introduced themselves either.

His hand rested on Crocea Mors, and he felt a flush of warmth go through his arm. “Is there something else I can do for you, Miss-“

He raised an eyebrow like Glynda had when a student had come up to her attempting to ask a question.

The girl blinked, “Schnee. Weiss Schnee,” she said the words slowly, as if attempting to make sure he understood them.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Schnee,” Jaune warred with himself over whether to offer a hand for a handshake, but perhaps this wasn’t the right time.

Still, given he was apparently introducing himself, he should probably do it for the red-headed girl as well.

He smiled pleasantly at her, and he saw the redhead’s own smile become more fixed. “And you, Miss?”

The redhead blinked, looked at him, then Weiss for some reason, then back to him, “Uh, Pyrrha Nikos,” she said.

“Miss Nikos then,” Jaune said, congratulating himself internally for having worked out this current social construct.

It made sense: an honorific for people you didn’t know and then their first name if you did know them was his going theory.

“So is there something I can do for either of you, Miss Nikos, Miss Schnee?” he asked, keeping his pleasant smile on his face.

Both girls continued to look at him, their faces caught in strange expressions; Weiss looked bewildered, and Pyrrha looked almost giddy.

Weiss finally shook her head, “No, thank you-“ whatever else she would have said was interrupted by a chiming bell throughout the locker room.

Jaune dipped his head, “We really should go.” he then turned and made his way out of the locker room to the cliff edge, choosing one of the platforms being steadily filled by students.

As he surveyed the platform, he noted eyes were on him again, though most of the Hunters and Huntresses to be, it seemed, were finally focusing up.

Ozma stood at the edge of the cliff with her hands behind her back, her short white hair fluttering in the breeze, and when she spoke, she did not raise her voice.

"You have been told you will be assessed today. That is true. It is not, however, the part of today that will matter to you in ten years."

She looked down the line of platforms.

"There has likely already been much talk of who your partners will be. It is imperative that you pick someone you believe you can work with for the next four years and hopefully beyond. That being said, the first person whose eyes meet yours after you land will be your partner.”

Jaune saw Ruby pale down the line, even as a low murmur went through the assembled students.

“Today your objective is to retrieve a relic from within the forest and return. Do not hesitate to kill any Grimm that get in your way.”

Ozma's eyes moved along the platforms, paused somewhere in the middle of the line close to Ruby, and then moved on.

"Take your positions."

Glynda stepped forward. "You will land in the Emerald Forest. There is an abandoned temple at the northern end of the valley; inside it you will find a number of relics. Each pairing will take one and return to this cliff."

Well, it all seemed rather self-explanatory, Jaune thought as he idly toed the platform beneath his boot, feeling the small amount of pushback it gave.

There was some kind of spring in-

His platform triggered, and he was sent flying into the sky.

As Jaune tumbled through the air, he idly thought he would have liked a bit more notice than he was given.

Righting himself with a moment of focus, he braced his legs even as his entire body flared with golden light.

He imagined he looked a little like a comet right now as he flew through the air, then had to twist through the branches of the canopy before he alighted on the floor like a thunderclap, bright golden light flashing outward as he blew a hole in the ground.

While he supposed someone had to be first, he hadn’t really expected it to be him. He leaped free of the crater and looked about before his eyes focused on the position of the sun, and he oriented himself and began to make his way through the emerald forest.

Having spent now many hours within it, he had little trouble maneuvering through the trees, though he was a bit disappointed to note that there was no Grimm nearby.

Letting his hand rest on Crocea Mors, he kicked off the forest floor and began jogging in a vaguely northward direction.

Above him, more students were flying, but he ignored it for now.

Through the trees he ran, spitting dirt up from underneath his feet, moving through the foliage easily.

He heard the sounds of dust firing up ahead, and ‘Heritage of Combat’ pressed at his mind, and he picked up the pace.

He sprinted flat out for a minute before he spat out into a clearing where he had already known there was a massive bear-like Grimm, an Ursa; he recalled getting the stuffing beaten out of it by a pissed-off blonde.

The one he had met yesterday.

He didn’t halt, noting the Grimm was about to smash into Yang with a paw, drawing his sword in a golden flash that arced out as he slid past it.

A moment passed before its arm hit the floor, and even as it opened its mouth to roar, its head was blown off by Yang’s shotgun gauntlets. It vanished in a splatter of black that sprayed through the air.

Jaune held his position, not turning around. “If you don’t want to be my partner, I can still leave.”

Yang hesitated; he felt her stiffen. “You don’t want to be my partner, ladykiller?”

He hadn’t said that in the slightest?

“I wanted to give you a choice,” he said.

He felt Yang shift on her feet before she stepped forward and a hand on his shoulder turned him around to stare into deep violet eyes, a small frown creasing the girl’s lips.

“I’m not that bad-looking, right?” Yang grinned, and it was cheerful, but there was something that Jaune recognized in himself in her smile.

Abandoned. Unwanted.

Still, what a strange question. He looked her over: bright golden blonde curls, a heart-shaped face, and an hourglass figure that he had seen older adult women unable to compete with.

“You’re beautiful?”

Yang raised an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t understand the question,” he admitted.

Yang blinked, and then she snorted, patting his shoulder a couple of times. “I can tell that you really don’t know what kind of hole you came out of.”

Ah, a question he could answer.

“Shion,” he replied.

Yang shrugged, smiling cheerfully, “Never heard of it.”

Considering it was a graveyard, it was unlikely that she would.

But maybe he shouldn’t say that?

“Got a name, Ocean Blue?” Yang grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“Jaune,” Jaune replied, simply scanning the clearing again.

“Jaune,” Yang tasted the name, “And you can call me-“

“Yang right?” Jaune interrupted without thought, “I already heard your sister say your name.”

Yang snapped her fingers in realization. “You were the guy she was talking about.” She grinned cheerfully, though the smile didn’t look totally real to Jaune.

Jaune didn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply nodded and tried to move them forward. “So the Relics?”

Yang rolled her eyes. “They’ll still be there when we get there; shouldn’t we get to know each other?” She smiled brightly, almost too brightly.

Jaune frowned. “Why?”

Yang blinked and then shook her head, seemingly coming back to herself. “Come on, don’t be like, I’m cute enough for you, aren’t I?”

Jaune was even more confused, and there had been something there momentarily that prickled at the back of his mind.

“Why do you keep trying to get me to compliment your physical appearance?”

Glynda had told him in her lessons that such wasn’t overly polite in regard to women.

Yang sighed, tossing her hair back, her lips twisting up something amused in her gaze. “Come on, don’t be stingy,” she grinned cheerfully.

Jaune shook his head. “You are indeed still just as attractive as I told you you were a minute ago.” There was a long silence as Yang stared expectantly at him.

When Jaune felt he had waited long enough, he continued, “So about the relics-“

Yang groaned and smacked her forehead. “You are a tough cookie,” she sighed out.

“What-“

Yang didn’t even let him finish, jamming a finger in Jaune’s direction. “But know this: Yang Xiao-Long has never been defeated. I’m going to break past that cool devil may care exterior, and you’re going to be a mess. It’s going to be embarrassing how much I get you to blush.”

Perhaps Jaune should have attempted to find another partner.

But despite himself, he couldn’t help the small current of warmth Yang seemed to generate in his gut; it was nice listening to her even if he didn’t understand what she was talking about in the slightest.

-

“So, ‘Jaune,’ you spend much time in Vale,” Yang asked her 53rd question of their current trip.

“Not particularly,” Jaune replied, his eyes flicking around the Forest, a strange familiarity gnawing at him. He had been in this section before, of course, but something else was bothering him, and he couldn’t pin it down.

“You kind of seem like you know where you’re going, Ocean Blue,” she said leadingly.

Jaune nodded in response, and he noted that the trees were becoming lighter now as they cleared this denser section of the forest. “I do.”

Yang frowned and crossed her arms across her stomach. “How?” Yang asked.

A small smile crossed Jaune’s face. “I’ve spent time training in this Forest,” He said.

They stepped into a clearing; up ahead of them was a broken temple, and on a flat board arrayed about were chess pieces.

“What do you mean-“ Yang cut herself off before she could finish the thought as her violet eyes focused on the center of the clearing of stone ruins, in the center of which rested a chessboard.

“Oooh,” Yang cheered, walking up quickly as she surveyed the cornucopia of options, “A Castle, a Horsey, so much variety.” She turned to Jaune, “What do you think, partner?”

Jaune shrugged, his gaze going to the sky for a moment, a small frown on it; he could have sworn ‘Heritage of Combat’ was pointing in that direction. “Anything is fine; it’s random who will pick what, right?”

Yang sighed, and then an arm came around his neck as she tried to pull him down, and he could feel her strength beginning to overcome his, even as he stretched his neck against Yang’s downward force.

Apparently, 32 strength was less than whatever Yang had going on.

“Submit,” Yang growled out, “You. Will. Be. Noogied!”

“Are we interrupting something?” a dry voice asked, and Jaune flexed a little aura through his neck to turn and see Weiss Schnee standing by the black-haired girl with the bow he had seen earlier.

While he wasn't yet an expert on interpersonal dynamics, both seemed rather displeased with the circumstances.

“No.”

He said just as Yang said brightly, “Yes.”

He looked at Yang, surprised, and she grinned back unrepentantly and then finally yanked his head down to collide with her chest, the exact thing he had been trying to avoid.

Smooshed against her massive, warm weight, he felt Yang lightly rub her knuckles against his scalp, and he realized he didn’t know if he should breathe.

Yang eventually relaxed her grip, and he pulled his head up, trying not to think about it even as he took note of Yang’s slightly flushed cheeks and the fact that her violet eyes were now averting from him.

The black-haired girl and Weiss stared at them.

Weiss looked bewildered and somewhat affronted.

The black-haired girl looked… amused; her lips were twisting up, and though she was trying to hide it, he could tell.

“I’ll go grab the chess piece,” he said in the quiet, walking up to the board, glancing around for a moment like he was thinking before he took the white knight piece that had been all but calling his name.

Weiss passed by him on his way back as she walked to grab her chess piece.

Jaune didn’t glance back as he pocketed his piece, walking back up to Yang, who was staring into the sky, her hand shading her vision.

“See something?” he asked.

Yang shrugged. “Don’t know, weird-ass bird,” she jabbed her finger north of them.

Jaune shaded his own eyes and then spotted the dark object soaring over the trees towards them.

On instinct, his eyes drifted down to the forest, and he flared aura into them, his vision suddenly becoming almost too detailed; leaves and trees became absurdly distinct. He spotted a red-and-black blur rapidly shooting toward them, with a red-and-gold presence chugging along at high speed behind.

Grabbing Crocea Mors’ hilt, he flared his aura, golden light beginning to seep off him, running down his arm into his sword's blade.

“Party coming?” Yang asked, her voice for once not as cheerful, but almost verging on serious.

“It’s not what I would call a party,” Jaune replied.

“Well, what would you call it?”

The Red and Black blur accelerated and burst into the clearing in a scattering of rose petals, and Ruby Rose appeared, gesturing behind her. “Nevermore!” she cried out.

The Red and Gold made a massive leap, thudding into the dirt before them, revealing Pyrrha of all people, a confident smile on her face. “I believe we made it,” she said.

The entire clearing stared at her.

The black-haired girl asked the obvious question, “Did you just lead a Nevermore to us?”

Pyrrha frowned and looked back, “It isn’t quite here yet, is it?”

A maniac cackle echoed out as, from out of another copse of trees, the orange-haired girl Jaune had seen yesterday burst out, with the solemn dark-haired girl swung over her shoulder.

“I told you this was the right way, Sage!” she cried out.

“I could have walked,” Sage replied dryly from her shoulder, looking up seemingly unbothered by being carried like luggage.

Jaune instantly felt a strong, unbreakable bond of kinship with this person, and as their eyes met, pink to sky blue, Sage nodded at him once as her eyes flickered to Yang.

Weiss held up a hand, getting everyone’s attention. “Please, everyone who just arrived, go grab one of the chess pieces. Everyone who already has one, I would suggest we prepare to run away.”

Jaune frowned; that bird was definitely going to be worth a level or two, so running wasn’t his preferred option.

Thankfully, his partner spoke his objection before him, “Nuh uh, Princess, I want fried chicken,” she grinned cheerfully.

Ruby had appeared holding a white rook. “What are you talking about, Yang? That Grimm is bigger than our house!”

“It’s actually a bit smaller than mine,” Weiss said, staring into the air idly.

The other seven people turned to look at her, and Weiss blinked before her cheeks slightly pinked, and she looked away.

Something was bothering Jaune, though; ‘Heritage of Combat’ was telling him two big things were approaching them. The bird was one, but it was significantly smaller in his perception. There was something bigger out of view.

He figured he would use one of Goodwitch’s lessons to help in this instance, when his own knowledge failed, which wasn’t surprising; he had been told to rely on his teammates.

“Hypothetically,” he said, and the attention of the group now switched to him, “Is there a type of flying Grimm bigger than a Nevermore?”

There was a long moment of silence.

Then it seemed Weiss, of all people, stirred herself to respond, “Well, there’s Griffons for one thing, but why would-“

From the clouds, a massive beast that reminded Jaune of something between a cat from its clawed legs and a bird with its massive wings came spiraling down, ripping the head off the Nevermore in a single clawed strike of its arm, tearing through the abyssal flesh in an instant.

Jaune’s eyes lit up even as the group around him paled in horror.

“Ah, so that’s what it was,” he said in the new silence.

Yang looked at him with a cross look in her eyes. “When someone says hypothetical, it’s supposed to stay hypothetical.”

Jaune shrugged helplessly and glanced around the clearing; they needed vertical space to take this thing on.

“Head to the cliffs,” Weiss said shortly. “It’s our best chance.”

As a group, they turned and ran, though Jaune made sure he was the last one to follow them; he had noted he was one of two people with a shield instantly, and that wasn’t even mentioning the unsettling realization that every one of the group except him was most likely mortal.

He hadn’t contemplated yet what that would really mean, but for now he shoved that thought away.

Weiss called out directions as they ran, “Ruby, Pyrrha, harass it with your rifles. We need to disable the Griffon’s wings. Blake and I will guard you together. The rest of you be ready to nail it to the ground.”

The black-haired girl who was evidently named Blake, who had been running up ahead, was suddenly by his side, her brow furrowed. “Why are you behind us?” she said bluntly.

“Someone’s got to watch the rear?”

Her bow twitched. “I can handle it,” she said quietly.

“I have a shield,” Jaune returned, keeping his legs pumping.

Blake rolled her eyes visibly, but something amused passed over her lips. “Maybe the Griffon will choke on it when it tries to swallow you?”

Jaune chuckled, grinning. “One can only hope, right?”

Blake opened her mouth to say something, but he had no idea what it would have been because the trees had suddenly stopped, and they were now running on stone on a cliffside edge.

Ahead of them was a mass of stone ruins, and as planned, the teams began splitting off.

Ruby directed herself and Pyrrha up a wall. Blake and Weiss braced on the ground.

The rest of them positioned a little ways out in a clear spot. Sage was having a quiet argument with Nora a little ways away, as Nora rested a massive hammer on her shoulders, the orange-haired girl looking unrepentant.

This left Jaune and Yang to stand side by side; Yang was bouncing lightly on her legs, humming softly, yet Jaune didn’t find himself annoyed; rather, the motion and sound were soothing, completely unlike the quiet that had hung over Shion.

With his aura-enhanced eyes, Jaune could see the Griffon beginning to accelerate toward them, so he braced his legs, aura pooling into them and generating a visible curtain of gold energy around them.

“Whoa,” Yang mumbled next to him.

Shots began to crack off as Ruby and Pyrrha dug holes in the wings, in spurts of black blood, causing the Griffon to dip lower toward the ground.

A massive white sigil formed in the air in front of Weiss, before flaring green as she tossed green powder into it, and the air was suddenly sucked out from underneath the Griffon’s wings, causing it to begin to fall in a spiral.

The Griffon roared and flexed its wings, attempting to steer itself through the air, and its front talons extended, aiming to spear into the Hunteresses below.

Jaune calculated the height in his head for a second before he nodded to himself and kicked off lightly against the ground, rocketing into the sky in a golden trail of light.

He bashed his shield first against the Grimm’s head, causing it to rock to the side, and he grunted at the weight of the strike before he began to fall, and Yang jumped from the other side with a rocketing boost from her gauntlets to smash into the Griffon’s beak from the other side, sending its neck wrenching to the side.

Jaune touched down seconds before Yang did, and thus he was the first to be attacked as its spiked tail whipped towards him, and he flung himself into an easy backflip, dismissing his shield into its sheathed form as he sheathed his blade, beginning to compress it into the blade as he amplified it.

Ruby shot forward in a blur, slicing the Griffon’s left wing off in a second.

The wing came away in a flare of black blood, and the Griffon dropped like a stone.

It hit the ruins hard enough that Jaune felt it through his boots, stone cracking under its weight, and for a moment he thought that was the end of the Grimm in a sort of sad, dismal way.

Then it stood up, and he grinned.

"Oh," he heard Weiss release a surprised gasp.

It turned its head, and Jaune watched it find Weiss and Blake standing at the front of the wall. It came at them across the broken ground faster than anything that size had a right to move.

Yang got there first.

She met it shoulder-first with both gauntlets firing, and it did not stop her so much as carry her, and Jaune watched his partner go through a section of wall and out of sight in a spray of stone dust, her own golden aura crackling at the hit.

"YANG!" Ruby cried out.

There was a silence of about a second.

Then the rubble exploded, and Yang came up out of it with her hair burning, as she punched the Griffon back, sending it tumbling away, skipping across the ground from the sheer force of the movement.

“Haha!” Yang roared out.

"It can't fly!" Ruby was already moving her scythe, twirling it out. "Weiss, we need a different plan! Blake, get its head, keep it turning! Nora!"

Nora's hand went up like a student that had just been called in class. "Yes!" She waved cheerfully.

"Can you hit it if Sage gets you up there?"

Sage's flat voice carried across the clearing. "That was what I was arguing about."

"Then argue faster!"

Blake was already gone. Jaune watched her hit the Griffon's flank and vanish, another version of her peeling away from where she had been, and then she was on its other side, and it was turning after her and not after Weiss. A claw came slamming down again, puncturing into the ground in a spray of brown stone dust. Then again. Then again. It swiped at a Blake that had stopped existing about half a second earlier.

Nora came from the air, launched high into the sky, cackling madly as lightning swirled around her in a bright blue display before she connected with the head of the creature, sending it rolling away in a spray of dirt and rock right back in front of where Jaune had been standing, either through serendipity or-

He had been told to rely on his teammates. He was not certain, but he thought this was probably what that meant.

His thumb flicked his sword free, and he breathed the words-

“Crocea Mors.”

The world flashed gold, and he stood there watching the two halves of the Grimm begin to dissipate, Crocea Mors purring in his hand as he rested it against his shoulder.

You Have Leveled Up!

Class: Knight

Strength: 32->34

Dexterity: 19->20

Intelligence: 19->20

Vigor: 30->32

Soul: 56->60

Author’s Note:

No one’s going to believe me, but I changed Ren’s gender for only one reason. I was having the worst time with names. Forgive me, Ren; you would have been a true bro.

Haha, I just had an idea, and no one can stop me.

Character Sheet:

Team: WABY: Wasabi: Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long

Team: RSPV: Raspberry: Ruby Rose, Sage Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie

Class: Knight

Strength: 34

Dexterity: 20

Intelligence: 20

Vigor: 32

Soul: 60

Combat Skills

Hunter Sword Arts: Level 55/100

Hunter Shield Arts: Level 40/100

Hunter Aura Arts: Level 60/100

Academic Skills

Weapon Smithing: Level 2

History: Level 6

Grimm Anatomy: Level 3

Feats

Heritage of Combat