[RWBY] White Knight Errant

[otoshi17Good]

The sad fact was, the fundamental truth of nature and mankind was that hierarchies were required. There was always someone at the top and always someone at the bottom, because that was how the universe functioned.

Click to shrink...

That's a defeatist talk Comrade Ozma.
*insert USSR anthem*

\s (because I suspect people wont think it as a joke)

 

[AndrewJTalon]

UnknownAnon's delayed in finishing the next chapter so unfortunately the next update's gonna be a little late. Sorry about that.

 

[UnknownAnon]

Oof, this took too long. But life and work got in the way, so it is what it is. Still, finally time to kick off the Jaune+Cardin bromance for real. Hope folks enjoy the ride.

= = = = = = =

It was only after he'd dressed for the day, left his dorm room and had a quick breakfast that Jaune realized he had no actual way to contact Cardin. This was a problem since there hadn't been any agreement or plan where to meet up for their man-date. He didn't even know where Team CRDL's room was, and Jaune wasn't keen on walking up and down the floors of Beacon's dormitory to find it.

Instead, Jaune made his way over to the bullhead landing pads near the edge of the school. Assuming Cardin hadn't left ahead of him for the city, he'd inevitably head there since the only way to get to Vale from Beacon was to take a quick flight down there. There was the option to cut through the Emerald Forest, but it was rare that path was taken given the forest had Grimm wandering around and a twenty minute flight was preferable to a two hour trek.

Jaune sat on a bench near the landing pads, checking his scroll for the time as he idled about. For a half hour he watched teams come and go, and there was a lot of students coming and going. That was normal for the weekend, but air traffic was even higher given all the teams from foreign academies that had transferred for the Vytal Festival. A lot of people wanted to use their weekend to fly down and explore the city. The blonde had made a little game out of trying to guess which school students passing him belonged to. Those who wore their uniforms made their affiliation obvious, but it was a little more challenging to discern nationality for those who were dressing casually.

So absorbed in trying to determine whether or not a pair of girls were from Vacuo or Mistral, Jaune completely missed Cardin's arrival and only noticed when the young man cleared his throat.

"Oh, there you are." Jaune said by way of greeting, glancing down at his scroll and noting that it was about a half hour before noon. "Wasn't sure where we were meeting so I came here."

"Yeah, well… not like either of us said anything about where we'd meet." Cardin grumbled.

"We did not." Jaune affirmed.

"I… actually came here before breakfast." Cardin admitted, crossing his arms as he let out an irritated grunt. "It took me twenty minutes before I realized we never agreed to meet at the bullhead docks. And I didn't know where your dorm room was. And I couldn't find any of your friends to ask them. And I didn't want it to somehow get around that I didn't know how to get ahold of you and tip off Velvet that we're not…"

Cardin trailed off, letting out a frustrated groan and pinching the bridge of his nose. Jaune was mildly amused that the other team leader had gone though a similar process he had, but he was careful not to let his bemusement show since Cardin was already in a sour mood and he didn't want to give him any excuse focus on him as an outlet for his frustration.

Jaune was already playing along with this charade on sufferance, and he didn't want to start his weekend getting into a fight with Cardin.

"Did you eat at all?" Jaune asked.

"I went back to the cafeteria and microwaved a breakfast burrito." Cardin replied. "Wandered around campus for a while before I came back here. How long were you waiting?"

"Just a little while. Came here after making myself a small breakfast. We might've just missed each other."

"…Maybe we did."

"…Yep." Jaune nodded.

The duo lapsed into silence as they stared at each other. Both men felt incredibly awkward as the minutes slowly passed by. Neither really knew what to say to the other. They didn't have a plan for how to spend the day and both were drawing blanks on what they could do.

"I mean, I'm only here as a favor to help him sell the lie to his girlfriend that we're best buddies. Shouldn't he be the man with the plan in this situation?" Jaune wondered to himself.

"We can't just stay here all day. I gotta be able to tell Velvet about what we did later, and I can't let it ever slip that back then I was really… dammit, but spending the whole day with Arc. Maybe we can just walk around for a few hours in Vale and then split up? I can come up with something fake and get him to agree to a story…" Cardin thought to himself.

So lost in their own thoughts, both first years couldn't help but jolt when someone called out to them.

"Hey, you two flying to Vale or are you just gonna stay here all day?"

Jaune and Cardin turn to see one of the bullhead pilots nearby shouting at them. Glancing at each other for a moment, the two boys hurriedly made their way over to the pilot and climbed inside the aircraft as the man lowered the gangplank of the ship to let them in the passenger bay. The duo wound up sitting across from one another, and the vehicle shuddered as it prepped to take off.

"Make sure to fasten your seatbelts, kids." The pilot's voice echoed from the intercom on the roof of the seating area. "We got fine weather this morning but landing docks in Vale are little more crowded than usual since a lotta people are flying in for the upcoming tournament. Trip will take the two fifteen to twenty minutes but might have to tack on another five or ten depending on if we gotta wait for a landing spot to open up."

Having said his piece, the vehicle shuddered before lifting from the ground and taking flight. In the seating area, Jaune and Cardin had yet to speak up at all and continued to stare at each other from where they sat.

About ten minutes passed before Jaune let out a large sigh and bit the bullet.

"So, what is the rest of your team up to today?" Jaune asked, at least trying to make an attempt at conversation.

Cardin blinked, not having expected the question but rubbed his neck as he forced a reply. "Uh, Russel bombed a test earlier this week so I think he's studying in the library. Dove went to his cooking club today-"

"Y'know, I always forget that Beacon has clubs." Jaune commented. No one on his team was in a club, nor was anyone on Team RWBY, so it wasn't something he thought about.

"Right. And I'm pretty sure Sky is just going to be playing video games all day." Cardin finished. A minute passed before he returned the question. "What about your team?"

"Nora's probably still sleeping. She's a heavy sleeper and uses weekend days to sleep in and doesn't wake up until it's past noon. I think Ren was gonna do some shopping in Vale and Pyrrha… she'll probably be in the training hall all day destroying training bots. If Lycan is overseeing the training hall today she'll probably challenge him too."

"Hm." Cardin grunted. "Must be something, having a celebrity on your team."

"None of us really care about that. And Pyrrha doesn't really care about it much herself."

Cardin sneered a little at that. "What, being rich and famous is too much trouble?"

Jaune frowned. "Lay off, Cardin. Wealthy people have their own problems. And can't you relate to that given the rumors about your family?"

"Those aren't…!" Cardin started hotly before forcing himself to swallow his words and cool his nerves. "Whatever. She's your teammate and I only know her based on her reputation, so it's not like I can comment."

"That's right." Jaune nodded before giving the other boy a sheepish look. "Sorry about the dig against your family."

"I was being snide about your partner first. It's fine." Cardin scoffed. "Just be careful if you're gonna try to imply anything about my family again, Arc."

"Sure, sure. And same to you."

"Whatever."

Once again, the duo lapsed into silence.

"Well, this is going swimmingly so far." Jaune thought tiredly.

"We only talked for a little bit and I already want to punch him in the face." Cardin lamented in his head.

"…You're welcome, by the way." Jaune muttered.

"Huh?" Cardin glared at Jaune for a moment before he realized what he was driving at. The Winchester heir let out a sigh. "Yeah, thanks for agreeing to go along with this and fake a friendship with me for my girlfriend's sake."

"Oh, I didn't mean that, but I guess that plays into it."

"Huh?"

"I mean, would you even have a girlfriend if it wasn't for me?" Jaune asked with a small smirk. "We both know you had very different intentions that day when I pretended to be your romantic wingman. But now look at you! Happily dating a cute bunny girl!"

Cardin just stared at him incredulously while Jaune returned his look with a cheeky expression.

"I never heard a 'thank you' from you for that."

Cardin just continued to stare at Jaune with his mouth slightly agape for several more second before his expression became stormy. Slowly raising his arm, Cardin pointed threateningly at the irritating blonde.

"Strike two, Arc." Cardin growled.

"Sorry, I just felt it had to be said or else I'd never have the chance to bring it up again." Jaune shrugged. "Seriously, even if I was just trying to keep you from bullying her, I'm genuinely glad that things have worked out so well between the two of you. Velvet seems really happy with you, and you seem happy with her. No joke, I wish you two all the best for however long you date each other for."

Once again Cardin was thrown off by Jaune's words, and was both surprised and flattered by the complete lack of sarcasm or mockery in the blonde's words. While deep down it still irked Cardin that Jaune was the one responsible for hooking him up with Velvet, he was right on the money about how well things had worked out.

"Yeah, well, we'll see how things go." Cardin mumbled. "I don't put much stock into the high school or college sweethearts thing. It's extremely rare for someone to actually end up with the first person they date for the rest of their lives so-"

"Wait, Velvet's your first girlfriend?"

"But I'm gonna do my best to do right by her." Cardin declared, purposefully ignoring Jaune's question as he crossed his arms and glared off to the side. "She's… a really great girl. I'm glad to have her as my girlfriend."

Jaune smiled a little at that. Even if Cardin's attitude was still hard to put up with, Jaune could at least respect the man for the genuine effort he seemed to be putting into his relationship with Velvet.

"…Thanks."

"What was that?"

"I didn't say anything, shut up." Cardin growled with red cheeks, clenching his fists when he heard Jaune chuckle. He opened his mouth to tell Arc where he could shove it but was cut off when the bullhead intercom crackled.

"We'll be landing in Vale in a few minutes. Get ready to disembark, but please keep your seatbelts fastened until I open the bullhead doors. Thank you."

Jaune and Cardin glanced at each other as the pilot's voice faded.

…Well, they'd managed to share a flight without trying to kill each other. It was still up in the air whether or not they could tolerate each other for the rest of the day.

"…So what's the plan?" Jaune asked.

"…That's a good question." Cardin sighed.

= = = = = = =

Starting small, but more to come. They're not gonna be buddy-buddy instantly, but it'll happen. Stay tuned.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

I added on some more stuff to One-Hundred-Two, giving some perspective on Glocken's character. I got most of the political stuff done so now I can contribute to the fun times as soon as UnknownAnon is done!

[RWBY] White Knight Errant

It was probably only thanks to his endless mistakes and long life that Ozpin was able to keep his patience for any government hearing. After the first few centuries, they'd all kind of blended into a relatively easy to predict pattern. Humans were still humans, Faunus were still Faunus, even...

forum.questionablequesting.com

Tell me what you think!

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

A mysterious partner in politics with yellow eyes....

There are a number of people in canon with them, but I could count pretty much all of them out, I think.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Yang sighed happily, the last traces of the gym shower's heat still lingering on her skin even in her casual clothes. She walked alongside Nora, who was still bouncing up and down happily despite the long workout they did.

"Gotta say Sparky, you're definitely something else!" Yang complimented the shorter orange-haired girl. Nora beamed, practically shining in her joy.

"Thanks! You're pretty good too! Most of my other workout partners kind of... Broke!" She paused and hummed. "Except for Jaune, Pyrrha, and Renny of course! Nice to have someone else along!"

"It is nice, isn't it?" Yang agreed with a grin, as they walked through Beacon's main courtyard. A few other students were milling about, foreign and domestic, out enjoying the warm weather. Yang waved at a few she knew, but her attention was mainly on the glowing Nora.

"Sooo?" Yang prompted. Nora glanced over, and tilted her head like a curious puppy.

"Sooo?" She replied in almost perfect imitation of Yang's tone. The blonde brawler waggled her eyebrows.

"You and Zen Ren? How's it going?"

Nora frowned in thought as they entered the dormitory area. It was deeply uncharacteristic of the spastic girl.

"I mean..." Her face went dreamy, "We kissed. And... And it was everything I'd ever wanted." She grinned at Yang. "Even fireworks went off afterwards! Well, explosions, but still."

"Uh huh," Yang said, grinning back and nodding as they climbed the stairs up to their level. Nora sighed again, a frustrated look appearing on her face.

"But... The whole week of detention, he... He didn't bring it up!" Nora pouted. "Do... Do you think he likes someone else?"

Yang almost laughed at the worried expression on Nora's face. But hey, she was learning to be a little more sensitive.

"Of course not," Yang said, "I'm pretty sure you're his everything, Nora. But... Well..." She shrugged. "I honestly can't say. I mean it's not like Zen and I talk all that much."

She did admire his martial arts form, of course. He was extremely smooth, controlled, and refined in that. He moved like water, smooth and without hesitation. His Semblance probably played a role in that, but...

Nora frowned herself as they walked down the hallway towards their mutual common room.

"I just... He was gonna say he loved me, when he thought we were gonna die," she insisted, "I know it. I also know... I mean, he liked that kiss! I know he did... Right?" She again fretted.

Yang chuckled and patted the smaller girl on the shoulder. In some ways she reminded her of Ruby.

"Look... The life you two have lived? I don't think he wants to change things too much, too fast," she said, "He's... Well... He might be afraid of losing you if you finally took the final step from friends to more."

Nora shook her head.

"He'd never lose me," she stated, with the same certainty she might say the sun would come up in the east or sloths were cute. "Never."

"That's what my dad thought, too."

Yang winced the moment she said it. The frightened look on Nora's face made her regret complete. Yang took a deep breath, and reached out to hug Nora.

"I'm not saying you're-You're nothing like my mom," Yang said firmly. Nora nodded, having heard the story. "That doesn't mean that, well... That you wouldn't break up for some other reason. And... Well... You two are your everything. He's just as scared of losing you as you are of losing him."

Nora was silent, her gaze stony. She slowly nodded.

"I... I don't think I can imagine a world without him," she murmured, "I'd probably kill everyone around and myself if I did."

Yang laughed... Then a bit nervously at the intense look Nora still had in her eyes.

"I-I know... And uh, he probably feels the same way. And look... I mean... I'm not a date expert-"

"You're going out with Jaune-Jaune," Nora insisted, "And you're not weird horny crazy like Pyrrha or a little sister figure like Ruby!"

Yang flushed.

"Yeah, well... It's only been one date. That doesn't mean I know what I'm doing," she mumbled. She looked at Nora. "Still, I mean... He's got his own issues, too. I'm... I'm willing to be patient for him."

She smiled gently.

"I think... I think he's worth waiting for," she said, "And Ren is too. But sometimes, men are stupid and need a nudge in the right direction, you know?"

"They're not stupid... I mean, they are but they're," Nora thought about it for a second, "They're like wolves."

Yang blinked.

"Wolves?"

She grinned and winked.

"Well, I wouldn't mind Jaune gobbling me up-"

"I mean like," Nora frowned, "There was this wolf that hung around our village. It was hurt and snarly. Some of the men wanted to kill it, but Renny's dad just went out to it and gave it some meat. Left it out and then backed away. He did this over and over and overrr, talking soft, staying small... Until the wolf finally trusted him, and let him give the wolf scratchies behind the ears."

Nora beamed.

"Jaune-Jaune and Renny are stupid like that! Cause they got hurt and they don't wanna get hurt and sometimes talking doesn't get through!"

Yang blinked a few times, before she slowly nodded. A small, soft smile came over her face.

"Yeah... Stupid like that," she said. Her smile widened into a grin.

"So, you gonna give Zen Ren some samples of flesh? To bite into?"

Nora hummed.

"You think that could work? Ooh! Maybe I could use the syrup to make myself sweeter!"

Yang blushed, but covered it with a cough.

"Mayyybe that's a little too far," she suggested.

"Don't you wanna do that for Jaune?" Nora asked. Yang coughed and blushed some more.

"I... Well... Yeah," she admitted quietly, "But the wolf thing and... Well..."

She shrugged.

"Ruby and Pyrrha... They deserve their chance, too," Yang said softly.

It was easier in some ways to just let Jaune make the decision. Oh, she was going to fight for him. Hell... Part of her wanted to just go for it.

Like Ren though... There was that fear of losing everything. In the end... She was still Raven Branwen's daughter.

She didn't know if she could escape it... And didn't know if Jaune would keep her from becoming that.

She opened the door to the common room. Blake and Weiss were sitting on the couches around the coffee table, Blake with an ever present smutty book and Weiss with her Scroll. Both looked somewhat bemused at the third person sitting with them.

Velvet Scarlatina looked up with a bright smile.

"Hey Yang! Hey Nora! Nice to see you!"

"Nice to see you too," Yang said, "What's up?"

Velvet beamed and gestured to the homemade pastries and sandwiches now sitting on the table.

"Well, uh, since Cardin and Jaune are friends, I was thinking that maybe we could be friends too?" She suggested. "I-I mean, you are Jaune's girlfriend, right?"

Yang blushed.

"Uh... Well..."

"Yes she is!" Nora said cheerfully. "Though so are Pyrrha and Ruby!"

"Nora!" Yang hissed through bright cheeks.

Velvet gaped and went bright red. Weiss and Blake looked amused and both concealed it.

"O-Oh?" The rabbit Faunus asked.

"I also think Weiss is tsundere over him, but I guess it's just REALLY complicated!" Nora chirped, leaping over the couch and landing next to Velvet with a happy bounce.

"I am NOT tsundere," Weiss grumbled, nibbling on a pastry, "These are very good."

"Thank you, Weiss," Velvet said gratefully.

"She's used to Faunus made treats," Blake snarked. Weiss glared.

"My cake butler is human! And if he was a Faunus, I would pay him fairly!"

Nora beamed as she grabbed a sandwich, bit into it... And moaned.

"Ohhh... Maple syrup bacon?! How did you know?!"

"Um, I-I smell syrup on you every day," Velvet said modestly, "I thought you'd like them!" She smiled at Yang. "Come on!"

"Er, sure," Yang said, closing the door behind her and sitting opposite Velvet and Nora. Velvet smiled warmly at her.

"So um... You are his girlfriend?"

"It's complicated, but we're not a harem or anything," Yang said.

"At least not yet," Blake said dryly.

"BLAKE!"

- - -

Getting back into fun comedy feels good.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

"She's used to Faunus made treats," Blake snarked. Weiss glared.

"My cake butler is human! And if he was a Faunus, I would pay him fairly!"

Click to shrink...

"It's complicated, but we're not a harem or anything," Yang said.

"At least not yet," Blake said dryly.

"BLAKE!"

Click to shrink...

Yang - "Everyone! After much negotiation, Pyrrha, Ruby, Weiss, and I are all officially dating Jaune. The harem is a go!"

Blake - "Your human only harem is racist."

Glad to see this is back!

 

[LordofBones]

Yang - "Everyone! After much negotiation, Pyrrha, Ruby, Weiss, and I are all officially dating Jaune. The harem is a go!"

Blake - "Your human only harem is racist."

Glad to see this is back!

Click to shrink...

Pyrrha: "Oh, we thought of that too!"

*Ruby pulls out a pair of red and black wolf ears, Pyrrha a long, luxurious red fox tail*

 

[Talimancer2]

Pyrrha: "Oh, we thought of that too!"

*Ruby pulls out a pair of red and black wolf ears, Pyrrha a long, luxurious red fox tail*

Click to shrink...

Is that the RWBY equivalent of blackface?

 

[UnknownAnon]

I remember when summer used to be the time where free time was abundant. Good times. Anywho, posting the next chapter. Grew a little longer than what I initially started out with, but that tends to happen when I dive deep into character interaction.

= = = = = = =

"So…" Cardin began.

"...Here we are." Jaune finished.

Both boys stood at the curbside of the street, staring out into the street as crowds of people went about their day. Any of the four major cities were often crowded and Vale was no exception, but it was especially so with the upcoming holidays. With the Vytal Festival on the horizon the city was bustling even more than usual.

"I don't suppose you thought of something for us to do in the ten minutes it took for us to land and get off the bullhead?" Cardin asked the blonde.

"Hey man, you're the one who invited me out and I'm here as a favor to you. I shouldn't have to be the one to plan our activities." Jaune protested mildly.

"I didn't invite you here. Velvet invited you on my behalf."

"My point stands. I'm making an effort being here. You could make an effort too."

"Fine, fine…" Cardin sighed, crossing his arms as he thought of what he and Jaune could do to kill time in Vale before heading back to Beacon.

How many hours did he have to spend with Jaune before it sufficiently qualified as "hanging out" anyway? It was easier with his team or with his girlfriend. He did have to track the hours spent with them or rack his brain for how they were going to spend the day. It was extremely tempting to just go their separate ways and then meet up later, and it was likely a suggestion that Jaune would agree to given that he looked about as enthusiastic about this outing as Cardin himself felt, but Velvet was definitely going to want to hear about what they did today and the Winchester heir wasn't extremely confident in his ability to string together a fake story that she wouldn't see through.

Eventually, Cardin shook his head and let out a short growl. There was no point in overcomplicating this. He could spend a few hours tolerating a classmate he disliked for his girlfriend. And the best activities would be ones where they wouldn't be required to talk to each other.

So that made for a pretty obvious and easy suggestion.

"The movies." Cardin declared. "That's where we'll go. Unless you have another suggestion?"

"No, I'm fine with that." Jaune said.

Cardin grinned at the reply. A movie would eat up approximately two hours of their time together. "Good. Since I'm the one suggesting it, I'm gonna choose the movie."

"Sure."

Fifteen minutes later, the duo stood in front of the movie theater entrance, staring at the movie poster advertising the flick Cardin had chosen.

"I'd like to raise an objection."

"What?" Cardin huffed, glaring at Jaune.

"You chose the new Grimminator movie. I'm not really enthusiastic about seeing it."

"Why not?"

"Because they've gotten progressively worse after the first two films. This is the sixth one and fan reviews are saying it's the worst one."

Cardin arched an eyebrow at Jaune. "Have you been talking with Sky at all? Last week he said almost the same thing word for word."

"Sounds like he has better taste than you then." Jaune mused as he frowned at the poster. "Were you gonna bring Velvet to watch this?"

"That was the plan before she made you my date for today." Cardin replied with a scoff. "She's actually really, REALLY into sci-fi stuff. Any movie that takes place in space or the future or has robots or all three at once will have her talking about it nonstop for hours afterward."

"Huh. Didn't take her for a sci-fi nut. Maybe she'd get along with Ruby. Is she a Grimminator fan?"

"I don't know if she's a super huge fan of the franchise or anything, but she got really excited when I told her I'd never seen any of them during a home-movie date we had a few weeks back. We watched the first two together. They're super old, but they held up pretty good."

"First two…? So you didn't watch any of the others?"

"No. We watched a movie about aliens afterward."

"And that didn't tip you off at all? Maybe the reason she didn't have you watch them is because she has a low opinion of them?"

"Hey, I chose what we're doing so I'm choosing the movie!"

"You're not open to alternative suggestions?"

"Arc, the movies can't be that bad if they made four more after the first two. Let's just get our tickets and head inside."

"I dunno if I want to pay for the tickets though…"

"Well, I'm sure as hell not paying for you! C'mon, show's starting in ten minutes so get moving!"

Cardin and Jaune entered the theater, the former annoyed and the latter resigned as they sat down for the film. About two hours later, the brunette and blond exited the theater, the former looking tired with the latter looking amused as he chuckled to himself.

"I want two hours of my life back." Cardin said morosely as he massaged his temples.

"Yeah, that was pretty bad."

"If it was so bad, why are you laughing?"

"Eh, movies that indulge wholeheartedly in their terribleness just require a little reframing." Jaune said with a shrug. "Instead of seeing it as a sci-fi action, I see it as a sci-fi comedy. Then at least I can get a few chuckles out of it. Plus no matter how bad the film is, it's not like it ruins the originals for me."

"I… hope Velvet doesn't want to come see this later." Cardin said worriedly.

"Even if she did, you'd probably just spend the whole time focused on each other. A bad movie does make for some good background noise. It's one of their few redeeming qualities." Jaune said with a cheeky smile.

Cardin rolled his eyes and pulled out his scroll, glancing at the time. Barely past noon and there was still so much time left in the day.

"We can probably call it quits right before dinner." Cardin thought to himself. That way they wouldn't have to share dinner and he could eat with his team back at Beacon, or ideally Velvet if she wasn't busy with her own team.

It was just finding a way to kill the next five or so hours until that time that would be the real challenge.

"So, what now?" Cardin asked, turning toward Jaune, who blinked in response.

"You're asking me?"

"Yeah. I suggested something first, so now it's your turn."

"Is that how this works? Because I feel like I should be allowed to skip my turn seeing as how that movie was-"

"Just pick something, Arc! To paraphrase your words from earlier, make an effort! I did my part! Now it's your turn!"

"Alright, alright, geez…" Jaune sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about what they could do together. After a few moments, Jaune remembered reading up online about a place he'd been meaning to check out. "So, I don't want to hear any objections to my choice after you refused my objections."

"...Fair enough." Cardin allowed grudgingly. "Though you saying that has me worried about what it is you're gonna suggest we do now."

"Hey, we're supposed to be having fun together like the good not-friends we are." Jaune smiled, his cheery expression not doing anything to curb Cardin's sudden trepidation. "Who knows, you might even enjoy yourself!"

Cardin only let out an irritated sigh as Jaune started heading down the street.

"Just a few more hours, Cardin." The CRDL leader grumbled quietly to himself as he followed after the blonde. "Just gotta last a few more hours…"

He just hoped whatever activity Jaune had in mind wouldn't wind up being an excuse to mess with him.

- - -

Pyrrha smashed Akouo into a training bots face, following through and pushing into its face until its head tore clean off. Rolling with her forward momentum, the redhead spun and hurled her shield at another training bot, using her semblance to give Akouo more spin as it flew. At the same time her right leg struck out and kicked the head of the robot she'd just decapitated into the chest of another approaching training bot. The bot she'd thrown her shield at shared the same fate as the one she just dispatched as Akouo sliced through its neck, while the other bot trying to rush her staggered and stuttered in its tracks when the metal head struck its torso. The pause gave Pyrrha the opportunity to dash forward and slice through it with Milo.

Raising her hand, Pyrrha recalled her shield with her semblance, affixing it to her arm and ducking down just in time to catch a training bot's stun mace with the edge of her weapon. After taking the attack on her shield, Pyrrha diverted the blow and lanced through the drone's chest and kicked its sparking husk to the floor.

Panting heavily as she stood back to her feet, Pyrrha wiped the sweat from her brow before glancing around the training arena and admiring her handiwork. Broken, dented, and sparking drones and training bots were scattered around the arena, and looking at the digital display at the edge of the platform, Pyrrha pumped her fist in success when she saw that her aura was still solidly in the yellow, only an inch away from the percentage that would've kept her in the green.

A slow clap sounded in her ears, and she turned towards the one who'd also been admiring her work.

"Well damn, twenty level ten training bots all taken out fighting solo and you're only just barely in the yellow for aura." Lycan Arcadia grinned fiercely at the redhead as he stepped up and shut down the arena's computer. "Not even full teams of four in some years above you can pull off what you just did.

"You've never made the attempt?" Pyrrha asked curiously. She'd seen the leaderboards for the upper years and Lycan was consistently in the top five of the fourth years alongside the rest of his team.

Plus the young man wouldn't be running the combat class if he wasn't anything less than an excellent fighter.

"Collectively my team made the accomplishment at the beginning of our second year. Did it solo myself at the end of the same year, while my teammates did the same at different points during our third year. So you've got us all beat there as a standalone fighter." Lycan informed her, tapping the meter displaying her aura with a smirk. "Though I guess the moniker of 'Invincible Girl' was a little exaggerated."

While Pyrrha normally didn't appreciate others bringing up her career as a tournament fighter, the older student's words and tone were humorous so that curbed any irritation she might've felt about the reference. Plus it was hard to feel annoyed after such a wonderful workout. Her limbs were sore and without opponents to focus on she only just started to notice how much sweat was running down her skin, but it was a good feeling nonetheless.

Plus her success in beating the challenge had earned her a promised prize, which was something she was really excited for and couldn't help the eager smile that bloomed on her face.

"You remember our agreement then?" Pyrrha asked, wanting verbal confirmation from the assistant professor.

"Don't you worry, I'll hold up my end of the deal." Lycan grinned, and Pyrrha bounced a little on the heels of her feet when she saw the competitive spark in the faunus's eyes. "Since you've managed to beat the highest setting that the Beacon's automated training simulations have to offer completely by yourself… you'll get your opportunity to try and go one-on-one with a member of SLVR."

"Yes!" Pyrrha cheered, pumping her fists in victory at Lycan's declaration. "Give me an hour or two to rest then we can-"

"Whoa now! Love the enthusiasm, but you're not gonna be throwing down with any of us today. Give it time and we'll arrange a proper sparring session soon enough."

Pyrrha blushed a little at being called out for her overeagerness, but she couldn't help herself. Though she'd seen plenty of Lycan's battle prowess in some of the close combat classes that he'd hosted, no one he had ever faced had made him go all out. Even Yang, the strongest close quarters combatant of their year, hadn't inspired Lycan to show off what he could really do. Given her experiences in the tournament arena prior to distancing herself from that lifestyle, Pyrrha had pretty good intuition when it came to sussing out good fighters, and every single member of Team SLVR whetted her warrior's appetite.

As she could already solo entire teams of first years by herself, the only battle challenges Pyrrha had faced since attending Beacon were those within her own team, RWBY, and CFVY. Everyone else in their year didn't even make her break a sweat. Even a handful of second years Glynda had pitted her against fared worse than the top first year teams. The higher level training bots in Beacon's simulator did offer an excellent challenge, but only third and fourth year students had unrestricted access to it. The only time first and second years could fight robots and drones in the simulator was during combat class with Professor Goodwitch or if they were directly supervised by a fourth year. And even if they had a fourth year to watch over them, a permission slip from their crop wielding combat instructor was also required.

Luckily Pyrrha had acquired the permission slip at the beginning of the term, and after showing that she could handle the simulator bots, Lycan had been assigning her challenges within the simulator with the end goal of sidestepping the need to use the simulator entirely. After all, an experienced fourth year student was a much better opponent than training bots, no matter how hardy or advanced they were. Pyrrha had proven now that even though she was a first year she potentially had what it took to get scrappy with the upper years.

And she was itching to see where she stood with the top students in Beacon.

"How close is the gap between us? Or how far?" Pyrrha thought excitedly. She'd been without a genuine challenge for so long, it was hard to measure her own successes.

Getting to fight Lycan, or any other member of Team SLVR, would be an enlightening experience to see how much she still had to grow or if her experiences as an athlete really had put her that much further ahead of everyone else.

"Though I will say you didn't beat the original record holder for this challenge."

"Huh?"

Lycan grinned and gestured Pyrrha over, and the redhead quickly jogged over to where the blonde was standing in front of the terminal outside the arena borders.

"When you've got admin access you can look up the simulator logs. They have the difficulty, scores, times, and everything for those using the simulator." Lycan explained as he pulled open folders and files on the computer screen. "You can even access records and scores from people who've already graduated. Though the catch to that is that the names of graduated students are purged out of the terminal system and any scores from those no longer attending the school just lists their team name."

Lycan hit a key and the list he'd pulled up sorted itself into a simplistic scoreboard. Tapping the team name on the top of the list, STRQ, Lycan pointed to the highlighted "S" letter on the team name.

"The highlighted letters show how many members of the team participated in the challenge. Whoever that 'S' stood for did what you just did in her first week at Beacon." Lycan said. "You can see the other spots in the top ten of this list have the rest of the team. Probably the best team Beacon's ever produced based on numbers alone."

Pyrrha pursed her lips a little at that, mulling over the information for a bit before she gave her response.

"Well, numbers aren't everything. Just because they scored well in the simulator doesn't necessarily mean they're better or worse than those who came before and after them."

Lycan barked a laugh at that. "You're not wrong! Simulators give an idea of what others can do but who's to say how much the scores reflect how competent these people actually were. You can see by the date that this score was logged that this team attended Beacon a little over two decades ago. The school's changed a lot since then. The robots have had their programs updated dozens of times over the years, not to mention all the new hardware packed into them. It's fun to look back on things to see how our seniors did back in their day, but I'm glad you're not the sort to get hung up on that."

"Trainers I've had in the past advised me not to focus too heavily on comparing myself to others." Pyrrha shrugged.

Different divisions, different age brackets, there were a lot of factors when tracking one's personal growth. It wouldn't do to compare her merits and skills to an adult, or conversely to someone half her age. Pyrrha focused on herself and her own pace of growth, letting her skills speak for themselves whenever she got into a fight.

"By the by, don't tell Ms. Goodwitch I showed you this function." Lycan requested. "The leaderboards for each year we got posted outside of the combat classroom is one thing, but she doesn't like students attending Beacon now comparing themselves to those who were here over a decade ago. She worries that some people might get discouraged about their own progress."

"My lips are sealed."

"I appreciate that." Lycan smiled, letting out a chuckle when he glanced at the arena. "And I'm sure the mechanics and maintenance staff appreciate the job security you're providing them."

As if to punctuate his statement, a loud blast of static came from one of the downed robots before sparks flew from its chest, followed by a small detonation that had trails of smoke rising from its gouged out torso.

"They served their purpose well." Pyrrha announced, not at all guilty or embarrassed about the mechanical carnage. After all, broken and sliced up combat robots were just the end result of a successful training session in the simulator.

"And speaking of servicing, when was the last time you gave your weapons some good service?" Lycan asked, gesturing down to Pyrrha's weapon.

Looking at her weapons, Pyrrha didn't see any immediate problems… but upon closer inspection, she could see small chips in Milo's edge, plus Akuou was looking a lot more scratched and scuffed up than she last remembered. There was even a pretty solid dent near the shield's right edge.

Pyrrha bit her lip at the state of her weapons. Unlike with the robots she'd brutalized, she did feel bad about the poor state of her javelin/sword and shield.

She was lucky that admission to Beacon also covered any maintenance and upkeep costs for the weapons of attending students.

"The other reason that you're not fighting me or anyone else on my team is I want to make sure both you and your weapons are at one hundred percent before the bout." Lycan told her. "Hit the showers and wash off that grime and sweat, then take your weapons down to the mechanics. I'll recycle the metal corpses."

"Thank you, Professor Arcadia." Pyrrha said, bowing gratefully to the upperclassman.

"Ah, I know that you guys call me that in my classes but I'm still a student here too. You can just call me by my name when we aren't in class."

"If you prefer. I look forward to our fight, Lycan!"

Lycan grinned challengingly at her. "Same here. Heh, never thought I'd say that to a first year. Wish you new standouts had gotten here earlier. Graduating this year leaves us with a lot less time to play around with you all."

Chuckling a little at the blonde's comment, Pyrrha headed to the locker rooms to wash off and change back into her school uniform. By the time she'd gotten out, Lycan had cleaned up the arena and stored the robots away for either maintenance or disposal. The decision on that would be up to the academy's engineering team.

A while later, the duo were heading down the corridor towards where Beacon's forge and engineering department was kept. Pyrrha had told the upperclassman that she didn't need an escort as she knew where to go, but Lycan had said he was only tagging along to pick up his teammate. They'd apparently decided to go out on a date together for the afternoon.

Pyrrha hoped that her envy didn't show on her face. She'd get the opportunity in the coming days though. She'd be the one out on a date with Jaune!

"Soon, it'll be my turn." Pyrrha mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Ah, nothing!" Pyrrha yelped, waving Lycan off before pushing past the door that led to the forge. "Just talking to myself!"

Immediately upon entering the room Pyrrha was hit with the sounds of working machines that were loud enough to make her wince. Though she'd known of its location, she'd never actually been to Beacon's mechanics and engineering department in person before. All the mechanics and engineers that Beacon employed had access codes to the lockers where students kept their weapon. If someone ever had problems with their weapons or needed maintenance on their tools, they sent requests to the department through email and would get sent notices on when their weapons were being worked on and when maintenance was completed.

Beacon didn't just employ the best when it came to the active class instructors, since the mechanics and engineers who handled the weapons were very clearly talented at their craft. Months ago when Pyrrha had emailed a maintenance request to the department they'd fixed up her weapon and had it back in her locker on the same day she sent the email.

"I wonder if I should get a dog whistle."

The comment made Pyrrha blink while behind her Lycan let out an amused snort, and both turned in the direction of the speaker who was lounging behind a desk with her feet kicked up on top of it.

Ragora Cinarum wasn't looking at the two who had entered though. She was fiddling with some metal and wires in her hands, and while Pyrrha couldn't tell what it was she was working on, she could make an assumption based on the metal figurines that were spread across her desk and posed on the shelves behind her. And even though she was focused on her work, the timing of her comment and pointedness in her tone made it clear that she knew who had just entered the workshop.

Spotting the young woman's familiar floating close by and noticing that its eyes were pointed in their direction, Pyrrha wondered if maybe Ragora could see through it and if that was how she knew who it was that had walked in.

"First off, I'm not a dog. Second, I'm not the only canine faunus attending Beacon. Thirdly, I'm here right at the time you said to pick you up so I don't know why you made that comment." Lycan said loudly as he stepped up to his girlfriend's desk.

Ragora still didn't look up from her work-in-progress. "Did you check your scroll?"

Pyrrha saw the blonde's pose stiffen before he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll. He let out a weak laugh after a moment.

"Hence the need for a dog whistle, since I think it'd be a more reliable method of communication." Ragora said, finally looking up and giving Lycan a teasing smile. "You are dismal at answering your texts."

"Er, you could've called?"

"Check your missed calls log, puppy."

Flicking over to the relevant screen at her prompting, Lycan let out a low whine and slumped down to plant his forehead atop Ragora's desk. The purple haired huntress reached over and patted her boyfriend's head.

"There, there. Take assurance of the fact I'm more amused than annoyed."

Pyrrha felt very much like a third wheel since she was lacking context to whatever exchange the two upperclassmen were having. Shuffling on her feet with her weapons in her arms, she wondered if there was anyone else she should be talking to since both older students seemed occupied with each other.

"And what can we do for you today?"

Pyrrha jolted when Ragora called over to her, but quickly stepped forward and held up her weapons.

"I-I'm just here to drop off my weapons!" Pyrrha answered.

"Right, guess that should be obvious since I haven't seen you in here before today and you're not dressed to work any of the machines or the forge." Ragora drawled before reaching down and pulling out a clipboard. "Just sign in your name, student ID, and code to your weapon locker. It's the weekend so we're not fully staffed right now, but someone will get around to work on this at some point. Rest assured your weapons will be in your locker before classes start next week."

"Okay." Pyrrha nodded as she took the clipboard in one hand while holding Milo and Akouo against her side with her other. "Er, where should I drop off my-"

A low groan next to her ear had Pyrrha turning to the right and she couldn't help but yelp when she found Ragora's ram skull familiar floating inches away from her. She was so startled that she'd nearly dropped her weapons on the floor. The familiar's maw open up slowly and Pyrrha just stared at it for a moment before glancing over at the familiar's owner with an uncertain expression.

"Just drop them inside." Ragora told her.

Pyrrha hesitantly held out her weapons in front of the familiar at her instructions, flinching when the skull's mouth snapped forward and chomped down on her weapons and made them disappear behind its teeth.

"Um…"

"Don't worry, he didn't eat them. It's just temporary storage until I decide where to store them or find someone to hand the weapons off to."

"...Don't you need the head mechanic or chief engineer to decide that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Normally yes, but he put me in charge of the workshop today since he called out of work." Ragora sighed. "Word of advice, don't ever agree to become someone's apprentice. It's all just grunt work and having a toady to foist work off onto. And I'm only ever paid in 'exposure' and 'experience' and not actual money. The entirety of my Saturday afternoon is now going to be spent here running the shop instead of spending it the way I wanted to."

Pyrrha wasn't sure what to say about that, though the mildly apologetic look Ragora gave Lycan and the morose expression he gave her in return did give her an idea about what their earlier exchange had been about.

A door at the end of the room slammed open with a loud bang and Pyrrha once again found herself jumping in place.

"Why does this department have so many different ways of startling me?" Pyrrha thought as she held a hand over her beating heart.

"Ms. Cinarum, I'm finished!"

Pyrrha was mildly surprised to realize that she recognized the voice she'd heard. Turning around, she paused for a moment upon seeing the person jogging over to where they were. After a few seconds, her eyes widened when the person's identity registered in her mind.

"Ruby?"

"Pyrrha?" Ruby slowed her approach as she squinted at the redhead before beaming a smile. "It is you! What're you doing here?"

"I was dropping off my weapons for maintenance…" Pyrrha replied, trailing off as she stared at Beacon's youngest huntress-in-training. Ruby noticed her stare and tilted her head curiously.

"Something wrong?"

"No, not really." Pyrrha said slowly. "It's just… your outfit…"

"My outfit?" Ruby glanced down at what she was wearing. "What's wrong with it?"

There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it was a new look for her friend in Pyrrha's eyes. Privately the former tournament fighter always admired Ruby's taste in fashion. For all that the smaller girl downplayed her own attractiveness compared to her teammates and made the occasional self-deprecating comment about her inherent nerdiness, Pyrrha though that the girl had better dress sense than most of the students in their year. While she didn't show off as much skin like Yang or Blake, and her outfit wasn't as immaculate or upper class as Weiss, Pyrrha thought Ruby's corsets, tights and fishnets along with her trademark red cloak made her both distinctive and cute. She was actually a little jealous about how well she could make the look work, and thought it was better than her own armor and skirt combo.

But Ruby wasn't dressed in what Pyrrha had long since registered as her "usual" look. Instead, the younger girl wore large navy blue coveralls, though the torso portion of her coveralls were pulled down to her waist, revealing a black, long-sleeved undershirt underneath. The boots she wore were heavy workboots as opposed to her usual heeled combat boots, she wore large leather gloves over her hands, a bandana was wrapped around her head and covered up her hair, and a pair of safety goggles hung loosely around her neck. Even her favorite cloak was nowhere in sight, and Pyrrha couldn't remember a time when she hadn't seen the girl wearing it.

Ruby was dressed like she worked for a construction company that focused primarily on metalworks. Which wasn't exactly out of place given that they were currently stood in the area where the school kept its engineering equipment, forge, and other machinery. It was just odd for Pyrrha to see Ruby in such clothes. Sure, Ruby would gush for hours about weapons and their specs if given the opportunity, and Pyrrha vaguely remembered someone mentioning offhand that Ruby had forged her weapon all by herself, but it was only seeing her like this that trait of hers actualized in her mind.

"...You're not wearing your hood." Pyrrha pointed out finally.

Instead of seeing the girl getting shocked or panicking over her cloak like she did whenever she forgot to put it on in the morning or accidentally left it behind in the cafeteria, all she got from Ruby now was an amused eye roll.

"Well, DUH! I can't wear my cloak near the forge! It'd be burned to scraps if a stray spark popped off onto it." Ruby giggled. "I mean, I'm extremely careful when I'm working but I'm not gonna risk my mom's old cloak like that. Jaune may shrug whenever he has to stitch or patch up that raggedy blanket he calls a cloak, but I've got standards!"

"And speaking of standards, did you meet mine?" Ragora asked as she got up from her seat and stepped around her desk so that she could stand in front of Ruby.

"Of course!" Ruby chirped, presenting Ragora's weapon to her, which Pyrrha had only just realized the reaper had been holding. She'd been so focused on Ruby's appearance that she'd completely missed the fact that she'd been carrying a weapon in her arms.

The witch took her weapon and inspected it from front to back, testing the weight and scrutinizing the drum barrel of her shotgun before hitting a trigger and mechashifting it into its axe form. Spinning the polearm around her body expertly for a few moments, Ragora planted the butt of her weapon on the floor before glancing down at Ruby.

"I know I've said this plenty before, but you are absolutely my favorite first year." Ragora said seriously.

"Aw, thanks Ms. Cinarum!" Ruby smiled bashfully. "You're my favorite fourth year too!"

Sighing to herself, Ragora pulled back and handed her weapon to a slightly perplexed Lycan before she stepped back over to Ruby and pulled the girl into a hug.

"Lycan, how much convincing do you think the Simin would need to take this one with us when we graduate?" Ragora asked, patting Ruby's head while the girl blushed in embarrassment and started to struggle in her senior's arms.

"I don't think the boss is gonna like the idea of us poaching from another team." Lycan chuckled.

"He can be so uptight." Ragora sighed mournfully. "Why oh why couldn't these firsties have been with us since the beginning?"

Ragora pulled back some and brushed her fingers against Ruby's cheek.

"Rather, where have you been all my life, little rose?"

"C-C'mon, Ms. Cinarum! Not this again! And not in front of others!" Ruby stuttered in embarrassment, eyes darting from the purple haired girl to Pyrrha.

"You're adorable." Ragora laughed as she finally let the girl go, who activated her semblance as soon as she was free and darted behind Pyrrha. Ragora grinned lazily and glanced back at Lycan. "You've got competition, puppy."

"Oh?" Lycan grinned as he arched an eyebrow at Ruby. "You trying to cut in on my woman, little girl?"

Ruby's eyes widened as she kept a bewildered Pyrrha between her and their upperclassmen. "N-No! Absolutely not!"

"You must like those older women, huh? Rugged with age and weathered by years of experience." Lycan smirked, his descriptions earning a pout and narrowed eyes from his girlfriend.

"Watch it." Ragora warned.

"With maturity comes a certain allure that you can't ignore." Lycan continued as he stifled his laughter.

"I-I have someone I like already!" Ruby shouted.

"I'm just cuttin' up with ya, kid." Lycan said with a laugh, earning a swat from teammate. "What? You can tease but I can't?"

"I think today's teasing quota's been met." Ragora said, looking over at Ruby with a small smile while the girl pouted. "Oh, don't be like that. You've done such a good job that I'll put that extra effort into your model. I'll be super detailed and even color it."

"Really?!" Ruby cheered, looking positively giddy and she hopped in place.

"It's the least I can do for my favorite first year, especially after the work you put into Hexentanz." Ragora smiled, taking her weapon from Lycan and shifting it back into its shotgun form before placing it on her desk. "These first years really are something else. Guess all the prodigies chose to get into Beacon this year."

"Tell me about it." Lycan chuckled, gesturing toward Pyrrha with his thumb. "That one just beat twenty level ten training bots all by herself."

"Oh?"

"Wow, really Pyrrha?" Ruby gasped, looking at her friend in both shock and admiration. "All on your own?"

"It was tough, but I managed." Pyrrha admitted with a smile.

"Heh, 'managed', see says." Lycan chuckled. "By the end of it her aura barely dipped into the yellow. It was a clean sweep. And with that notch in her belt, she gets the chance to take a real crack at one of us."

"Does she now?" Ragora hummed. "Is Simin aware of this?"

"I cleared it with him when she wrecked the level nine bots a week or two back. He knows and approves of it." Lycan grinned. "Like you said, these first years are something else."

"That they are." Ragora nodded her head towards Ruby. "You should watch this star child at work. Honestly, she should be Professor Mulberry's number two instead of me. She's helped me tons with my workload. My afternoon is occupied, but I MIGHT be able to get my evening back if she stays here to work her magic."

"I'm free all day so I'll be here all day!" Ruby announced, snapping a quick salute. "Just keep me watered and fed and I'll tune and fix up any weapon you give me!"

Ragora grinned proudly and pointed at Ruby with finger guns. "You're pretty good."

Ruby smiled and returned the gesture with her own fingers. "Kept you waiting, huh?"

Both girls started giggling at each other. Pyrrha smiled awkwardly at the scene, assuming that it was some kind of inside joke between the two that she wasn't privy. Lycan, who got the reference, just palmed his face and shook his head at the sheer nerdiness on display by his girlfriend and the young weapons prodigy.

"I also came out here not just to hand off your Hexentanz, but because I also finished the other weapons you gave me. I asked around but none of the others were willing to give me anything they had in their queue."

"Not surprised. Ever since you started coming here you've lit a fire in a lot of those guys." Ragora smirked. "They all don't want the fifteen year old to show them up anymore than she already is."

"...I'll be sixteen really soon." Ruby pouted. "But anyway, I came to ask if there's something for me to work on?"

"Well, we kinda got swept up in our little talk but your friend here has an order for us." Ragora said, nodding to Pyrrha before snapping her fingers. The gesture made her familiar float over to Ruby and the girl held her arm out automatically, and the ghostly skull regurgitated the weapons and dropped them into Ruby's waiting hands.

"Ooooh! Milo and Akouo!" Ruby gave an excited grin before turning to Pyrrha with sparkling eyes. "Can I? Can I please?!

"Um…" Pyrrha waffled a little at the thought of Ruby handling her weapons.

While Yang had attested several times about Ruby's talent for understanding and handling weapons, and Ragora's words gave credence to the fact that Ruby's talents were genuine, she was still sort of hesitant to leave her weapons in the hands of someone as young at the little reaper, no matter how competent she'd proven herself to be as an aspiring huntress.

But Pyrrha was never any good at denying her friends, especially not when Ruby wielded puppy dog eyes more expertly than she did Crescent Rose.

"I-I suppose that's fine."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered, clutching Pyrrha's weapons to her chest happily. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of them! They'll have ALL my attention for the rest of the day! You'll get 'em back clean and pristine and better than ever! That's a Ruby Rose guarantee!"

"I-I'll leave you to it then." Pyrrha nodded, turning and making her way toward the door.

"Why not come watch?" Ruby offered, making Pyrrha pause and turn back around to face her.

"Huh?"

"Yeah! I mean, I know you're a fitness nut who'll train all day and night if you could. You're probably going to go grab some lunch and then work out at the gym or something, right?"

"I mean…" Pyrrha blushed as her plans for the day were immediately called out.

With Jaune on a man-date with Cardin, Ren downtown shopping, and Nora doing… whatever it was she did whenever she didn't have Ren to drag around, Pyrrha had been left on her lonesome. She had entertained the idea of asking someone from Team RWBY if they were free and wanted to hang out, but had prioritized beating Lycan's challenge over spending the day with friends. An odd decision when she thought about it in her head, especially with how excited she was to have actual friends, but she didn't want to rest on her laurels.

Then again, was there really any need to be so stringent with her workout schedule anymore? She'd been keeping to it more out of habit than anything else, but now that she was set up to spar against the assistant professors and she wasn't going to be fighting in any tournaments in the near future… aside from the Vytal Festival tournament that everyone would be competing in… did Pyrrha really need to turn down an invitation to spend time with a friend?

"If it's alright…?" Pyrrha asked, glancing over at Ragora and seeking permission since she wasn't sure if there were any requirements to be let into the workshop floor.

"Go ahead." Ragora waved her off. "Just don't break anything. Consider Ruby your overseer, so listen to everything she says. And if you mess up anything, I'm holding you and her both responsible and will assign detentions, understood?"

"I understand." Pyrrha nodded.

"Gotcha!" Ruby chirped before grabbing Pyrrha's hand and tugging her forward. "This'll actually go a lot quicker with you here! You can actually tell me the ins and outs of Milo and Akouo yourself which will save me the trouble of probing and finding out their specs on my own."

"Have fun." Ragora waved after them as she settled back behind her deck.

"Pyrrha, I'll message you when we've got a date and time for your spar!" Lycan called.

"Thank you!" Pyrrha called back before Ruby pulled her past the door.

Upon entering Pyrrha found herself in a long hallway that had a wall with a long glass window stretching down the walkway, beyond which she could see plenty of machines being worked on by engineering students and mechanics. Her attention was pulled away from the interesting sight when Ruby held out two foam earplugs out to her.

"Put these in before we head onto the main floor." Ruby told her. "Aura doesn't protect against any hearing damage, so we gotta take precautions. Just remember to speak loudly so we can still hear each other. You can take them out and throw them away once you leave."

Pyrrha did as she was told and used the earplugs, showing off her plugged ears to Ruby before the smaller girl nodded and led her into the large room through two big doors. Even through the earplugs, Pyrrha could hear the screeching and grinding of metal against metal and the pounding impact of hammers meeting steel. She let Ruby guide her past people at their workstations, with some pausing their work to stare or point at her as she passed by them. Pyrrha could see the recognition and admiration in their eyes, but also saw more than a few confused and envious looks directed at Ruby's back, likely due to her being in her company. Pyrrha just hoped her visit wouldn't ruffle too many feathers or cause people to ostracize Ruby just because others saw them together.

"And here's my workstation!" Ruby announced, stopping at an area near the backend of the room, spreading her arms out as she presented it to the tournament champion. "This is where all the magic happens! Autowelder is on the left, autoforge is next to it, and at the end is where the actual forge is. So you can just ignore the autoforge since I don't use it. Plus the computer had imaging and modeling programs to test concepts and look up information on specific parts."

"They really gave you your own workstation?" Pyrrha asked as she looked around.

"Well, yeah. Everyone who takes the Weapons and Upkeep elective course gets assigned one."

Pyrrha's cheeked reddened a little in embarrassment at that reply. She'd been under the assumption that Ruby's situation had been like her own and that she had sought permission to use the workshop like she had sought permission to use the battle simulator. This was part of Ruby's classes, not something she'd volunteered for.

Though given that it was a weekend day Ruby was present in the workshop for recreation and not because she had assignments to work on. Ragora's words had implied that too.

"So, let's get started." Ruby said, stepping up to her work desk and setting down Pyrrha's weapons on top of it. Reaching over, she punched in a few commands on a console nearby and Pyrrha could feel the forge a couple meters away start to heat up. "Looks like Milo's just got some chip damage, and that can be smoothed out easily enough. Though I might hammer in a little metal so that it retains proper weight and power. A few bits of metal flaking or chipping away might not seem like it'll make much of a difference, but you'd be surprised."

"O-Oh, is that so?" Pyrrha smiled hesitantly, already feeling a little lost.

"Yeah. So, what type of metal does Milo use? Is Akouo made of the same stuff? And are there any custom parts? I'd assume so since your weapon set is a triple-changer. A sword, a javelin, and a gun all in one. I mean, it's not a scythe which is totally superior, but nobody's perfect." Ruby babbled, Pyrrha smiling in amusement as she listened to the girl rant. "So, gimme the scoop! What are the special deets of your weapons?"

"Well, did you just say it yourself?" Pyrrha pointed out. "You know what it changes into. Just do whatever you can to fix the chip damage and make sure the pieces are in working order."

Ruby's head snapped in her direction and immediately Pyrrha felt like she'd said something wrong. The girl's silvery eyes narrowed and her expression was one part suspicious and one part dawning horror.

"Do you… not know what kind of metal your weapons were forged with?" Ruby asked. "Isn't your semblance's whole thing based on manipulating metal?"

"I manipulate a metal's polarity, and knowing the type of metal has no relevance to my semblance. I don't need to know the specific type of metal I'm trying to move to use my semblance, only thing that matters if it's actually a metal or not." Pyrrha replied.

"But do you know the specific metals Milo and Akouo are comprised of?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "I assume carbon steel. I remember one of my agents once saying that it made for the most effective cutting edge on my blade."

"YOU ASSUME?!" Ruby boomed, both looking and sounding like she'd been personally offended. Pyrrha leaned away slightly at the look Ruby was giving her.

"Why is it so surprising to you that I don't know?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because these are your weapons! Your partners in battle! And you're supposed to know them inside and out!"

"I mean, I know how they work and how to shift them into their different forms... but truth be told, the maintenance and design of my weapons were entirely up to my mom or my agents. If there was ever a problem I couldn't personally solve, I just handed my weapons to them and they'd take them to get fixed." Pyrrha informed the irate girl.

"What kind of logic is that?!"

"Hey, does someone who owns a car or motorcycle know all the ins and outs of their vehicle?" Pyrrha defended herself. "They know the basics of operation and what warning signs to look out for, but I think the people who take their vehicles to the shop outnumber those who actually know the components and parts to replace themselves if something goes wrong."

"Yang knows everything about her motorcycle." Ruby argued.

"And some people just take it to a car mechanic. Or a motorcycle mechanic. Or whatever the equivalent is."

"...Do you even know how to field strip your weapon?"

"I know that much at least." Pyrrha smiled. "And my semblance DOES let me cheat a little if the trigger locks up or if the shift sequence gets jammed."

"...But you don't know how to actually fix the function if it's broken?"

"The shield works fine as a standalone weapon for me if something goes wrong with Milo. And even then I can still break the off the attachment and wield it as a sword if I need to in emergencies."

Ruby recoiled at Pyrrha's professed willingness to break her own weapon. She couldn't even imagine doing the same to Crescent Rose.

"Do you have so little attachment to you own weapons!?" Ruby demanded.

"I mean, I don't feel as strongly about them as you do about your scythe-"

"You use his name while you're in my workshop!"

"-About Crescent Rose, but it's not like I made them myself. Besides, I've only had Milo and Akouo for about a year." Pyrrha said. "They were reforged from my previous weapons once they broke. I'd warped the metal too much using my Semblance in a fight against a particularly tough opponent during the tournament so they were redesigned from the ground up."

"What were your old weapons named?"

Pyrrha sighed, knowing what how Ruby would take her answer.

"I forgot."

As she thought, Ruby now looked like she'd taken a punch to the soul from her words."

"...G-Geez, you led us all to believe you were an expert in everything related to fighting, but you're telling me that you don't even know your own weapons?" Ruby said despairingly, holding a hand to her forehead as she tried to compose herself. "The scales have fallen from my eyes. I'm seeing you in a whole new light, Pyrrha. And it burns."

Pyrrha blushed. "W-What's wrong with me not knowing how to perform weapon maintenance? I'm sure there are plenty of students like me. And we have plenty of people who can fix up our weapons better than we could ourselves."

"Excuses. Yang performs maintenance on her weapons. Blake does. Weiss does. Heck, I saw Nora in here once fixing up her hammer. That you apparently don't know the basics is worrying, Pyrrha." Ruby said. "Plus Jaune is in here once a week to fix his weapons."

"But Jaune's weapon isn't mechashift."

"His shield is. And he still has to sharpen his sword once in a while. The blade might be made of special metal that only a laser cutter could cut, but he still needs to put a whetstone to it here and there."

"Jaune comes here?" Pyrrha asked, surprised by that tidbit of information.

"Yeah, he sits right over there and works on his sword." Ruby smiled, pointing to a chair at the other end of her workstation. "It's time just for him and me. It's fun!"

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. While Ruby's was surprised by her lack of weapon knowledge, the former athlete was surprised by the revelation that Ruby was getting a leg up on her without knowing. Sure, Pyrrha had her one-on-one training sessions with Jaune as his partner, but still…

"Well… maybe you could show me how to perform maintenance on my weapon?" Pyrrha asked.

The girl was surprised when Ruby's expression turned to excitement at her words.

"Really? You want me to teach you about the wonderful world of weapons?!"

"I-I mean, if you have the time." Pyrrha stuttered, backpedaling a little due to accidentally hitting Ruby's weapon mania button. "I-It WOULD be useful to know how to maintain my weapon by myself when I think about it. After all, if we're ever deployed to frontier towns in the future there's no guarantee that there will be readily available mechanics to service my weapons if they break or malfunction."

"I'd be happy to teach you! Professor Ruby is more than willing to enlighten you! Then I'll have someone else besides Jaune to talk about weapons with!"

Ruby scurried over to some racks and bins that were set and against the wall before zipping back to Pyrrha and handed her a piece of metal.

"Here, this was a metal I was testing for a new blade for Crescent Rose. You can work on sharpening it using the autoforge. Watch the process and see how the machine handles the metal and that should start to give you and idea of how to sharpen a blade."

"O-Okay…?"

"Another thing that'll be useful," Ruby continued, stepping over to the computer and grabbing a piece of paper before walking back and presenting it to Pyrrha with a smile. "Here's a cheat sheet you can follow. Put these settings into the autoforge and get started." Ruby smiled. "And just ask me if you have any questions or if you run into an issue you don't know how to deal with!"

"But didn't you say not to use the autoforge?"

"No, I said 'I' don't use the autoforge. Because I'm a professional, and not a hack."

"I don't think someone using an autoforge makes them a hack. Isn't it more efficient and faster to use the machine than the forge?"

"Sure, if you want to do things the easy way instead of the right way. I do what is right, but we gotta start you off on easy before I show you the right way to do it." Ruby declared. "Though if you want to keep using training wheels forever, I won't stop you. Just don't complain when I laugh at you behind your back."

"...You better watch out if we're paired together for a spar in Ms. Goodwitch's class. Don't have your mouth write checks that you can't cash." Pyrrha warned, which only earned an amused snort from Ruby.

"She said to the girl in charge of fixing her weapons."

"Is that a threat?"

"Hey, you know what they say about pissing off a waiter or cook when they're in charge of bringing you food? Same principles apply here. My hand could slip and then, boom! No weapons for you to use come Monday morning."

"Please, did you forget what my semblance was? I'd choose your words more carefully." Pyrrha said haughtily. "You've brought me to a room where I'm surrounded by metal. I'm not trapped in her with you, Ruby Rose. You're trapped in here with ME."

Both girls stood glaring at each other before their expressions broke and they started giggling uncontrollably at each other. Pyrrha was snorting laughter in a completely undignified manner that paparazzi back home would've paid an arm and a leg to get a picture of while Ruby held onto her sides as she let her laughter flow and not caring who heard her. Eventually the girls settled down and Pyrrha beckoned Ruby over.

"Well, as useful as these notes are, could you please walk me through the startup process? I've always been more of a visual learner, so if I could be shown instead of having to read I'd appreciate it."

"Sure, sure." Ruby smiled at the older girl, still giggling as she stepped up to the console. "So, I'm already signed in so you're already at the main screen. What you gotta do is tab over to the assembly screen like this…"

Pyrrha smiled as she followed Ruby's instructions, enjoying the feeling of being a novice and deferring to someone else. It was an experience she hadn't had in a long time. She was learning something new, and was actually hanging out with a friend at the same time. If the rest of her time at Beacon was going to be like this, Pyrrha couldn't feel more vindicated about her choice to leave Mistral and attend school in Vale.

Beyond just Jaune and her other teammates, it was nice having other people she could genuinely connect with. And Ruby Rose, surprisingly, may be unexpected best friend material.

- - -

"Are you messing with me right now, Arc?"

"Whatever gave you that idea, Cardin?"

"Because you can't honestly tell me that this is fun for you."

"It is, actually."

Cardin had been tense as he'd followed Jaune through the streets of Vale. He'd braced himself for an activity that would be an absolute chore, and while he'd tried prodding Jaune with questions about what he had in mind on the way over, the other team leader had been annoyingly evasive with his replies. Cardin had gone from annoyed to confused when they'd arrived at the docks, then from confused to completely flabbergasted when Jaune had entered a building close to Vale's pier and had rented a fishing pole and bought some bait. Ten minutes later Cardin found himself sitting at the edge of the dock while his not-friend started casting his line out over the water.

"You're free to go get yourself a fishing rod if you're bored. They're actually renting them out for pretty cheap." Jaune said as he gazed out on the open water with a small smile.

Cardin was left a little lost at just how content the blonde looked doing something so inane.

"Have you ever gone fishing before?" Jaune asked.

"Huh?"

"Fishing. Have you tried it?"

"No…" Cardin admitted.

"So then don't knock it until you try it." Jaune retorted. "Besides, is this really any different than sitting down and watching a movie?"

"Yes. A movie is actually entertaining." Cardin snorted.

"You say that, but we-"

"Yeah, it was a bad movie, but there were plenty of others we could have watched. If we were just gonna sit on our asses some more we could've tried picking another film. Wash the bad taste of that horrible movie out of our mouths."

"Our eyes, more like."

"Whatever. And that would make the statement inaccurate since we don't taste things with our damn eyes, Arc." Cardin grunted. "Learn to grammar."

Jaune chuckled. "Touche."

"Point is, I can't believe you'd rather sit out here holding a twig and string over the water instead of-"

"AH-HA!"

Cardin jumped in his seat when Jaune suddenly shouted and pulled back hard on his fish line. Out from the water a thin gray fish was pulled out and hung at the edge of Jaune's fishing line.

"Only a couple minutes and I already caught my first one." Jaune smiled. "Vale might actually have some pretty good fishing spots."

Dropping the fish into the bucket at his side, Jaune proceeded to hook some fresh bait onto his line before casting it out again. Cardin stared for a moment before he leaned over and peered into the bucket. It was filled halfway with water and he could see the fish Jaune had caught swimming around at the bottom.

"...You actually caught one." Cardin muttered.

Jaune arched an eyebrow at the brunette. "You didn't think I could?"

"Part of me still thought this was just some ploy to mess with me, or that you wanted to waste time." Cardin confessed without shame. "Though the latter assumption is still kinda true."

"This isn't a waste of time. Fishing is a relaxing sport that helps relieve stress. Plus it teaches a good lesson about how patience is often rewarded." Jaune said. "My dad took me out to fish a lot growing up. Radian has a few big lakes with lots of fish, and we'd take boats out and spend an afternoon trying to catch fish for dinner."

"That right?" Cardin mumbled, resting his chin on one hand. "You still go fishing with daddy?"

"My dad's dead."

Cardin winced at Jaune's blunt reply. Even given the animosity he felt toward the blonde, disparaging the dead wasn't any way for someone to act.

"Sorry…" Cardin murmured, eyes pointed down at the calm wandering and not looking Jaune's way.

Jaune glanced over at Cardin, nodding mutely when he confirmed that the other boy's apology was genuine and he wasn't going to make a follow up comment. The blonde swordsman took a deep breath and took a moment to cool his nerves before speaking up again.

"It's another reason I like to fish. Reminds me of my time with him." Jaune smiled softly. "None of my sisters are really into it. Except for Aqua, but she cheats with her semblance. Kinda takes the fun out of it."

"...Heard a rumor that you've got a pretty big family. Lots of sisters." Cardin commented.

Jaune nodded. "Eight in total. I'm the youngest."

"Eight older sisters…" Cardin murmured. He thought of what it would be like to have multiple Argentias. He shuddered at the mental picture. "Can't imagine having more than the one."

"Oh? You've got a sister?"

"Older one. She's a Beacon graduate. Has been for a few years and she's fought on the frontier. She even got a few medals and commendations from the Vale Council for her deeds out there."

"Sounds like she's quite the huntress."

Cardin smiled a bit at that. As annoying as he found his sister and even thought they'd drifted apart compared to when he was younger, he was definitely proud of her accomplishments. "She's a good goal for me to work towards."

He had to stand out just as much as she did since he was Rufus Winchester's only son.

It was a shame Beacon hadn't quite worked out like that so far. During her time at Beacon his sister had been at the top of her class leaderboards for all four years she attended. He wasn't close to the top yet, and Cardin's expression twisted slightly when he remembered that the blonde he was sitting next to was ranked in the top five of their year.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Jaune asked when he noticed Cardin's sour expression.

"Just thinking about how lame it is that I've got to waste most of my Saturday hanging out with you." Cardin scoffed.

Jaune sighed at Cardin's words. "C'mon man. I thought we were connecting for a second there."

"Look Arc, I appreciate you helping me sell the story about you and me being besties to make Velvet think that the thought of bullying her never crossed my mind-"

"Which it did."

"BUT that doesn't mean we actually need to become besties." Cardin frowned. "Let's just get through the afternoon so we can go our separate ways and maintain our mutual state of dislike toward one another."

"Yeah, how about no?"

Cardin blinked in surprise at Jaune's straightforward refusal.

"Cardin, I wasn't super enthusiastic about spending today with you either, but if we're gonna be in each other's company I'd like to at least try and squash whatever beef is between us. And I don't even know how it started!"

"Psh, like you don't know." Cardin grumbled.

"No, seriously, I don't." Jaune said irritably, finally turning away from the water to face the other boy directly. "You were the one who swung on me first for no reason at all. Remember back in the cafeteria when you deliberately tripped me up and made me drop my food? Dropping a line about some nonexistent pecking order I needed to follow?"

"...Yeah, I remember." Cardin replied with a frown.

He also remembered what had happened afterward.

"You laughed in my face."

"Because it was dumb schoolyard bullying in a place of higher education that teaches us to defend innocent lives against literal monsters. I thought the wedgie and swirly phase of our lives got left behind in middle school. Plus after all the bullshit I went through months prior trying to get into Beacon, your attempt to push me around came off as being pretty comical to me."

Cardin's frown became deeper and he crossed her arms as Jaune tore into him.

"But hey, I was willing to let it go as a one off, until you DELIBERATELY decided to swing on me. That was legit self-defense on my part. Would you have taken the hit if some other guy had tried the same on you?"

Cardin just grumbled.

"And then you go and challenge me directly in combat class." Jaune continued, heaving his shoulders as a substitute for throwing up his hands incredulously since they were occupied gripping onto his fishing pole. "Again, you made the first move, not me."

"...I get it."

"And because I wasn't the doormat you were hoping I'd be, you changed targets to the hot bunny girl who I hooked you up with because I spun it around as you being too shy and the racist attack you made on her was actually a botched attempt to try and convey your feelings to her." Jaune huffed. "I'm honestly kinda shocked she bought that, and I'm even surprised, but not at all unhappy, that you developed genuine feelings for Velvet and you're both in a very happy relationship. Seriously, kudos to you for being a giant middle finger to the White Fang's propaganda by being a wonderful example of a happy human-faunus couple. Which, again, YOUR WELCOME for hooking you up with a literal bunny girl. Look online at all the fetish porn about bunny girls, and you'd know how envious about ninety percent of guys in the world would be of you and would kill to be in your situation."

Cardin was blushing now. He tried his darnest to be respectful to his girlfriend and not directly acknowledge the walking fetish she represented… but Jaune deliberately calling it out was just forcing him to acknowledge what he knew was fact. He really had won the girlfriend lottery.

"So with all that being said, that brings me back to my original question." Jaune said, giving Cardin a hard look. "What is your beef with me? Spell it out for me, because honestly for the life of me I can't think of anything I did to make you declare me your enemy."

"I… you…" Cardin sputtered, trying to come up with a way to explain why he disliked Jaune so much. The blonde just waited, his expression becoming more and more unamused as the other team leader continued to flounder.

"...Seriously man? You can't even give a reason?" Jaune asked, his tone conveying his heavy disappointment. "Then what's with the grudge?"

Cardin clenched his fists and bit his lip. He DID have his reasons for disliking Jaune, but the other boy bringing up their first encounters and Cardin's earlier aggression, plus with another reminder that he was only in his happy relationship thanks to the guy he had committed himself to antagonizing…

…The "why" regarding his dislike of Jaune was extremely petty, a fact Cardin acknowledged in his head but didn't want to admit out loud.

After a minute passed without Cardin giving a response, Jaune sighed again and turned away from Cardin, putting his attention back on his bobbing fishing line.

"...I'm not asking for much here, Cardin." Jaune muttered. "Like you said, we don't have to be besties or anything, but at the very least we should be able to establish a tolerance for each other. We're gonna be attending Beacon for three more years, and unless one of us drops out or bites it at some point, that's a lot of time to interact with each other even by accident. Wouldn't it be better to get along? Our only enemies should be the Grimm we're getting taught to fight against."

Cardin really didn't like how many good points Jaune was making, but he couldn't find anything to say or refute him with. Jaune was extending an olive branch to him. Offering a truce. Cardin recognized that. And much as it irked him, it was just was to much effort to try and one-up Jaune. Especially when the leader of Team JNPR could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could tie him into a knot if he were so inclined.

…He was the one who'd thrown the first punch. Jaune's actions against him were only taken due to that and he'd never picked a fight, unlike Cardin himself.

Cardin turned his head slightly when he noticed Jaune extending one hand toward him.

"Acquaintances at least?" Jaune offered.

Cardin stared at the hand with a blank expression. A minute or two passed before he slowly raised his hand.

Though just as Cardin motioned to shake Jaune's hand, the blonde abruptly pulled his hand back. Cardin expression became incredulous, then indignant, and he took a deep breath in preparation to shout at the guy who tricked him after spouting all that stuff-

"Oh, this is a big one!" Jaune cheered brightly as he held up the fish he'd pulled out of the water, dangling in front of Cardin's face. "Look at this! Vale's got some pretty big specimens, huh?"

Cardin's eyes were as dead as the fishes as he stared at Jaune.

"...Are you for real, man?"

Jaune's expression was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Cardin let out all the air in his lungs in a big puff, shaking his head with a dry chuckle.

"Forget it. You ruined the moment this time."

"What are you… oh." Jaune flushed when he realized what he'd did. "S-Sorry, I felt the line getting pulled and instincts kicked in."

Jaune extended his hand again.
"So you wanna…?"

Cardin chuckled and flipped him the bird.

"Moment's gone, man. Ain't no way we're getting it back now." Cardin smirked.

"Alright, alright. That was my B, I admit it." Jaune said, quirking his lips up in a self-deprecating smile as he dropped his hand. "But I think we're getting there, and I'll take that as a win."

"Whatever floats your boat, man."

The duo lapsed into silence, but it was a silence that was far less tense than it was when they'd started in the morning. It was almost companionable, with neither Jaune or Cardin feeling particularly annoyed at one another. Jaune contented himself with catching fish, and Cardin lazily watched him as he counted the minutes it took between each of Jaune's catches.

Eventually, Cardin broke the silence.

"Sorry I was a dick to you after initiation." Cardin said bluntly.

"Apology accepted. Sorry I busted your face so badly after you tried punching me."

Cardin snorted. "You didn't get me that badly."

"I carried you to the nurse's office."

"Next time I'll be the one carrying you to the nurse."

Jaune chuckled. "Promises, promises."

Cardin snorted, but mulling over Jaune's words, something about the boy did make him a little curious. He opened his mouth to voice a question, but instead his stomach spoke up first, growling loudly enough for the two of them to hear.

"...If I were with Velvet right now she'd be cooking me one of her lunches." Cardin whined.

"Well, I don't think I can measure up to that-"

"Definitely not."

"But thinking about it, we never had lunch. We should get some grub." Jaune suggested.

"You're not gonna eat the fish you caught?" Cardin asked, pointing down at the fish swimming around in the bucket next to his feet.

"Nah, they're going back in the water. I didn't bring anything with me to preserve them and I don't feel much like going back to Beacon and storing them in the fridge. This was more of a spur of the moment thing, so if I come back here I'll bring something to store them in. This was just a recreational fishing session."

Cardin stared at him for a few moments before shaking his head with a sigh. "I still don't get how you can actually have fun with this."

"Hey, to each their own. And it gave us a good opportunity to chat, didn't it?"

Cardin scratched his cheek. "I guess…"

"Tell you what though, if you let me pick the place we eat at I'll pay for your meal."

"I mean…" Cardin started, but trailed off as he thought about that. The compromise was probably better than arguing over a place they both agreed on, plus it let him get out of paying for his food. "...I guess that's fine. What place did you have in mind?"

"It's a place me and my friends found a little after we got accepted into Beacon," Jaune smiled. "A little hole-in-the-wall diner with excellent service, good atmosphere, and stellar eats. I think it'd actually make for a pretty good date spot for you to take Velvet to one day."

"Is that right?" Cardin hummed, getting a little curious about the place Jaune was describing.

"Yeah, I haven't had a chance to eat there recently so this is a good opportunity." Jaune grinned. "Just let me catch one more and then we'll head out."

Cardin frowned when he felt a rumbling in his gut after Jaune finished his sentence. "You'd better not keep us here waiting for that one more bite for too long after the way you just talked about this place."

Jaune grinned when he felt a tug on his line.

"Don't worry. You won't have to wait very long." Jaune declared as he pulled his line.

Cardin's eyebrows rose at the sizeable fish that jumped from the water. Seeing Jaune's proud expression as he beheld his catch, Cardin actually found himself a little tempted to come back.

Maybe fishing could actually be fun?

= = = = = = =

I hope everyone enjoyed the characters bouncing off of each other since I had fun writing them. Jaune and Cardin burying that hatchet, expanding a little on SLVR members, plus giving Ruby and Pyrrha some time to spend together. I always thought those two would make excellent friends since both have more similarities than one would think. And Pyrrha needs to be shown interacting more with other characters without Jaune around. Her biggest want with attending Beacon was making some genuine friends, so that should be shown off more.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

When Merlot Joined Salem.

Merlot: "My Queen..." bows "It is an honor to work with you on the Instrumentality of mankind."

Salem: "The what?"

Merlot: "Well, isn't your plan to merge mankind with Grimmkind to create a perfect utopia where Death is defeated and we reach our ultimate potential as lifeforms? In total defiance of the cruel gods who created and then abandoned us?"

Salem: "... Yes. Yes. That is totally my plan! Only a genius of your caliber could have discovered it!"

Merlot: beams "I already have a design for a superior Grimm, based upon paleontological studies of creatures that inhabited Beacon millions of years ago!"

Salem: "Millions of years ago?"

Merlot: "Yes! BEHOLD! The ultimate predators!" He shows off a hologram of feathered raptors "The Velociraptor! Well technically they're Utahraptors, they were mistakenly named that thanks to some movie-ANYWAY. These were pack hunters with superior night vision, smell, and incredible intellect! With a few modifications to their wrists, they could manipulate tools with their claws! They could sprint to near cheetah speed and their deadly foot claws are razor sharp! In short! Packs of these as Grimm could let you dominate the planet!"

Salem: "Ooooh... I love them! Especially the teeth. And I already have ideas for the bone masks!"

Merlot: "Wonderful!"

Tyrian: mutters "Suck up..."

Salem: "They're a bit short ranged though, aren't they?"

Merlot: "I had another thought to fix that. Watts?"

Watts: annoyed "What?"

Merlot: "Do you want to put laser cannons on the Grimm-Raptors when they're done?"

Watts: "..." childlike glee "DO I!"

Merlot: "Can we, Queen Salem? Can we?"

Salem: "Oh... How can I say no to those faces?"

Merlot and Watts: high five "YEAH! EVIL SCIENCE!"

 

[Sir_dood134]

Holy hell, that was funny.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Yeah. I've been taking a break from this fic so I could run wild with RWBY ideas elsewhere. I've been letting UnknownAnon write chapters. So things have slowed down a fair amount. Also, I'm employed again and my job SUCKS, so I have a LOT less time for writing long, focused stories.

 

[UnknownAnon]

Getting on the home stretch now. Shorter than the previous chap, but the rest of the meat is coming. Thanks to AJT for helping edit this when I've been busy.

- - - - - - -

Cardin hadn't expected to visit the Old District on a Saturday, and was fairly surprised when he noticed Jaune had led him there. Passing by a few faunus children who were kicking and chasing a ball down the road, Cardin was glad he hadn't come down to Vale wearing anything that would've identified him as a member of the Winchester family. As the Old District generally had more Faunus residents than human residents, he was glad that he wasn't instantly recognizable to those milling around and walking down the streets.

"And here we are."

Jaune's announcement took Cardin's attention away from the street and he found himself staring at the restaurant the blonde Jaune had taken them to. Though upon inspection of the building design and the homely nature of it, it really appeared to be more of a diner than a restaurant. Privately owned too and not part of some chain either.

"C'mon. Let's head in." Jaune grinned, beckoning Cardin to follow after him as he pushed open the door.

"Just making sure, you're still going to-"

Cardin's question was interrupted by a sudden chorus shouting in front of him.

"Welcome to Just Right Bakery where everything is made just right!"

"Are you here to shop or are you eating in?"

Cardin blinked at the squeaky voices. Instead of a host or waiter welcoming them upon entry, the brunette found himself glancing down at two toddlers who beamed up at him. One was a little girl with blonde pigtails and overalls and the other was a brown haired haired boy who was wearing a shirt that looked like it was one size too big, but proudly displayed some heroic cartoon character on a bright red shirt. The little girl also had a pair of dog ears settled atop her head, giving away her nature as a faunus.

"...This place employs children?" Cardin asked aloud. I mean, knew plenty of stereotypes about poor faunus communities but he'd never actually seen-

"No, these are just the owner's kids." Jaune answered, interrupting Cardin's train of thought. "Must be a slow period if she's letting them play host."

"Oh, it's Jaune!" The blonde girl shouted happily, pointing up at his face. "Mama, Jaune came to visit!"

Turning in the direction of where the girl was facing, Cardin spotted a blonde woman who he immediately identified as the owner of the diner reclining in a large circle booth. The way she held herself reminded him about how his father and some of his associates presented themselves. Even though she wasn't wearing armor or fancy clothes, the look in her eyes and the confident aura she exuded almost made him feel a little intimidated.

And it was amazing that she could give off that impressed dressed in a baker's apron and smock while holding onto a small child who appeared to be nodding off on the woman's shoulder.

"Not just a visit, I hope." Goldie remarked, sliding out of the booth and getting to her feet, all while being careful not to jostle her youngest who stirred for a moment before the child adjusted her head to rest her chin on her mother's shoulder. "Customer or employee? Which one are you today?"

Goldie smirked as she eyed Cardin, who couldn't help but notice how defined the woman's arm muscles were which made him wonder if she was just a regular civilian or huntress-trained.

"Same question to your buddy here."

"Customers today." Jaune replied with a smile.

"Good! It's been a pretty slow Saturday so I was hoping that was the case." Goldie grinned. "'Sides, already got some extra help today so I was lookin' for some of the former and not the latter. Kids, show these boys to their table."

"Okay, mama!" The blonde girl chirped, grasping one of Jaune's hands with a smile and tugging him past the front desk. "This way please! Orso, get the menus!"

"'Kay!" The boy nodded and hefted up two menus, holding them out to Cardin with a gap-toothed smile. "Here you go!"

Cardin had an impulse to tell the kid it was proper to wait until they were seated before getting the menus, but seeing how the boy's mother and Jaune were eyeing him, Cardin swallowed the impulse and took the menus, nodding his thanks to the kid as he tucked the menus under his arm. He followed after Jaune as the little girl kept pulling the swordsman's arm. They wound up at a booth by next to a window that let them observe the street.

"This is where you're sitting!" The little girl announced proudly.

"Thanks, Ursula." Jaune smiled.

"Was I a good host?" Ursula asked.

"You were a great host."

"Good enough for a tip?"

Again, Cardin felt another impulse to point out that generally hosts didn't receive tips and that was something waiters got, but Jaune had already pulled open his wallet and handed the faunus girl some lien.

Ursula cheered and held up the money in celebration. "I'm rich now!"

"Make sure to share with your brother." Jaune advised the girl.

"Uh-huh!" Ursula smiled before turning to Goldie. "Mama, I'm going to the candy shop now!"

"Me too!" Orso added.

"Sure, sure." Goldie chuckled, pulling out some cash herself and handing it over to Orso. "Get something for Bera and Karu too."

Both children cheered their agreement before darting out the door. Seeing the two children leave, Cardin didn't hold back on voicing his thoughts this time.

"Should you really be letting them run around like that on their own?" Cardin asked.

"The candy shop is literally across the street. Those two don't need to be babysat just to hope and skip over there. Plus the old couple that runs the shop are friends of the family." Goldie informed him. "Besides, people 'round these parts know better than to mess with my kids."

And there was that dangerous confidence again that made Cardin wonder if there was more to the woman than just being a mother and cafe owner.

"Well, you boys can kick back. Someone will be out to take your orders soon." Goldie said before heading to the back of the diner and entering through a door to a different room.

"…So, how'd you find out about this place?" Cardin asked, deciding that it was probably best not to think two deeply about Goldie.

"Mrs. Zapatos, a friend of mine, showed me and my teammates this place during the semester break. She even hooked us up with some part-time jobs here and it was actually a lot of fun." Jaune smiled. "My team actually comes here quite a bit when we're out in Vale. Even if we don't dine in, this café has a bakery that sells cakes and pastries. We get them for takeout a lot. And sometimes on the weekends we lend some help, and Goldie always pays us for our time. Ren actually comes here the most out of all of us and even though Nora and I don't take shifts here very often, he helps out in the kitchen at least twice a week."

"That so…" Cardin muttered as he took a look around the place. It was a homely little café, and the leader of Team CRDL did like the atmosphere even if it wasn't the kind of place he would've normally chosen to eat at.

"Shame we're passed the time when we can order breakfast, but the menu's got some great sandwiches and fish dishes." Jaune continued. "Oh, and you should definitely get the porridge as an appetizer. It's amazing."

"Porridge? Really?" Cardin asked skeptically.

"Trust me. I wasn't a porridge guy either, but the way they make it here is good enough that it's practically a dessert given how good it tastes."

"…Well, since you're the one covering the check I guess I'll give it a shot."

"Good choice."

"Um… hello!"

Both aspiring huntsmen turned their heads as a new voice spoke up. Jaune smiled when he saw a little girl in a sky blue dress and shorts standing next to their table holding a notepad.

"Hey there, Bera." Jaune greeted the girl.

"Another kid?" Cardin thought, staring at the toddler as the brunette adjusted her glasses.

"Hi Jaune!" Bera returned Jaune's greeting with a smile before casting a shy look over at Cardin. "Um, who is this person?"

"This is Cardin. Say hi, Cardin."

"Uh, how's it going?" Cardin said, giving a small wave to the girl who smiled nervously back.

"I-I can get your drinks and stuff." Bera said, gesturing to her notepad. "Mama's letting me help since no one else is here. Mama's busy putting Karu to sleep, but I don't know where Ursula and Orso went…"

"They went to the candy store." Jaune answered, and he chuckled slightly at the affronted look on the toddler's face when she heard him say that. "They're going to bring back some candy for you."

"O-Oh! That's good then!" Bera smiled, looking appeased before gasping and taking out a pen. "Your drinks though?"

"Lemonade for me please." Jaune requested.

"I'll just have some water." Cardin said.

"Lemonade and water. Okay, I'll be back really quick!"

The girl jogged off and disappeared behind the counter and into the kitchen, leaving Jaune and Cardin the only two people in the café dining area.

Inside the kitchen, Bera walked up and tugged on the apron of the young man working at the stove.

"Ren, I got the drink orders!"

Ren wiped his hands on his apron before crouching down slightly to the girl, who held up her notepad to him. Smiling slightly at Bera's drawings that substituted for actually writing down the orders, Ren was familiar enough with her drawing skills that he was pretty confident in what the orders were.

"Lemonade and water?" Ren asked.

"Yeah!" Bera smiled. "It's for Jaune and his friend!"

"Jaune's here?" Ren asked, mildly surprised that his friend was the customer. "Who is the friend that's with him?"

"Um… Jaune said his name was Cardin!"

Ren's eyebrows went up. While he was aware that Jaune was spending the day with Cardin, he hadn't expected their paths to cross until the evening after they'd both returned to Beacon. Stepping over to the kitchen pass through the window, Ren confirmed with his own eyes that it was indeed Jaune and Cardin sitting at one of the booths next to the café windows.

"Well, neither of them seems angry and I can't see any bruises or evidence that they've gotten into a fight." Ren thought as he observed them.

When Jaune had agreed to hang out with Cardin he had been anxious how smoothly their outing would go. Cardin had held a grudge against Jaune since their starting days at Beacon and Jaune wasn't particularly fond of Cardin after the boy's attempts to bully him, even if those attempts wound up at Cardin's expense. But he was pleased to see that his worries were unfounded.

Still, while they were eating in, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on them and interpose himself between them if things got heated.

Hopefully there wouldn't be any sort of catalyst that would spark a fight or argument between the two team leader.

Ren blinked when he heard the ring of the diner door bell that announced someone new had entered the building.

"Hello? This place open?"

Peering out the kitchen hole, Ren was surprised to see who had entered the café.

"Hey… Jaune, is that you?" Sun Wukong laughed as his eyes fell on the other team leader's table. "Didn't expect to run into you! And who's the guy with you?"

Ren held a hand to his chin as he watched Sun approach Jaune's table with a jovial smile.

"Is this a good or bad thing?" Ren murmured quietly.

He felt a scowl from beneath his chest. He glanced over at Bera, who put her hands on her hips.

"Hey! Get back to work!"

"Ah, right away," he said quickly.

"Guess it runs in the family," Ren thought.

- - - - - - -

This arc is coming to a close soon. Just a little bit more to go then we'll be getting back to the action of the canon volumes. Character development is nice and all, and RWBY sorely needs it, but we need some real conflict too.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Ozpin watched as Arjun prepared tea across his desk. The Pandu prince was meticulous and focused during the entire process, as though he was doing brain surgery. Every step, every measurement, it was all done with machine like precision, or perhaps a dancer executing a perfect choreography.

At last, Arjun finished the cup and held it out to Ozpin. He set it down on a saucer in front of the headmaster, before pulling back to sit on his chair. Ozpin picked up the tea and sniffed it. The earthy aroma brought back some fond memories for the immortal wizard, and the warmth and taste did even more.

"Mm," he said, after finishing his sip, "As good as ever, Arjun."

"The Vytallians claim to have created the ultimate tea culture," Arjun sniffed, sipping his own cup with all the majesty of an ex-monarch, "as do the Mistralians... But Pandu did it first, and best."

"I must agree," Ozpin said with a nod, "Though... There seems to be a hint of poppy seeds?"

"This blend is from Tulku, near the Parashu Mountains," Arjun stated calmly, "The opiate level is minimal."

The headmaster raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't want to set a bad example for the students," Ozpin said. Arjun chuckled.

"There are far worse ways to do that," he stated, taking another sip. Ozpin studied the younger man intently.

"We have rarely socialized, you know," Ozpin said. Arjun nodded.

"I am aware. But! Since my daughter and godson are at your school, I decided to end my hermitage and take a more active interest in things. Besides."

He fixed Ozpin with a stare.

"Things are far worse than you would ever let on," he stated flatly.

Ozpin stared back, listening to the ticking of the clockworks in his office.

"They may be," he allowed, "They may not be. I can't reveal more to you until you agree to formally join me. You know this."

Arjun snorted, finishing his cup and pouring himself another.

"Allegiance means nothing if you keep people like Lionheart around," he sneered.

Ozpin managed not to outwardly wince even though the accusation caused him pain.

"The overthrow of the Kauravas was not feasible at that time," Ozpin said carefully, "You and your team had to retreat. The reinforcements were not there-"

"Reinforcements Lionheart promised and failed to deliver," Arjun snorted, "He had all the advantages in the world and he still proved himself a coward. One would think he did it deliberately."

Yes... That day. Finding out that some of the Kauravas were Grimm Cultists had pushed Ozpin into action. The sheer potential of Team AARN, with Isabel, Nick, Saia and Arjun, had further spurred him on. If Arjun could have reclaimed the kingdom that was his birthright... He would have been a very strong ally indeed, however mercurial he could be at times.

Lionheart had promised to work with the local resistance, had promised some Mistralian officials had realized installing the Kauravas over Arjun's family had been a mistake. Pandu had become torn by infighting and was costing Mistral far too much to keep under heel. Putting the Sarkaras back on the throne was both pragmatic and moral-A rarity in politics.

It had all seemed so perfect... And it had all failed so miserably.

"Lionheart is overly cautious, I will agree," Ozpin said gently, "But if he could not get the reinforcements in time, that was that. You and your team survived-"

Arjun set his tea cup down on the desk loudly. His voice, however, remained level.

"Not all of us did."

The office was again filled with the ticking of the clock. Ozpin released a slow sigh from his nostrils.

"I am sorry about your wife," Ozpin said quietly, "Loss is something you think you will get used to, but... You never do."

Arjun stared intently at him, before slowly nodding.

"Yes," he said quietly. Silence reigned for a bit longer, before Arjun broke it.

"Has Taiyang told his daughter about the Silver Eyes yet?"

Ozpin stared back.

"I don't know for sure, but I believe so," he agreed.

"Good. I will train her," Arjun stated.

Ozpin finished his tea before he responded.

"I'm not sure that's wise-"

"She's the friend of my godson," Arjun stated, "And according to legend, my family received our Semblance from a Silver Eyed Warrior. Do you have any better options?"

"I had thought to train her myself," Ozpin said slowly, "As I did Summer-"

The Pandavan's eyes narrowed.

"How did that turn out?"

Silence fell again, harsh and hard. Ozpin sucked in a deep breath.

"Change... Is not easy for me," he admitted. "Yet in recent years, I've found I have needed to be more... Flexible. I will not forbid it if she agrees. However, you cannot tell her anything of Salem. Not yet. It's too much for her."

Arjun snorted.

"She's seen people die, Ozpin. What is the truth of who hunts her going to do?"

"A great deal of harm, Arjun," Ozpin said quietly, "Please. It must be revealed properly. When she's ready to handle it. It took Summer years to get to where she was."

Arjun remained silent, giving away nothing even to Ozpin's great wisdom. The ticking of the clockworks seemed so loud in that tense moment.

Finally, the exiled prince slowly nodded.

"Agreed," he said, "I'll even throw in an additional favor."

He poured Ozpin another cup of tea. It was a small gesture, but from Arjun, it meant a lot. Ozpin took the tea and sipped it.

"Mm? What will that be?"

Arjun smiled savagely.

"I'll try to keep Isabel from folding you in half and leaving you like that."

Ozpin coughed. After all, Isabel had only thrown a bus into his office while drunk. She hadn't even been mad, just wanted to prove she could do it.

Facing her actual ire... Even knowing he was immortal did nothing to make him feel calmer.

"Yes, well... That would be appreciated," he managed.

- - -

Isabel's anger was something Qrow knew all too well. He'd seen it at Beacon Academy as a stupid teenager with no idea about the civilized world, he'd seen it in the field, he'd seen it in private.

Somehow, all of those moments paled next to the cold, dead fury burning in her eyes as she stared at the smoking starboard engine of her Bullhead, on the side of the road near Forstford, Vale Province.

"You know," Qrow coughed, "Even though the engines still run on Dust, a bird in the turbine is still no... Uh..."

Isabel's glare felt like an Atlasian laser cannon. He very silently focused on the stones near his boots. Who knew? They might be gold or silver, something interesting.

"A bird strike. A. Fucking. Birdstrike," Isabel seethed. She glared at him. "Friend of yours?!"

"Hey now, it's not like that!" Qrow yelped, holding his arms up as he backed away. "I would never do that!"

"Are you sure?" Isabel seethed. "Are you absolutely sure your boss didn't order you to keep us from getting to him?!"

"Come on, Isabel, he's not that scared of you!" Qrow insisted, "And besides: I'm not the bad guy here!"

"You're working for him!"

"I didn't lie about the important stuff-"

"My son isn't important?!"

"I didn't say that-!"

A Grimm roar interrupted his further denials. Both Hunters looked over at the forest. The trees parted and a giant Ursa Major stormed in. Its bone spikes were long, its armor thick, and its eyes glowed with power. Clearly, it was a very old specimen: What it was doing this close to a human settlement was academic: Larger and more powerful Grimm had been gathering for weeks, after all.

This was still a welcome distraction from the very angry Isabel. They'd fight it, they'd kill it, she'd get some aggression out and then they could hopefully-

Isabel stormed past him. Her Aura surged in power, a mixture of green and white. The Ursa Major swung its claws at her. Qrow moved to intercept, but Isabel reached out and caught the massive bear-like Grimm's forearm in her grip. She grunted and pulled back... And lifted the Ursa Major right up into the air.

Qrow swore the thing's eyes went wide as Isabel swung it like a sack of old laundry onto the road. The impact went off like a bomb, and the pavement shattered. The Ursa Major roared in shock as Isabel yanked... And then screamed as she tore its forearm right off.

Hefting it up like a club, Isabel stalked up to the chest of the Ursa Major and proceeded to beat the living shit out of it. Qrow actually winced at every blow, the impacts as loud as gunshots as she pummeled the beast.

She then leaped off the Ursa Major, kicked it over, and shoved the claw right up its-

"RAWWWRRRRGGHHHH!"

Well. That was new. Feeling almost sorry for a Grimm.

Isabel at last grabbed the Ursa Major's head with both hands, and with a loud, angry grunt, tore its head in two. The Grimm's body collapsed and dissolved into a fine, black mist. Qrow could have sworn it almost looked relieved just before it died.

Isabel breathed hard, catching her breath. She whipped out her Scroll and made a call.

"Yes, Remnant Airship Assistance Association...? Bird strike. Road outside of Forstford. Yes, the radio beacon is online..."

Her eyebrows twitched.

"Two days?!"

She sucked in a deep breath and went stone cold calm.

"Fine. It's secured. I'll send the unlock code when you arrive. Goodbye."

She turned off the Scroll and scowled at Qrow.

"We're a few days walk from Vale, we're not sitting around here," she stated angrily. "Let's move."

"Er," Qrow began, "Are you sure you don't want to wait-?"

"Yes."

"All right then," Qrow coughed, going into the Bullhead to get his luggage.

Well, Qrow thought to himself, Maybe if she kills enough Grimm she'll go easy on Ozpin.

It was a faint, probably foolish hope, but hey, it was all he had.

- - -

Short but we're still going despite Real Life kicking our asses!

 

[Sir_dood134]

Everything ok?

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Everything ok?

Click to shrink...

Just our jobs really suck.

 

[Sir_dood134]

Just our jobs really suck.

Click to shrink...

That really blows. Hope things get better. Just remember that you do bring a lot of joy to people with your stories so you are appreciated even if your job if a thankless, non-fun kind of suck fest.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

It's alive!

I hope Beacon has its insurance paid off......

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[UnknownAnon]

Oof, guys. Just oof. When life hits you, it hits you hard. And then work comes along to kick you when you're down. But perservere and you shall be rewarded.

Time to wrap up this arc. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy the wrap up.

- - - - - - -

Life was full of coincidences. Jaune had accepted that fact after he'd first set out for Beacon and had experienced many, many bumps in the road along the way. He'd met quite a number of characters during his journey, and the odd tendency to make crazy connections had persisted even after getting accepted into a huntsman academy. The proof could be seen in his immediate friend group which consisted of his two childhood friends, the heiress of the most powerful company in the world, a former terrorist, a famous tournament fighter, and the two sole survivors of a fallen town.

That was why he was only mildly surprised that the monkey faunus he'd recently gotten to know had somehow wound up at the exact same diner that he and his not-friend had chosen to eat at. It was just one more coincidence in the chaotic whirlwind that his life appeared to be. Not that it was an unwelcome surprise. It was certainly better than if Iridescent or a member of the White Fang had suddenly waltzed in. He definitely preferred running into a buddy as opposed to having his day ruined by suddenly running into an enemy.

"Hey, Sun!" Jaune waved a greeting as his fellow blonde approached the table he and Cardin were sitting at. "Didn't expect to see you today either."

"Funny how small the world is sometimes," Sun grinned. "Was lookin' for a place to eat and totally chose this place at random, and found you! And this other guy sitting with you. Who're you again?"

"This is Cardin." Jaune answered, gesturing to the other boy as Sun gave Cardin a curious look. "We're hanging out today."

"Yeah? Having some guy time?" Sun chuckled, sliding into the booth and sitting next to Jaune without being prompted and held out a fist in Cardin's direction. "Don't think I've actually met you myself yet. Name's Sun, as you've just heard. Nice to meet ya dude!"

Cardin glanced at Sun's tail but seeing Jaune arch an eyebrow at him, the brunette let out a sigh and grudgingly tapped his own fist against Sun's. It wasn't like Cardin didn't recognize the guy. The monkey faunus had quickly earned a notable reputation for his distinct appearance and for his seeming inability to button up his shirt.

"…Yeah, I've seen you around. I'm Cardin, leader of Team CRDL." Cardin replied.

"Oh, a fellow leader, eh? Almost feels like a meeting of a guild or something with the three of us. All leaders of our own hunter teams." Sun smiled. "This would be the part where we either start bragging about our teams or talking crap about our teammates and the headaches we put up with."

"Speaking of teammates, where are yours?" Jaune asked curiously. "You by yourself today?"

"Yeah, just me." Sun confirmed with a nod. "Scar's dad convinced him to spend the day out with him, Sage is at the CCT chatting with his girlfriend, and I didn't feel like being Nep's wingman so he's back at Beacon scoping out transfers to see who he's got a chance with. He recently found out about that dance Beacon's hosting soon, so he's trying to get the jump on getting a date."

"And what are his chances looking like?"

"Better than I thought he'd have, but not as good as he hoped for himself." Sun chuckled. "So with it just being me, myself, and I for the day… I thought I'd explore Vale a bit. It's a big place, and I actually haven't taken a lot of time to look around yet. And it's nice being able to do it without chasing princesses or getting shot at by terrorists."

Both blondes laughed at that, though Cardin was left staring at them with a befuddled look on his face. He was out of the loop and couldn't share a laugh at whatever inside joke the other two team leaders shared.

"…Where did you transfer from?" Cardin asked, wanting to curb the irritation he felt toward the two blondes who had seemingly started ignoring him and also because he was legitimately curious.

"Haven." Sun answered. "I'm the leader of Team SSSN. If you haven't heard of us yet, you definitely will once the Vytal Tournament starts."

Cardin arched an eyebrow at that, eyes scanning Sun's features and taking note of his darker complexion. "So you're from Mistral? I would've guessed Vacuo."

"Well, you'd have guessed right. I am from there."

"You just said you're from Haven." Cardin pointed out.

"Yeah, as in I go to school there. I was born and raised in Vacuo and transferred to Haven when I got a scholarship to attend that school."

Cardin's other eyebrow rose at that. "That's… you know Vacuo has Shade Academy, right? Why would you go to Haven instead of staying at home? That doesn't make any sense to me."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who did it. Mistral's own 'Invincible Girl' flew over here to learn at Beacon instead of sticking around in the city she was born in." Sun said, tone slightly defensive. "Besides, I've lived in Vacuo all my life. The scholarship to Mistral was a good excuse to see what the rest of the world has to offer. Plus the independence and being out on my own had its own appeal. Not that I don't love my uncle and the rest of my family, but I can't stay under his wing forever. Gotta show that I can stand on my own, y'know?"

Jaune smiled at Sun's words. "I can relate to that."

"…I can too, honestly." Cardin thought, though he didn't say it out loud.

"Not only that, but nothing really happens in Vacuo. Seriously, it's just a big desert with cities and towns built around the oasis and water holes that dot around the region." Sun went on. "And y'know… it may be my home but it's not like I have a big sense of loyalty or pride about it. For my first decade of living I was an orphan on the streets. My loyalty is for other kids who rolled with me and my uncle Shon who took us all in. And to my friends I've made at Haven."

Sun elbowed Jaune with a grin.

"And my new friends made here in Vale."

"Nothing says male bonding like getting shot at together, right?" Jaune chuckled.

Sun barked his own laugh at that. "You know it, man!"

"…Does what you're talking about have anything to do with that news report last week and how you busted up a White Fang group that was hiding in the city?" Cardin asked.

Sure, everyone was pretty confident that Jaune and Sun's teams had been involved… but Cardin wanted to hear confirmation from the participants themselves if they were open to talking about it.

Sun blinked and turned to Jaune. "Oh, did he not know anything about what went down?"

"I have assumptions, and I've heard the rumors at school, but I don't know the actual story." Cardin answered before Jaune could give his own reply to Sun's question.

Jaune thought about deflecting the topic, but after thinking about it for a moment he decided that there wasn't any reason why he couldn't share the details of their fight with Iridescent and the White Fang. They'd already served detention for the stunt and the rumors at school were mostly accurate anyway. He wouldn't be sharing anything Cardin didn't already hear from all the gossip.

"Well, it's true. We fought some White Fang and chased off their leader." Jaune replied with a light shrug.

"You even fought a robot." Sun added, pointing at Jaune. "Piloted by some crazy chick who apparently thought trying to kill your teammates was the best way to get into your pants."

"Wait, what?" Cardin sputtered, turning to Jaune with wide eyes.

Jaune sighed. While he didn't mind talking about how they'd broken up the White Fang rally, he really didn't want to go into details of Iridescent's obsession with him. That was certainly one connection he wished that he could sever.

"Forget it, I don't want to talk about her." Jaune said firmly, shutting down any questions about that psycho woman. "We crashed a rally, beat up some terrorists, fought a mecha, blew up some buildings… it was a whole thing."

"Wild weekend." Sun agreed, nodding solemnly at Jaune's words.

Cardin just stared at the duo incredulously.

"…You two-"

"Drinks are here!"

Bera's announcement cut through the conversation like a sword and the trio turned to stare at the small faunus girl as she placed two glasses in front of Jaune and Cardin. The girl blinked when she noticed the new person sitting at the table.

"You weren't here before!" Bera accused as she jabbed a finger at Sun, lips turned down in a pout. "Get out!"

"Whoa, what?" Sun gasped, surprised that he was suddenly getting yelled at by a toddler and that she was demanding for him to leave. "What'd I do?"

"You're violating the rules! We can't serve you!" Bera said sternly.

"Rules, huh? What are you talking about…?" Sun asked, looking completely lost.

"Is it because he's a faunus?" Cardin asked, unable to keep the words from slipping from his mouth.

"Cardin!" Jaune glared at him.

"Dude!" Sun squawked indignantly.

Bera just looked confused. "What? Why wouldn't we serve him because he's a faunus? I'm a faunus and I eat here every day!"

"Er… I didn't mean that, exactly…" Cardin backpedaled. "It's just, when people get kicked out of restaurants it's usually because they don't serve-"

"It's because he's not wearing a shirt!" Bera proclaimed, standing firmly with her hands on her hips as she glared at Sun. "You're being inappropriate!"

The trio of students all blinked at Bera's words before the two humans at the table slowly turned to the monkey faunus sitting with them. Their eyes dipped down toward Sun's chiseled abs, which were on display as usual. Thinking about it, it was sort of odd that Sun's tendency to leave his shirt unbuttoned had become something that they'd all accepted at school. Even the teachers didn't raise a fuss about it despite Sun's continuous and blatant violation of the school dress code.

Suddenly being called out for it shouldn't have felt so strange.

"No shirt, no shoes, no service." Bera declared with finality.

"Is that all?" Sun laughed. He reached down and quickly buttoned up his shirt, turning and displaying his shirt covered chest to the girl. "There, now I'm wearing a shirt. Can I stay?"

"Hm…" Bera looked at him suspiciously for a moment before nodding. "I guess. Do you want a drink?"

"Sure! I'll take some fruit juice if you've got any."

"We do. I'll get you some." Bera nodded. "Just make sure you don't show your boobies anymore while you're here, 'kay?"

"Boobie-!?" Sun sputtered as the girl toddled off toward the kitchen, the girl's words and Sun's expressions earning laughs from both Jaune and Cardin. "These are pecs, kid! Guys have PECS!"

"Heh, kids can be pretty hilarious at that age." Jaune chuckled.

And the wild comment had the benefit of putting a period on their previous conversation.

"Tch, darn kid. Say, I forgot to ask this but you guys don't mind my being here, right?" Sun asked. "I'll pay for my own meal. Original reason I came in was to see about getting some grub anyway."

"Feel free. The extra company is nice, right Cardin?" Jaune said, giving Cardin a hard look.

"Uh, sure. Go ahead." Cardin replied, not wanting to make an issue of it. Plus hopefully it would help make Sun forget about his earlier comment.

He really didn't want that assumption he had made to get back to Velvet somehow.

"Sweet!" Sun grinned as he leaned back in his seat. "Y'know Jaune, you and I actually haven't had much one-on-one conversation yet. Or one-on-two since I've got Cardin to chat with now as well."

"It's true, we haven't." Jaune agreed.

"That's kinda weird after what we've been through this past week. And during the end of last semester too." Sun mused. "Like, we haven't really hung out together. Mostly it's been hanging out with all our teams. Team leaders that bleed together should have a more established friendship, don't you think?"

"I don't disagree." Jaune smiled, openly welcoming the opportunity to get to know Sun better.

"Right? So tell me your story. You too, Cardin. Let's get some bonding between team leaders going!"

"Fruit juice!" Bera announced before either Jaune or Cardin could speak on the subject.

"And I'll be taking your food orders." Ren followed up from where he stood next to Bera.

"Ren!" Jaune sat up in his seat when he saw his teammate. "I didn't know you were working here today!"

"I hadn't planned to, but Goldie sent me a text a few hours ago and said she was open to having me help out today since she had someone call out. I took her up on the offer."

"Huh. I wonder why Goldie didn't say anything to me about you being here…"

"Mama likes surprises!" Bera chirped.

"Well, consider me pleasantly surprised." Jaune chuckled, glancing toward the front door to the diner and almost expecting someone else they knew to suddenly walk in.

"Consider me just plain surprised." Sun said. "You got the rest of your team hiding somewhere in the back? Do you all work part-time here?"

"No, just me." Ren replied. "Jaune and Nora did work here during the semester break, but I'm the only one who stayed on as a regular part-timer."

"Do we get any discounts because your teammate works here?" Cardin asked.

"No discounts!" Bera proclaimed loudly.

"There you have it." Ren said as he pulled out a notepad and pen. "So then, what will you all be having today?"

"That's a good question." Sun said, glancing down at the menu on the table and then over to Jaune. "I'm guessing you're sort of a regular here, and you've got a teammate working here, so you'd know what the really good menu items are. Any suggestions?"

"Get the porridge as an appetizer. I know it doesn't sound appealing on paper, but trust me, they just get it right here in a way no other place does." Jaune said.

"Heh, that have anything to do with the name of the diner?"

"It does."

"Then I'll have some of that."

"Me too." Cardin said, acquiescing to the recommendation as well since Jaune had told him the same earlier.

"That's two porridges then." Ren nodded, writing the orders down. "Unless Jaune wants to make it three?"

"Jaune does indeed want to make it three." The blonde swordsman grinned.

"Noted." Ren chuckled. "How about your main dishes?"

"Another good question." Sun muttered. "It all sounds good, and the pictures on the menu make the signature dishes look really appetizing."

"The dishes with fish or steak are really good." Jaune said. "Also be sure to leave room for dessert. The cakes and pies baked here will ruin all other pies and cakes for you."

"You're really talking this place up." Sun grinned. "I'm tempted to just order the whole menu."

"So you're saying you have enough money to order one of each dish yet you can't be bothered to buy real clothes?" Cardin smirked.

"If it's a choice between food or clothes, I'd choose food every time." Sun returned with a grin. "I'd sell my clothes and walk around in the buff if it got me fed."

"Don't give me that mental image when we're about to eat." Cardin blanched.

"Y'know, my uncle gave me a pretty big stipend before I came here. Since visiting Vale for the Vytal tournament is practically a vacation for me, I've got a lot of spare change." Sun grinned at Jaune. "How about I handle the check for this one? You can get me back when we go out again in the future!"

"Thanks for the offer, but you don't have to do that."

"Nah, it's cool man! Don't worry about the price!"

"It's not that." Jaune replied sheepishly. "I just already promised to pay for both me and Cardin. Paying for me is one thing, but I can't ask you to pay for both of us."

"You can still do that. I'll pay for your part of the meal, but you can pay for Cardin's. Heck, I'll pay for Cardin's too."

"I can't ask you to do that." Jaune protested. "Just worry about paying for your own order. I'll just pay for the two of us like I was planning."

"You don't even need to buy anything. I was half serious about ordering one of everything. You can just mooch off of what I order."

"Sun, I really don't-"

"For the love of… I'll pay for the damn meal if it'll get you two to stop competing over who's gonna get the check so we can order already." Cardin snapped. "I'm starving and I want to eat."

"Well, there's a solution!" Sun grinned, pointing at Cardin. "I'll pay for Jaune's meal, he'll pay for Cardin's, and Cardin will pay for me!"

"That… makes no sense whatsoever." Cardin deadpanned.

"It totally does! It all evens out this way!"

"We may as well just pay for ourselves in that case."

"Nah, you'll always be inclined to order more if it's on someone else's dime."

"That's not true."

"So you're saying you weren't planning to order the most expensive items on the menu when you knew I was going to be paying for it?" Jaune asked, arching an eyebrow at Cardin.

Cardin faltered slightly at that. "I mean… I wanted to see how they cook the steak here."

"Don't order food just for the sake of ordering it. That's wasteful."

"Hey, there's no such thing as ordering too much when it can all be packed up and eaten later. I never let food go to waste." Sun smiled. "Anything you guys order but don't finish off, feel free to give to me. I'm like a walking, talking garbage disposal when it comes to leftovers."

"And what exactly is your workout plan that allows you to maintain your physique while apparently being a binge eater?"

"That is a secret I will take to my grave, good sir."

"Your orders?" Ren asked again.

"Let me take care of that, kid."

Ren blinked when the notepad was suddenly lifted out of his hands. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Goldie smiling behind him.

"I just put the little one down for his nap so I'm all freed up. Looks like it'll be slow for the rest of the day so unless we get a big rush, why don't you take the load off and hang out with your buddies here?"

"Is that okay? I can still work."

"You helped out plenty this morning. Just take the half-shift pay and enjoy some dinner with your friends."

"C'mon man. If your boss is giving you the go ahead, stick around and hang out!" Sun smiled.

"It'll be a real guys night with you joining us." Jaune added.

Cardin just shrugged, not caring either way.

After a moment of deliberation, Ren smiled and undid his apron, passing it to Bera and taking a seat at the table and picking up a menu.

"Still no employee discount?" Ren asked the diner owner.

"None whatsoever!" Goldie chirped. "But if you kids order enough food, I may throw in a few free appetizers or desserts!"

"Then I'll be ordering five entrees." Cardin smirked. "I mean, it's all on your dollar, right Arc?"

"…Sun, your offer to pay for my meal suddenly got a lot more appealing."

"I'll bet. Though now we gotta figure out who Ren's gonna be paying for." Sun quipped, earning a round of chuckles from the others.

Twenty minutes later, Goldie and her daughter delivered a buffet of food to the trio's table. Sandwiches, salads, soups, steaks, fish, burgers, fries, chicken, bread, muffins, cakes, pies, and an assortment of other foods were arrayed on the table. The group of young men were digging into the feast and loving every minute of it.

"I'm expecting a generous tip from you boys after this." Goldie grinned as she dropped off the last dish. She ruffled her daughter's hair. "C'mon, sweetie. Let's head in the back and I'll help you bake those cupcakes you love. They taste even better when you make them yourself."

"Yay!" Bera cheered as she followed after her mother. "We can share them with daddy when he gets back!"

"You boys call me if you need anything!" Goldie called to her four customers, who all made grunts and noises acknowledging that they heard her but couldn't vocalize words since they were busy stuffing their faces. The mother and daughter duo disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the four aspiring hunters to enjoy their meal.

"So, Cardin, what do you think so far?" Jaune asked as he spread some butter on a dinner roll.

Biting into a piece of juicy sirloin steak, Cardin had to admit Jaune had chosen well. Everything was delicious and he definitely wanted to bring the rest of his team to the diner someday in the future.

"It's worth your every penny." Cardin replied.

Jaune chuckled. "Glad to hear it."

"Yeah, this place is really good. Definitely gonne be taking everything I don't finish back with me to eat later." Sun said from around a mouthful of burger. After swallowing, he glanced around at their group. "So, what made you guys choose the huntsman life?"

"Why ask that?" Cardin replied with his own question, arching an eyebrow at the faunus for the sudden question.

"Because I'm trying to start a conversation! And I think it's a pretty important question to ask all things considered." Sun said. "I mean, once we graduate it's gonna be our lives. Hunting Grimm and saving people in trouble. Protecting humanity. It's the one thing I know we all have in common even though I don't know much else about you guys. We all have the same career aspirations. So, I ask again, why do you guys want to become huntsmen?"

Jaune paused in his eating as he mulled over Sun's words. It was a simple enough question, but for him the answer was pretty complex. How much did he want to speak about the subject? While Sun was a friendly enough guy and Jaune liked to think that they got along well enough in spite of how little time they had spent together, was this really the place to vent about his motivations? Sure, he'd been open about his situation to his team, but to Sun and Cardin…?

"Whoa, no need to look so serious dude."

Jaune blinked at Sun's words. "Did I look serious?"

"You look like someone who ran over someone's pet and is trying to come up with a good way to explain it to the owner." Cardin muttered, also a little thrown by the solemn expression Jaune had been wearing before Sun had called him out on it.

"Hey, I was just curious, but if you've got personal reasons for wanting to become a huntsman don't feel obligated to answer just because I asked." Sun smiled disarmingly. "Sounds like you thought a lot deeper about it than some others I've asked. Nep just said he wanted chicks to like him when I asked him."

Jaune snorted a laugh. "Sounds like him."

"Not the best reason though." Ren commented.

"Eh, he can be a dweeb about women but I do know for all his talk he is genuine about wanting to become a hunter so he can protect people." Sun defended his partner with a chuckle. "Not gonna deny that impressing chicks is a good bonus of the profession though. Hunters and huntresses are like action heroes to regular people.

"But hunters and huntresses are really heroes. They fight monsters and save lives."

"True." Sun nodded before he shot Cardin a grin. "Though guess one of us here doesn't have to worry about the ladies."

"What do you mean by that?" Cardin asked cautiously.

"Dude, I know this is our first time actually talking, but I've seen your girlfriend." Sun said excitedly, grin widening as he leaned forward in his seat. "You're dating that rabbit faunus, right? I mean, I'm assuming you're dating since I've seen her hanging off your arm on campus. She's your girlfriend?"

"…Velvet's my girlfriend, yeah." Cardin nodded.

"Dude… DUDE! Respect." Sun said solemnly, his tone conveying both admiration and envy. "She's super cute and that you actually managed to pull a chick like that… you've got a literal bunny girl as a girlfriend! I feel compelled to shake your hand for winning the girlfriend jackpot."

Cardin couldn't help but smile and preen a little at that. He really had scored the romantic jackpot with Velvet.

"Yeah, Velvet's pretty awesome herself." Cardin said, happy to praise his girlfriend. Though Sun's words reminded him of Jaune's when they had talked at the fishing docks. "...But it wasn't all me."

Jaune blinked when Cardin sighed and glanced his way.

"Jaune created the opportunity for me." Cardin said, surprising Jaune that he was coming clean with that. "I'm no romantic expert. Me getting with Velvet was almost an accident if I'm being honest."

"A very happy accident, I'd say." Sun chuckled, nudging Jaune with his elbow. "The way of the wingman is strong with you if you got Cardin dating a real bunny girl. Think you could help me out sometime?"

"With Neptune?" Jaune asked.

"Nah man, help me with the ladies!" Sun exclaimed. "I put in the work, but I'm not getting any bites! And I go around practically shirtless to show off the goods! Practically free advertising and no one's shown any interest!

"So you're aware of it." Cardin drawled.

Jaune just laughed as Sun pointed to his abs.

"Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it. And while the ladies certainly aren't complaining, they aren't exactly flocking to me either." Sun groused.

"Is that why you wanted to be a huntsman?" Ren interjected, bringing the conversation back around to Sun's original question.

"I mean, I do hope I can find someone special at some point." Sun admitted before he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Though as for why I wanted to become a huntsman… well, like I mentioned before, I grew up an orphan in Vacuo. Never knew my parents and no one was willing to look after a street rat. Or street monkey in my case, heh."

Leaning back in his seat, Sun stared up contemplatively at the ceiling.

"Don't remember much of my early life, to be honest. Least not any solid memories stuck with me. But I remember the experiences. Hunting for food. Sometimes stealing. Trying to find cool places to stay during the day and warm places to sleep at night. Fighting with other abandoned kids over scraps or running away from adults who wanted to lock up a thief. Homelessness is actually pretty bad in Vacuo. It's almost a community of itself in Vacuo, and after I'd survived for long enough I started getting a bit of a reputation. I was actually one of the older orphans running around the city, and before I knew it some other kids started to run with me. Kids who wanted to ride the coattails of a guy who played the street rat game the best. Those kids became my family, my siblings. Instead of stealing for myself, I started stealing for them. When I hit my tweens, adults wouldn't just wave away some dirty kid and were willing to put me up to odd jobs. They paid and helped with food costs. It was nice not having to steal all the time anymore, but that was still the best and quickest way to make money or get food." Sun chuckled as he reminisced. "Then one day I tried stealing from a huntsman. Not that I knew it at the time, being completely uneducated and all. Didn't know how dangerous my mark was."

"With how ominous that sounds, I'm guessing that trying to steal from him wasn't a pleasant experience." Cardin muttered.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you!" Sun laughed, surprising the other three boys. "But no, get this, after he catches me in the attempt and kicks me down, the next moment he starts dusting me off and starts lecturing me on how to steal better! Like he was less annoyed at me trying to pickpocket him and more annoyed that I was apparently doing a bad job at it according to him!"

Jaune, Ren and Cardin gave the monkey faunus all bizarre looks at that, which elicited more laughter from Sun.

"I know! But I'm young, and I actually prided myself on the reputation I'd gotten for being practically uncatchable, so I tried to steal from him again on another day. Same thing happens, he stops me and then starts lecturing me. This continues on for a few weeks before he finally takes me down for real, ties me up, and tells me he's gonna hand me off to the authorities… unless I can give him a good reason for doing what I'm doing."

"What did you say?" Ren asked.

"I told him the truth. Told him my story, told him about my siblings and how I was trying to provide for them. He asks to be taken to see them. I get aggressive, threatening him not to harm my brothers and sisters since I think he wants to turn them in too." Sun chuckled. "Couple days later my uncle Shon is signing papers to make him our official guardian and welcoming us into his home, providing a feast twenty times as big as the one we're enjoying now."

The other three aspiring huntsmen just stared at Sun incredulously, who just gave a big grin in response.

"And that's how my uncle Shon adopted me and the rest of the kids I ran with!"

"…I know you said I won the girlfriend jackpot, but I'd say you won the orphan jackpot." Cardin muttered.

"Don't I know it!" Sun laughed. "Uncle Shon actually had a pretty big hunter's rep in Vacuo. He helped run a guild for hunters with his old teammates!"

"He still do that?" Jaune asked.

"Not so much anymore. He's actually sort of like a politician. Though maybe diplomat is the more appropriate word." Sun mused.

"So then… you want to become a huntsman to honor your uncle?" Ren guessed.

"Sort of." Sun smiled. "I'd say the primary reason I want to become a huntsman isn't so much that I want to honor my uncle, but I want to be like him. Big guy like that, with the money and influence to change the lives of a bunch of orphan kids and give them a better one. I want to try and be to someone what my uncle was to me back then. Someone who has the power and influence to lift the less fortunate out of the dirt and help them reach higher than they would've been able to otherwise. Plus, gotta set an example for my siblings. If I succeed at becoming a huntsman, I think that'll show that they can become anything they want to even if we all started on the streets."

"…I think that's a very noble reason for becoming a huntsman." Ren said after a moment.

"Yeah?" Sun gave a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't think it's that noble. It's just me trying to give back a little for winning at life when I really didn't expect to."

"I can empathize with that." Ren said softly. "I also grew up an orphan. Though I wasn't always. My parents died when my village was destroyed in a Grimm attack."

"Oh man, I'm so sorry." Sun winced. "No other family to take you in?"

"My extended family all lived in the village. Only two people came out of that attack alive. Myself and Nora." Ren murmured. "And only because I awakened to the perfect semblance that helped us survive."

"What is your semblance?" Cardin asked.

"I can nullify emotions." Ren said. "Positive or negative, I can completely mute my or someone else's emotions so long as I'm touching them. It allows me to be practically invisible to Grimm."

"Whoa… that's… I can see a lot of people wanting a semblance like yours." Sun said.

"Yes. Some huntsmen responding to the attack arrived to find us in the ruins of the village and took us in. Delivered us both to an orphanage in Mistral where we grew up until we came of age." Ren said. "I actually hadn't planned to become a huntsman myself. It was Nora who suddenly decided that we should try and become hunters one day and I just went along with it."

"So you want to become a hunter because your friend wanted to?" Sun asked.

"It's not as though I had any other prospects. Plus, if I train and grow strong, I can protect Nora." Ren said, wringing his fingers tightly as he thought of the girl. "Nora is… very precious to me. I intend to follow her on whatever path she chooses so long as she lets me. It's a selfish desire I'll admit, but it is a profession that does let me do a little good. It allows me to feel like I'm paying back for the good fortune that allowed the two of us to survive in the first place."

"Nora is a very lucky girl to have you." Jaune smiled, placing a hand on Ren's shoulder. "Have you ever told her this?"

"She knows."

"Alright. And have you gotten a little more honest with her yet?"

"That's… taking a little bit more time." Ren sighed.

"You know how she feels. And you feel-"

"I don't want to get into that here, please." Ren said softly, causing Jaune to withdraw and let out a sigh.

"If you say so. Just know that I'm here if you ever want to talk about it."

"Noted. Though I'm hesitant to discuss relationship troubles with you given the chaotic state of your own love life."

Jaune sputtered at that. "Hey! We're not talking about that either!"

"I've been meaning to ask, who are you dating anyway?" Sun questioned, giving Jaune a curious look. "The Invincible Girl seems really into you, but I also heard you went on a date with that blonde bombshell Yang."

"And Ruby kissed him a while back." Ren smirked, earning an indignant squawk from Jaune.

"Dude, I told you that in confidence!"

"Arc… you've got three girls pinning after you?" Cardin mumbled, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Four." Ren corrected.

"Who's the fourth?" Sun asked before the answer came to him on its own. "Oh, wait, are you counting the crazy chick he fought in the mech?"

"None! I'm not dating any of them!" Jaune exclaimed before taking a deep breath and forcing his nerves to calm. "We're just… courting each other…? Seeing where things go? Look, my love life is not the topic of the conversation here!"

"Man, no wonder Nep was grumbling about you when you've got game like this." Sun grinned before holding up his hand to stall Jaune's protest before the other blonde could voice it. "But I'll drop it. So, Ren and I have shared our hunter origin stories. Who wants to go next?"

Jaune and Cardin stared at each other. Sun and Ren had shared their stories, and now it was down to the two of them.

Jaune had already been well aware of Ren's history, but he hadn't known about Sun's. He was actually quite surprised that the monkey faunus had been so open with them. He and Ren were still only acquaintances through Blake and Cardin was just a stranger. Yet he'd told them all his life story without hesitation. It was also surprising that Ren had reciprocated, especially with Cardin present. Jaune didn't think he'd be so willing to share the story of how he and Nora had survived Kuroyuri's fall, but he had.

The swordsman's eyes slowly moved from Cardin to Sun, then back to the young man who had tried to antagonize him during his early days at Beacon. He still had yet to find out the exact reason why Cardin had attempted to bully him, but Jaune had never really hated Cardin in spite of the other team leader's animosity toward him. It was completely one-sided on Cardin's part. Thinking a little more about it, Jaune didn't even really think he disliked Cardin all that much. Just the schoolyard antics had annoyed him. It was immature and not worth reacting to.

No, when Jaune thought about who he really hated, that feeling was reserved solely for those specific individuals he'd encountered during his journey to Beacon. Those who had tried to kill him, went out of their way to hurt innocent people living their lives, or stepped on others trying to achieve their goals.

Jaune didn't look back on any of those experiences with any kind of fondness, but they did open his eyes to the world at large. And in spite of it all, those harrowing experiences had helped cement and crystallize his motivation for becoming a huntsman.

And… there was no reason not to be up front about that. Not when Sun and Ren had been so open and honest themselves.

"…I grew up with a pretty blessed life all things considered." Jaune began, leaning back in his seat. "I can gripe and complain about my family, but they were good to me. And it's more than what most have. Way more. My dad was an accomplished huntsman, my mom is probably one of the most accomplished doctors in Remnant, and all my older siblings have found success in their respective fields. Saphron's married and has a kid, Aqua's an accomplished field medic and treasure hunter with her own party of adventurers, Verdy and Coral are going to get their doctorates soon, Lilac's going to marry her fiancé next year and practically runs the family farm, Orchid helps keep everything at Arc-En-Ciel organized and Tangerine runs her own business… and she's only two years older than me. Every single one of my family members is amazing…"

Jaune shook his head.

"Maybe it's weird to feel inadequate about that, but I was always intimidated by their successes. As I got older and saw each of them accomplishing whatever they set out to do, I felt pressured to do the same. Mom had a roadmap for me to do just that. She wanted me to inherit her skills and become a doctor like her. Got me the best tutors, made sure I was given all the tools needed to succeed, encouraged me as often as she could, set me up for my own successes." Jaune sighed, and shook his head frustratedly. "But none of it felt like my own. Becoming a doctor wasn't a bad thing. I mean, it wasn't completely unappealing to me. But… I didn't want to do what my mom and some of my sisters did. I grew up with my dad telling stories about our ancestors, about how the Arc family is a family that raises heroes. I always wanted to feel like that. Like a hero."

Jaune took a deep breath.

"Like my dad was. He was a hero."

"So… your dad…" Sun prompted, noticing the tense Jaune was using when referring to his parent.

"He died."

"Oh man…" Sun grimaced.

"Happened years ago. Died protecting some Beacon students who were on a training mission. Held off hordes of Grimm while protecting those kids he'd been watching over and held the line until help arrived. None of the students died."

Jaune rubbed his eyes as he remembered the first time he'd read the autopsy report for his father, once he'd been old enough and had been permitted access to the Arc-En-Ciel hospital records. Nicholas Arc had the very definition of a heroic death. The state his body had been in once it had been recovered and the survival of all sixteen of the students he'd been tasked with watching was a testament to that story.

He had died a hero.

"I admire him. To me he's the type of hero that I want to be. That strength, that purpose. I wanted to follow in his footsteps." Jaune smiled softly. "Mom… really didn't like that. She didn't want me to end up like dad. I mean, I got where she was coming from, and that she loves and was worried about me… but I wasn't gonna let her fear for me dictate how I lived my life. I didn't want to patch people up at a hospital or write reports on someone who was dead before they even got to the hospital. I wanted to stop the monsters before they killed or hurt anyone. Just like my dad did. So, when I was supposed to go to medical school, I took Crocea Mors and headed out to Beacon on foot. Couldn't use my credit cards or get my cash from the bank and tip mom off to where I was really going. Only one other person knew about my plans, and that's only because I convinced her to pay for my train ticket. So I left Radian with my weapon and some clothes and started my journey. Took me six months to get to Beacon."

"Six months…?" Cardin asked. "Wait, wait… Radian? That's not too far from Beacon. If you went on foot it should have taken you two months at most. And that's assuming you didn't use any public transport like a train or bus at any point during your travels. How the hell did a two month journey take you six?"

"…Lots and lots of effort." Jaune chuckled. "Mom never wanted me to become a huntsman, and I think some kind of higher power must've agreed with her because I went through some shit. That train I took at the beginning was supposed to cut my journey down by a month. Would've made it to Beacon in approximately three weeks. But the train was attacked by a Nevermore and crashed. Though I made sure that the train crashed INTO the Nevermore."

"…You're joking." Sun gaped.

"Dead serious." Jaune chuckled. "Look up the Nevermore attack on the Sarine Train Station sometime. I experienced that. Had to go on foot to the next town and when I arrived there I was captured by that crazy woman Iridescent and forced to fight in her underground fight club. Got myself a crash course in how hunter's fight. And I was taught to fight by…"

Jaune trailed off and swallowed a lump in his throat. Thinking about what had happened still hurt, even if the wound wasn't as raw anymore.

"…Managed to get free and escape. Ran into a small White Fang cell trying to attack a miner settlement by drawing Grimm to it, but I fended off the Grimm. Helped a guy find his kidnapped friend by some warrior who was off his rocker. Ran into some gangsters, not that I knew they were gangsters at the time, and sent them packing. Accidentally blew up a bunker, but I'm pretty sure whoever owned it was a criminal. Fought some more White Fang guys. Fought off the gangsters who returned for payback. Fought some ninjas… that were also cyborgs. Helped some Atlus soldiers fight off some terrorists. Saved a village from a group of Beringel Grimm. Helped out some faunus who were getting attacked… in between more fights with Grimm, mercenaries, and getting kidnapped at least two more times… but then I ran into my uncle Qrow and he finally got me to Beacon. So here I am."

"…You talked with me about your journey to Beacon before," Ren muttered. "But I had no idea that you went through so much."

"Yeah man. I kinda wanna call bullshit, but you don't strike me as a guy who tells tall tales for kicks." Sun frowned.

"It definitely wasn't what I expected would happen to me after I left Radian. Still, if there was one benefit to it all it's that I got in lots of training. Got experienced and skilled enough to match up with people who actually went to prep schools."

"A trial by fire." Ren stated.

"That's one way of putting it." Jaune said dryly. "Other than the many, many opportunities to train myself, I like to think that I helped the people I ran into along the way. Sure, I think dad would've handled things a lot better if he'd been there instead of me… or I bet any one of you would've made less of a mess than I seemed to at once, but I'm not if not tenacious. I'm going to accomplish my dream. I want to become a huntsman not just to make my dad proud, but so that I can feel proud of myself. So I can feel like I actually made a difference in someone's life. To say that I managed to accomplish something for myself. That's why I want to be a huntsman."

"…Sheesh, looks like we all went through some crazy shit." Sun whistled.

"And we all finally found each other." Ren said with a small smile, earning some light chuckles from the two blondes.

"What about you, Cardin?" Jaune asked, turning his head toward the last of their group. "What's your story?"

Cardin didn't respond to the question immediately. Instead he tapped his finger against the tap top, a deep frown on his face as he stared off to the side. His expression slowly became stormier, and Jaune began to wonder what parts of their stories had seemingly angered Team CRDL's leader.

Though Cardin didn't make an angry outburst. Instead he gave an explosive sigh and banged his fist on the table, causing their plates to jump before he slumped in his seat.

"Dammit… just… dammit…" Cardin hissed.

"Cardin?"

"What am I supposed to say to any of that?" Cardin asked aloud, rubbing his face tiredly. "Compared to you guys, what have I got to be upset about?"

"Er, we weren't trying to make you upset." Sun said.

"No, you guys didn't… I was just annoyed at myself." Cardin grumbled. "I came to Beacon with a certain mindset that looking back, I'm not particularly proud of. I had things sorted into little organized boxes in my mind, but things didn't line up at all the way I thought. Hell, I think I see now why Arc laughed in my face the first time I tried messing with him. Hard to take what I tried to do seriously when you've apparently had guys trying to kill you."

"Uh…" Jaune's eyes were wide as he listened to Cardin vent. He hadn't expected his story would cause Cardin to pinpoint why he had reacted the way he didn't during that day at the beginning of their first semester.

"And just… I mean, dating Velvet has helped and all, but listening to Sun is… it made me realize that I can't just default to disliking faunus just because of the White Fang. Not when there are humans that would cage up folks and make them fight for kicks."

"Wait, you dislike faunus? But… you're dating one." Sun pointed out, looking very confused by Cardin's words.

"Plus Ren losing his family… you losing your dad… I know I can be an insensitive ass, but I do have empathy enough to feel sorry for what you guys went through. Hell, it's happened to me. My grandfather… he fought in the Great War and the Faunus Revolution. He died to faunus assassins. My uncles got killed fighting faunus in a war. And my mom lost pretty much her whole family to faunus extremists when their house got attacked when she was younger."

"Whoa…" Sun whispered. His eyes were wide as he listened to Cardin vent. Jaune and Ren's eyes were just as wide, both feeling as shocked as Sun to hear what Cardin's family had gone through. "That's… I mean, you hear about how extreme the conflict between humans and faunus can get, but damn dude…"

"I have heard people whisper about how the Winchester's are an old family, and one with a lot of bad blood with the faunus race." Ren murmured. "Truthfully, the rumors paint your family in a very poor light. Still, you shouldn't have had to suffer that."

"Yeah… that's a hell of a bomb to drop." Jaune muttered. He had assumed this whole time that Cardin's early animosity toward the faunus was because of bigoted ignorance, but it sounded like he had legitimate reasons to dislike faunus.

"My grandfather, my dad, my uncles… they were all some of the best huntsmen around. But they made the enemies, and their enemies remembered them. Dad really cracked down on the faunus laws when he joined the Vale council. As a kid, I grew up on stories about how the faunus saw anyone in my family as an enemy and my parents drilled into my head that I needed to show strength at all times. I was happy to go along with it, since I wasn't gonna look like a coward or hide away when my parents were standing proud even when they were being antagonized."

Cardin heaved another sigh.

"I've done my best to live up to what I thought was the ideal image of a Winchester. And that meant not backing down and standing up to those who'd wronged us. For the longest time, I directed that aggression toward the faunus. But… recently I've realized that instead of holding a grudge, it's better to move past it instead. My grandfather and uncles died a long time ago, and… not every faunus should be held responsible for the actions of a handful of extremists and radicals."

It wasn't like he was the only one who seemed to be changing his mindset. His dad was starting to make reforms and trying to garner support from both human and faunus parties. His mom frequented many faunus owned storefronts, and favored a particular tailor that Cardin had seen her having lunch with at the house a time or two. And Argentia had given him stern looks whenever he'd made an offhand racist comment ever since she returned from the front. Before, she'd have been adding her own anti-faunus comments when watching the news or hearing about what the White Fang had been getting up to. Now she just frowned or growled whenever Cardin said something negative about faunus that weren't related to the White Fang.

Cardin had thought his family was going soft, but maybe they were just letting baseless resentments and hangups fade. Other than some people who disliked his family shout insults at him from time to time, Cardin actually couldn't think of a time where he himself had been directly harassed for something he had done.

…Plus he was dating a faunus now, thanks to Arc. He couldn't play around as the schoolyard bully or belittle faunus just because they happened to share the same space as him. And Velvet wasn't responsible for any of the tragedy his family went through. Neither were any of the other faunus students at Beacon or his faunus neighbors.

It was time to focus less on holding grudges and focus on more important things.

"I became a huntsman because I want to support my family. Support Vale. The Winchester family has always been a pillar in Vale, and I want to contribute to it the same way all members of my family have." Cardin said. "I want to become a huntsman so I can protect any human or faunus who lives in Vale. Continue the legacy of my family and help it heal from the hit our reputation took after the faunus wars."

"…Well, I'd say you're certainly doing your part with promoting faunus-human relations with your girlfriend." Sun joked.

Cardin huffed a laugh at Sun's words. "Yeah, can't say I've done much else. I'm… not really at where I expected to be. I'm not as far along as I would've liked. I've taken it out on people who didn't deserve it."

Cardin looked Jaune in the eyes.

"Sorry about trying to give you a hard time before." Cardin said sincerely.

"…Don't worry about it." Jaune smiled.

"You were right earlier. The only enemy we have are the Grimm. I'm done wasting time trying to step on the toes of other people I'll be fighting alongside." Cardin sighed. "Now I'll just focus on improving… and trying to figure out how to tell my parents I'm dating a faunus."

"Would they have a problem with that?" Ren asked.

"Winchesters have an image to maintain. And we're… not really seen as pro-faunus. I mean, my dad doesn't give the impression he's against them but… I can't be sure. Plus I can't imagine what my sister would say about it. Or my mom, ugh… especially when she tried introducing me to girls she thought I'd like."

"Wait, your mom tried to wingman for you?" Sun grinned.

"No, she was just meddling and trying to help me 'make connections' as she put it." Cardin sighed. "Vale doesn't have the rich elite like Atlas, but Vale used to be a monarchy way back when. Mom's from a family with ties to nobility and she's connected with a lot of people who like to play up the noble image. She actually asked if I would be open to a marriage interview once!"

"People still do that?"

"Apparently some do!" Cardin said, throwing up his hands. "Though personally I'd rather have my mom not involved in my love life at all!"

"…Overbearing mom, huh?" Jaune drawled. "Never fun."

"Tell me about it."

"Completely unwilling to see your point of view. Just goes ahead and does her thing and acts offended when you don't follow along." Jaune grumbled.

"Speaking to me like I disappointed her in some way just for having an opinion." Cardin groused.

"Plus being compared to my sisters. They were happy following her plans and advice, so why do I have to be so difficult and not do the same as them?"

"Always talking her up and using her as an example of what to do. Dad does it too. And Argentia just smiles and looks smug. I love her but sometimes I just want to strangle her for being the most annoying older sibling on the planet."

"I don't have enough hands to strangle all my sisters. Though if I complain about any of them mom just gets angry at me saying they're successful so I can't throw stones. I can be successful too even if I go a different route!"

"And just because I don't get there instantly doesn't mean I'm not trying!" Cardin growled. "Just give it time and ease up on me!"

"Let me breathe! Can't you just let me try and stand on my own?" Jaune seethed. "Seriously mom?! Is a little trust too much to ask for?!"

"Exactly! Like have a little faith!"

"Right?!"

"Right?!"

Jaune and Cardin with both standing up in their seats now, clenched fists resting on the table. The duo stared at each other for several moments before Jaune's lips twitched at the same moment Cardin's eyes crinkled. A second later, the two team leaders were laughing as they settled back into their seats.

"…I don't get it. Did they say something funny?" Sun asked, looking very confused as he watched Jaune and Cardin laugh together.

Ren, however, saw what Sun didn't. He saw two individuals who'd been butting heads come to a mutual understanding and establish camaraderie over an aspect of their lives they had taken issue with. The laughter Jaune and Cardin shared was the equivalent of two men shaking hands and making peace with one another, and Ren smiled as he watched the duo.

"So, got any stories about how your sister tortured you growing up?" Jaune grinned.

"I have so, so many stories, and I'm open to share." Cardin grinned back. "But damn, you got seven of them? I'm only just beginning to register the horror of that fact."

"Girl power is scary power."

"Don't I know it. Still, I think Argentia's got 'em all beat."

"That a challenge?"

"We need a whiteboard to keep score."

"Oh, are we gonna start complaining about siblings? Because I'm totally up for that!" Sun cut in. "I mean, I love the kids, but being everyone's older brother can be an absolute nightmare."

"Please, you're welcome to share." Jaune laughed.

"Shame Ren doesn't have any sibling stories to share." Cardin chuckled.

"…True, I didn't grow up with siblings." Ren smiled. "But I did grow up with a Nora. And I assert that those experiences eclipse all of yours."

"Guess we'll see about that." Jaune grinned. "So, who wants to go first?"

Being friends with the owner of the diner meant that the four aspiring huntsmen got to stick around well past closing time. Only after Goldie's husband returned and the clock had shifted past midnight was when the group was finally kicked out, arms full of take-home bags of leftover food that would be eaten as snacks or substitutes for future mealtimes.

Jaune, Ren, Sun and Cardin were chatting and laughing as they walked through the streets of Vale, continued to do so on the bullhead ride back to Beacon, and bid each other good night with smiles on their faces when they all separated upon reaching the student dorms.

As Jaune and Ren both quietly crept back into Team JNPR's room so as not to rouse their slumbering partners, both boys agreed that it had been a day well spent.

X-X-X-X-X-X

In the morning, Jaune found himself sitting with his team at their usual table in Beacon's cafeteria. Team RWBY was sitting with them as usual, as was Team SSSN which was quickly becoming a regular addition to their mealtimes at school.

Jaune's eyes narrowed at Nora as she gripped his cheeks and checked over his face.

"Nora, please, let me eat my breakfast in peace." Jaune groused.

"Just making sure that you really came out of your man-date with Cardin without any bruises." Nora said cheerily as she moved his head around.

"Y'know, I'm the one who's always beating him in combat class." Jaune replied, swatting her away but jerked down when Nora suddenly seized his hands instead. "If anyone would have bruises, it'd be him."

"You're right! Instead of your face, I should be checking your knuckles for bruises." Nora grinned as she played with his fingers. "Haven't seen Cardin yet today. You give him any good shiners?"

"I already told you we got along just fine during our hang out. There were no shiners for anyone." Jaune sighed, pulling his hands away from the orange haired girl. "No punches got thrown and our relationship isn't any worse than it was before. In fact, t's even better than it was before, I'd say."

"I can attest to that." Ren interjected before Nora could say something else. "Things did seem a little tense between them at first, but by the end of the day I'd say that they successfully buried the hatchet."

"That's actually surprising to hear." Pyrrha commented. "Given how antagonistic Cardin was toward you when we first started at Beacon, I didn't think he'd be willing to come to an understanding with you."

Jaune chuckled at his partner's words. "Well, it wasn't just him. We both realized how stupid the thing going on between us was so we're getting along now."

"Established a tolerance for one another?" Pyrrha asked.

"I think it went a little further than that." Ren said, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked at something behind Jaune.

Noticing where Ren's eyes were staring past him, Jaune turned his head and grinned at the group approaching their table.

"Hey." Cardin grinned, nodding his head to Jaune in greeting. The leader of Team CRDL would've waved, but his left arm was holding his tray of food and the other was being gripped onto by Velvet, who smiled and waved her own greeting. Following behind the happy couple were the remaining members of their respective teams. "Mind if we sit with you?"

While Team RWBY looked surprised at the request, and Nora and Pyrrha gave Jaune anxious looks, Jaune and Ren exchanged a smile and beckoned the teams over.

"Not at all." Jaune grinned, sliding over and gesturing to the open seat next to him.

Cardin smiled and took it, with Velvet taking a seat on his other side. "Thanks man."

"No problem."

Pyrrha and Nora both smiled at the exchange, both happy and relieved that the animosity between Jaune and Cardin had actually disappeared. Meanwhile, Team RWBY were thrown off by the cordial interaction between the two boys, and one of them gave voice to it.

"Since when were you two all buddy-buddy?" Yang asked.

"What're you talking about?" Cardin smirked, throwing an arm over Jaune's shoulder. "We've always been buddies, haven't we Jaune?"

"Sure have." Jaune chuckled. "Only someone was just a little butthurt that he kept getting beaten by me in combat class."

Instead of getting angry at the comment, Cardin just snorted a laugh at Jaune's comment. "Yeah, yeah, keep talking. You may be winning in combat class, but I'm winning where it really matters."

Cardin punctuated his statement by pulling Velvet closer and hugging her against his side, causing the rabbit faunus to giggle delightedly at her boyfriend's affection.

"Not gonna lie, winning like Cardin sounds more appealing than winning in combat class." Sun called from where he sat a few seats down.

"See? Monkey man gets it."

Blake bristled at Cardin's way of referring to Sun. "Hey, you can't-"

"See Nep, this is what real game looks like." Sun said, shooting finger guns at Cardin who returned the gesture, much to Blake's shock. "Take notes!"

"Hey, I'm doing just fine on the romantic front!" Neptune griped.

"And how many numbers did you get yesterday?" Scarlet asked.

"…More than you!"

"I wasn't getting any numbers."

"Because you can't!"

"Hey, girl in the beret." Scarlet called down the table. "What's your name?"

"Coco, leader of Team CFVY." Coco replied with a smirk.

"Cool. Can I have your number?"

Reaching into her handbag, Coco pulled out a pen and wrote digits on a napkin before handing it over to Russel. "Mohawk, pass that on to the redheaded pirate."

Russel did so, handing the napkin over to Scarlet who displayed it to a gaping Neptune.

"One nothing." Scarlet grinned. "You need to step up your game."

A round of laughter from around the table, and even though he was the butt of the joke Neptune rolled his eyes and laughed along with everyone else. Soon, the five teams were all chatting and laughing together as they ate breakfast.

Jaune gave a contented sigh as he soaked in the camaraderie. Even though his journey to get to Beacon had left its marks on him, having friends to laugh together was the best kind of balm for those spiritual wounds he'd incurred.

It really was true about laughter being good for the soul.

- - - - - - -

Aaaaaaand done. Finally. Really shouldn't have taken the whole summer, but it was a real anti-summer for me. Nothing but work, work, work.

With this, I've hopefully succeeded in setting up the dynamic between the main and supporting cast. Team RWBY and JNPR are still the central focus, but now teams SSSN, CFVY, and CRDL are solid supporting cast and all five teams will be firm friends from this point forward. Should offer a lot of fun interactions and developments in the future. Because RWBY has so many characters who were criminially underutilized. Won't just be Cardin who'll get time in the spotlight. There are more characters to use that just RWBY, JNPR and a couple adults.

Now that this is done, we're getting back to the action for real. and it's gonna be a fun ride!

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Anyway, next arc will focus on Isabel, Jaune, Ruby... And a fan favorite villain will make his appearance.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

And a fan favorite villain will make his appearance.

Click to shrink...

Roman - "Finally, it's our time to steal the spotlight, Neo!"

Thanks for the new chapter!